The Nation’s Wreckage

Trump’s Shame!

Well, it’s been a while. I went dark, initially unintended and later by choice, when I spent two different periods hospitalized in late October and early November 2020. I was already at the point where I was sick and tired of the disaster of Trump and his administration. I did keep an eye on what occurred since the election, waiting for today now that President Joe Biden has replaced the, in my opinion, criminal Donald Trump.

The four years of Trump’s administration has been a train wreck unequaled by any period of U.S. history, to include the American Revolution. He and his followers no longer have a stranglehold on the nation. His Congressional Republicans have had power stripped from them, as it should be, for supporting and promoting all that Donald Trump did to America. Some of those Republicans insisted on continuing to find some way to keep Trump in office after he lost the election. Each one of them should be removed from office as they are unfit to serve. A few, like Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, need to be investigated for any criminal actions and if found, they should be arrested and tried. Even now some of Trump’s congressional lackeys remain faithful, like Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, both QAnon nuts, and continue spouting their nonsense as they worship a disgraced Trump.

Our Capitol was engulfed in a riotous insurrection by members of Trump’s band of ignorant racists and conspiracy believing fools. They were unable and unwilling to accept the election results. After being riled up and sent to the Capitol by Donald Trump, they attempted to stop our constitutional government from carrying out their lawful duties. These followers do nothing but whine about how the 74 million of them have had the election stolen from them. They demand Trump be given his rightful second term, that he “won” by a landslide. Never mind that over 80 million Americans voted for President Joe Biden. They don’t deserve to have their votes matter I guess. These “Americans” trashed the Capitol, causing the death of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. I’m thinking had the Capitol Police formed a line and opened fire things would have been different. After five or six fell to a flurry of bullets, the rest would turn and run as fast as their little legs could move in the opposite direction. Many likely peeing themselves as they ran. Luckily for them there were sympathizers among the Capitol Police who ushered them into the building and allowed them to run wild.

The real animals among Trump’s supporters, groups like the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the generic white supremacists, have screamed loudly for their members to rise and start a civil war to remake America into their dreamed of Whites Only nation. They’ve lost access to social media for their fomenting of violence. Some, as with many other insurrectionists, have had their wake up call as the FBI arrived and arrested them for their criminal actions. Let them stand in court and be judged and to, hopefully, spend many years in prison for their attempted coup to save their twisted and mentally ill (or deranged) “leader” Donald Trump. Maybe they can request a cell next to Trump’s? Each of these groups are poster children for enacting a domestic terrorism law(s) to place them where they belong, outlawed and driven back under the rocks from which they squirmed out from under. The great majority of these lowlifes are as cowardly as Donald “Pathological Liar” Trump.

Yet, such law(s) would not be in the spirit of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Such law(s) would empower government to decide what organizations are to be labelled terrorist organizations. Imagine another administration of a Trump-like president using the law to silence opposition groups and persons. Americans can not, and should not, trust any government with such power. So, the nation must allow these “patriot” groups to exist and to be allowed to run their mouths. Should they cross the line into criminal speech, we must let law enforcement bring them before the bar of “justice” for punishment. But, this begs the question of whether or not we can trust law enforcement to do their job, something we haven’t been able to do throughout most of 2020.

Donald Trump couldn’t even handle attending the inauguration, instead he slunk out of town on Air Force One while he was still the President. Off to his digs in Palm Beach, Florida. There he will lick his wounds and, some believe, try to control the Republican Party. He told American he’d be back during his farewell speech before boarding Air Force One for his flight to flee Washington D.C. What he may be able to accomplish to that end is anyone’s guess. Certainly, as we have seen, there are plenty of Republicans in federal and state government willing to back his idiocy. The Republican Party is dead, yet they don’t know it or believe it. Even Trump has, or is, considering whether to set up a new party to compete against the Republican Party. Now that would be good, in my humble opinion. What better way to split the conservative voting in the country? His speech to CPAC was nothing more than a repeat of all his lies he has sold those believers in his views. Maybe the Republicanj party should be declared a domestic terrorist organization?

President Joe Biden has his work cut out for him. He has two years before the mid-term election in which to get his agenda in place. As with all presidential terms, the mid-term elections could flip Congress back to opposition control. Then, it’s the usual roadblocks to getting anything done. Both parties operate this way when the President is in the other party. At least he can undo Trump’s Executive Orders. That’s a good start, but with the pandemic still raging and there being a shortage of vaccines, work must focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, not only in America, but worldwide. Many third world nations are stuck depending on the first world nations to aid them in their fight to survive. Humanity demands that every able nation aids those lesser able nations in saving their populations. We will have to wait and see what happens. Beyond the pandemic itself, President Biden must act to aid those who have suffered and are suffering. Men, women, and families have lost their income, some their homes. Many more live on the streets of the country with little hope of help by states already stretched thin and running out of money. Over 500,000 Americans have paid with their lives, how many more will Joe Biden allow to die? How will he aid and protect those who are homeless, those who are so far behind in their rents that landlords are begging for an end to the eviction moratorium (which ios on the brink of happening), those who are food insecure even if they are lucky enough to have a job, and those in the country who have lost the hope for a better life? It’s only been through citizens who have grouped together to aid those in dire straits that the much less fortunate have some chance to get to tomorrow.

I expect in many ways we will see business as usual. The filthy rich will continue to get richer off the sweat of workers. The poor will continue their struggles for daily existence and those in the middle will be expected to pay the bill for getting the country back on it’s feet. I’d like to see changes, like the filthy rich being taxed heavily. I’d like to see corporations be taxed heavily as well. That could be done by just preventing corporations from having so many deductions that their tax bill is negligible. It is far past time these rich people and corporations pony up a fair share. Yet, I doubt the Democrats will have the spine to take on their super donors and corporations. Hell, we know they’re just conservatives under a different name.

In the end we just have to wait and see if all the wreckage is cleaned up. For the record, I didn’t vote for Biden. I’m a socialist, why would I vote for a conservative? I’d prefer, as I have said before, that the governmental system in the United States collapse and a true peoples democracy replace it so that human rights and equality are the absolute law of the land.

Until next time

Republican Hypocrisy

Pisses Me Off, But isn’t Unsurprising

At a time the country, or at least a part of the country, are mourning the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Republicans jump right to the politics of the situation and are already pushing for a quick vote on a successor. Senator Mitch McConnell leads the move to speed things along.

We know that in 2016, Republicans said that the next President should select the nominee to fill the Court vacancy. But, of course, Republicans are now manufacturing “reasons” that things are different now and they must get a 6-3 conservative court right away.

That will create a Supreme Court that rules by following their political ideology, instead of the law. The rollback will be used to destroy 70 years of moving the rights and equality for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ forward. This will drag the United States back to Jim Crow. Discrimination and racism will, once again, become the “law of the land” and allow American conservatives and right-wing extremists to have society belong to “right thinking” White American men. Is this the America of equality we should return to?

Women will be property once again, with not right to control their own bodies. Their will be even more domestic abuse by the men who believe they alone have the rights guaranteed in the US Constitution. We know abortion will be illegal once again, and women thrust into poverty because they know – for whatever reason – they are not ready to raise a child. What will the Republican’s, from their anti-welfare beliefs, say to the impoverished women? They’ll be told that “it’s your problem, not ours.” I’m pro-life, but know any woman has the right to decide for themselves, without scorn. Is this America women’s lack of rights you want again?

American healthcare advances, meaning the ACA, will be rolled back, Millions, tens of million, will once more find they have no options to get even basic healthcare needs met. People with pre-existing conditions will be stopped from getting health insurance, or will pay excessively high premiums for limited benefits if they want health insurance. Free clinics will be where they have to turn. But free clinics, as wonderful as they are, will not be able to provide the same level of care. Medical debt will increase, destroying even more of the ability of people to keep their heads above water and survive. I have been under that kind of medical debt. It beats you down every day, making the future look bleak and unpromising. Is this the America of healthcare you want to live in?

Workers will see rollbacks to worker rights. Rights to equal pay, the right to unionize, workers compensation when you are injured on the job too. Likely, workers will find their rights to sue employers gone. Rights to paid leave will be removed, with medical and family paid leave at the head of the list. Corporations will be able to return to running sweatshops without fear. They could scale back on medical benefits, turn a blind eye to offering education benefits, overtime hours “reconfigured” to prevent paying overtime all together, and allowing hazardous working conditions. There’s more that could get changed, much more. Is this the America you want to work in?

Republicans love private Christian schools and will pass laws, that would be supported by a conservative Court majority, allowing the taking of funds provided to public schools to pay for a child to go to private schools. Court conservatives will be able to make pseudo-Christian beliefs in schooling the law of the land. We could see America fall back to racial education standards of “separate, but equal” for minorities. Money will talk and education will suffer greatly. Is this the America we want again?

Lastly, the possibility of a conservative court backing a fascist like Trump turning American into the evil fascist nation of this millennium. Your very existence held by one man, to do with as he whims. A nation where the common person will either tow-the-line or be severely dealt with. Your voice will be muffled. Your “incorrect” beliefs getting you removed from society to some “re-education” camp. Is this the political America you want to live in?

If you want to stop any of the potential outcomes from happening, then you better scream loud and hard to the US Senate to get them to stop. Be angry, I am and the Republican Senator of my State has already heard from me. Bombard your Republican Senators, if you have one, with your demands. Do it everyday if you have to until you get a satisfactory pledge that they won’t back approving a nominee to the court until after January 20, 2021!

This is a battle for the the very beating heart of America! Deciding to sit on the sidelines shows your support by your silence to Republicans. Do you care enough to fight for it?

Well, do you?

Until next time

Are Republicans Destroying their Party?

We Can Certainly Hope They Are.

It seems like every day we find ourselves learning about the latest act of stupidity by the Republican party politicians, political wannabes, celebrities, the President, and others. It is to the point where we must consider if these conservatives are destroying their party. It’s worth looking at and deciding for ourselves. Whether it’s Trump’s lies, McConnell’s intransigence, Coronavirus minimizers and deniers, QAnon conspiracy theory believers, and general pot stirring by Republicans, there’s a little something for everybody’s daily consumption of media stories.

It would all be ridiculously funny if it wasn’t a serious view of how the Republican’s attempt to maintain their hold on Congress and the Presidency. It’s dangerous to just laugh off the things the Republicans are trying to do. Especially when it comes to Donald Trump and his wet dreams of enacting his fascist dynasty to control the country under his authoritarian dictatorship.

We all have heard Trump on his lack of concern about the coronavirus, telling the country on more than one occasion how it will just “go away” at some point. He keeps around him plenty of people who publicly support his beliefs and ignores the experts on the pandemic. He cares not at all of how many contract and die from the virus. This is simply because he is a sociopath, as well as being so egotistical that all he wants are constant words of praise reinforcing his delusions. But, there are other things he is doing as well.

Just yesterday Trump admitted that he is sabotaging the US Postal Service to screw up mail-in balloting, harming the 2020 elections. In a Vice.com article Trump is reported to have said, “They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.” His Postmaster General, who he has in his back pocket like so many other Administration members, has brought turmoil to the USPS, issuing new rules and procedures to slow down mail delivery. The Postmaster General, Louis Dejoy, has even ordered the removal of sorting machines at mail distribution centers according to a businessinsider.com story This will significantly slow down mail delivery even more, including election ballots.

Then we have Senator Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, trying to save his hold on his Senate seat at the same time he’s intentionally hurting Americans. He has washed his hands of any further work trying to work out a deal with Democrats to approve a new coronavirus bill. He’s leaving it up to the Trump Administration to negotiate an acceptable bill. With Americans losing the extra $600 unemployment payments, McConnell is causing Americans to be unable to keep their homes, feed their families, to obtain medical care, and just live day-to-day. As I wrote in my “Open Letter to the Filthy Rich” post, 17 – 28 million people are under threat of eviction now that the eviction moratorium has ended. McConnell has also made it clear that no new relief bill will be brought up for a vote if it does not contain language protecting businesses from being sued by employees who contract COVID-19 at work. Make no mistake, McConnell has the blood of innocents on his hands. But, lets move on to the next election issue.

Hopefully you have heard of QAnon and their conspiracy theory. I’ll just provide a small recap. From wbur.com, “QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory and loosely organized network centered around the belief that the U.S. is controlled by a cabal of child sex trafficking, Democratic elites hell-bent on bringing down President Trump. Followers believe these elites, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, have gone so far as to manufacture the coronavirus to bring Trump down. They heed cryptic online dispatches of someone named Q who’s anonymous — hence QAnon — who claims the highest government security clearance.“

It sounds extremely ridiculous doesn’t it? Well, there are a number of Republican candidates for Congress who are believers or followers of QAnon. Marjorie Taylor Green won her runoff election to be the Republican candidate in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District and is expected to win in November. She has made videos stating her support for QAnon and she has made racist statements in videos as well. While there are Republicans who have repudiated her belief and her racism, it isn’t enough. Besides her, there are 10 or more other candidates who are QAnon followers – all Republicans running for Congress this year. (Sarcasm alert) Any who win their races can go to Congress and set up the QAnon Caucus. These believers need to be ridiculed publicly for their idiotic beliefs. Not one of them is fit to be a member of Congress in my opinion.

Next, we pull from the greatest hits collection in a redux of birtherism. It’s already being proclaimed that Senator Kamala Harris is not eligible to be President or Vice President because her parents were not legal residents when Kamala was born in Oakland, California in 1964. This is evidence that many people haven’t read, or can’t comprehend, the US Constitution. There is no requirement that a candidate’s parents must be legal residents. The candidate must have been born in the United States, which Senator Harris was. If you don’t believe me, go read Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Hang on, I’ll help you out. Article 2, Section 1 states:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Now, facts probably won’t stand with people who want to believe a lie, especially since they elected the biggest liar in America. The political right gave no peace to Barack Obama, why should it be any different for Kamala Harris. It’s just a tactic to confuse the gullible and maintain their votes for party candidates.

It’s like the Trump’s moves in sending federal agencies into Portland, OR, to clamp down on protestors considered to be anarchists, antifa radicals (there being no antifa organization), and domestic terrorists. I wrote about Portland in my post “The Secret Police” back in July. No one can forget the nightly scenes of the brutality dished out by these federal storm troopers against the protestors, while they “protected” the federal courthouse. Republicans stood behind the actions taken by Trump. Eventually federal agencies were dispatched to other cities across America to spread more of Donald Trump’s law and order brutality.

Nothing will likely change the course the Republicans are taking on their journey to the ballot box in November. However, what Republicans aren’t considering is that even if they survive the election this year there is what occurs beyond 2020. They are making more enemies than friends with their foolishness and disregard for our society. Many people who voted for him in 2016 won’t be voting for Trump in 2020. As an article on theguardian.com reported, Kevin, a Arizona pastor and lifelong Republican voted for Trump, but now states, “I’ve seen how he has tried to divide our country and that is not something I want, nor what our country should have … This man is an absolute danger to our country.” He is not the only Republican who won’t vote for Trump again.

These beliefs and behaviors appear to be eating the Republican Party from the inside out. But, the deterioration of the Republican Party will allow America to radically change and become a nation without inequality and hatred, provided we rise to the challenge. At the minimum, it may allow the breaking of the two party stranglehold on the American government.

We have no idea of what foolishness by Republicans may be reported tomorrow. It’s clear to me how the Republican Party is pulling itself apart. Tomorrow could be the day it implodes.

Until next time,

The Time Has Come

America needs to start over

I started my adult life as a strong conservative and registered Republican. It was the 80’s, Ronald Reagan was President, and the country was starting to have hope of better lives for all. I was young, likely too idealistic, and willing to trust the GOP to get the country back on it’s feet and running smoothly in a post Vietnam America. I never took a deeper look at society, preferring to surf along the top of the water. I stayed this way for the 12 years of Republican leadership. I ignored those parts of the party platform I didn’t agree with. Like I said, just surfing along.

Then comes the elections for 1992. George H. W. Bush was running for a second term. Bill Clinton was his Democratic opponent. There was a division of thought for me at this point. I wasn’t thrilled with George H. W. Bush. At one time he’d been the head of the CIA. I’m no fan of the James Bonds of the world, though I understand it’s necessary to have them – unfortunately. I was souring on the GOP, so in the end I voted for Bill Clinton and switched over to the Democratic Party. I stayed there for four years.

I voted for Clinton the second time too, but I stepped out of party politics and became an Independent. I saw garbage in both parties and started on the road of picking who I felt could do the job better, regardless of party affiliation. I became very tired of the two party lock on the government. The two party system was pushing the country to the same outcome, with just a little variation on how the country gets there. They are still doing so and won’t stop. It’s become a political cold war in the US.

Now here I am in the year 2020. George W. Bush had two terms in office, then Barack Obama had two terms as well. GW Bush pulled the country into an unending war with Afghanistan, as well as Iraq. Barack Obama, our first Black American president, continued allowing the wars to continue. He has, to his credit, shown Americans a different face to politics. But, alas, we then get Donald Trump as president.

Under Donald Trump we have become a very fractured nation. A deadly pandemic, social unrest and protest, an economy that has crashed, and a “dictator” in the Oval Office. What shall become of America? I don’t know.

I will tell you this, the last 3 1/2 years have slowly changed my political outlook. I see the deep systemic racism in the US. It’s always been there, but the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis Police have brought into very clear view of all of America. Protests hit cities all across the country, demanding change. Demanding their rights once and for all. Many White Americans, myself included, support the movement for Black Americans to obtain ALL the rights due them as an American. This and the reactions of the government and President Trump have pushed me, with the help of two young citizens, into a more radical left point on the political spectrum.

I think it’s time to tear this old shack of a nation down and build a new house. Not all at once, but piece by piece. We can do it now at our choosing or do it when it is thrust upon us all at once. What’s your preference?

Until next time

Ending the Two Party Lock on the US Government

Both at the State and Federal Level

Are you tired of the two party political system in the United States? Would you like to see a system wherein third party candidates can succeed in being a representative for the people? Is there any way this can be accomplished, to break the two party stranglehold on American politics? Are you wondering how? Okay, let me explain an idea (certainly not the only idea either).

First, let me say that any change to break the two party hold on government will likely require some alterations to the US Constitution. The Constitution will be an integral part of this new political system. There will still be a House of Representatives and Senate as well. Making it possible for third party representation in Congress will provide a benefit that we do not have at the moment. It will provide a greater representation of the people. There are those who don’t want to vote for either major party candidate. While they could vote for third party candidates, they do so knowing that their candidate won’t likely win.

So, how do we end this problem? We change the form of our elected officials at the state and federal level from what it is now to a Constitutional Parliamentary form.

Pages: 1 2

It’s a different place

America today doesn’t seem to be a nation that makes much sense to the rest of the world, let alone Americans. Hell, let alone me especially!

There is a definitive change in our society, pandemic aside for the moment. It is debatable whether this change is good or bad. I guess it will really depend where you stand and look at it.

I stand in the middle, looking outward at the many angles of life that drive the existence of our country. In many cases I do not like what I am seeing, primarily because of the political situation America is currently confronted with. That situation is our President, Donald Trump, and all the ugliness he has brought forth to, as he sees it, rule the United States.

Pages: 1 2