News and Politics

Discussion about news and politics

Military Generals Mattis, McMaster, Milley, Kelly Warn About Donald Trump!

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The danger that Donald Trump presents if by some madness he came back to the Presidency in 2025 is best represented by the military leadership that worked with him, and did their best to control his dangerous tendencies toward Fascist authoritarianism.

The military is not to be loyal to any President, but instead to the Constitution of the United States, and the following four generals have expressed dismay and concern about both what happened during the Trump Presidency, and the continuing threat Trump represents.

They all make clear that a return to the Oval Office by Trump would be a national disaster.

These generals have been attacked and vilified by Trump, and the most recent case is General Mark Milley, who Trump has said should be executed for treason, a totally crazy assertion, but causing the now retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to need security to protect him and his family from deranged Trump supporters, who might take him up on his assertion and possibly threaten Milley in his retirement.

But former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was a Four Star General and worked under Trump as Secretary of Defense from 2017-2019; H R McMaster, Lieutenant General who served as National Security Adviser to Trump from 2017-2018; and John Kelly, a General who served under Trump as Secretary of Homeland Security and then White House Chief of Staff from 2017-2019, all have sounded the alarm bell, with Kelly doing so most recently in the past couple of days.

Shocking Event: Speaker Kevin McCarthy Ousted By His Own Republican Colleagues!

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In a stunning and shocking development, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has been ousted by a vote 216-210, the first time in history that a Speaker has been so removed!

There have been times when a Speaker was challenged, the most famous being Speaker Joseph Cannon in 1910, but he survived as a weakened Speaker until the next Congressional election.

Newt Gingrich in 1998 and John Boehner in 2015, when facing the possibility of an ouster, both resigned.

So this is a first, and weakens the Republican party in the House and nationally, and will reverberate in the upcoming Congressional and Presidential Election of 2024!

And a final point, Donald Trump did not comment or do anything to try to save McCarthy, who has been slavishly loyal to him after first condemning him for the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

Is anyone surprised? And McCarthy and the Republicans MUST USE this event to separate themselves from Donald Trump, or face final oblivion as a party under the name “Republican”!

Joe Biden’s Five Speeches On Democracy Struggle Against Trumpism!

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Ever since Joe Biden was inaugurated President on January 20, 2021, he has discussed the threat to democracy represented by Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.

Biden spoke on Inauguration Day in January 2021; in his first speech to Congress in April 2021; twice in 2022, in Philadelphia in September and at Union Station in Washington DC in November; and most recently in Arizona a few days ago when he dedicated a new John McCain Library.

It is clear to anyone who is paying attention that America faces its greatest crisis in preserving democracy since World War II.

In that regard, Joe Biden is following the lead of Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War and Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II!

Hooray! :) Jimmy Carter Reaches The Age Of 99, A Record Never To Be Broken! :)

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This is a day to celebrate as the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) has reached the magic age of 99 today, despite being in hospice and rejecting medical treatment.

His wife, Rosalynn, is 96 and in early stages of dementia, but their 77 year marriage endures.

No one who is President will ever reach this major achievement of Carter, and one can be certain that assessments of his Presidency, often quite critical, will become more reflective and positive in the future, as Carter actually had a number of policies that have endured.

These include the Camp David Accords (the Israeli-Egyptian Treaty); the Panama Canal treaties; the promotion of human rights around the world; major initiatives on the environment, making Carter the greatest one term President on that issue, and number 3 overall in the assessment of environmental historians, only trailing Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon; and the creation of three cabinet agencies in Health and Human Services and Education (dividing the Health, Education, and Welfare Department created under President Dwight D. Eisenhower); and the Department of Energy, created in the midst of the Oil Crisis of the late 1970s. He also added less to the national debt than any modern President.

Joe Biden was the first US Senator to endorse Jimmy Carter in 1976, when many thought Biden was crazy to do so, as no one saw Carter as a likely nominee of his party or President of the United States. The two men share many common traits.

And Carter has said his favorite President is Harry Truman, who like Carter and Biden, has often been underrated and underestimated.

One could say the three men—Carter, Biden, and Truman—are in many ways, the most decent Presidents since World War II.

And one more point: These three men have never been cited as those who have cheated on their wives, and their marriages endured without scandal!

Jimmy Carter also has been the true example of a “good Christian”, as he has practiced the decency and compassion promoted by Jesus Christ.

Carter is a wonderful, compassionate, decent human being, and there are very few Presidents who fit that description!

So as a nation, let us celebrate this great man–Jimmy Carter–the total opposite of the most crooked and horrendous President of the United States in its history–Donald Trump–who still poses a threat to American democracy as we near the 250th anniversary of American Independence in 2026!

To Kevin McCarthy And MAGA Republicans: NO Cut In Aid To Ukraine! :(

Ronald 6 Comments

As I write this, it seems as if we are on the road to a costly and unnecessary government shutdown on Sunday, provoked by extremist right wing MAGA Republicans, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy unwilling to resist them, and instead to make a deal with Democrats and mainstream Republicans in the House of Representatives.

McCarthy and the MAGA Republicans now want a cut in aid to Ukraine, but some House Republicans and many Senate Republicans agree with Joe Biden and the Democrats that it is essential to continue to provide aid to that nation in its struggle against Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation.

The MAGA Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, and former President Donald Trump are promoting a dangerous isolationist attitude on world affairs, much like occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.

Practing appeasement to a dictator, as with Hitler in the 1930s, and Putin now, does not lead to peace, as it emboldens such evil people, and just as World War II was the result eight decades ago, so would be the result if Ukraine is conquered, as Putin will move on to NATO nations, including Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, if the US and NATO stop assisting the valiant battle of Ukraine.

So the answer to MAGA Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, and Donald Trump is NO CUT in aid to Ukraine, and the Republicans will suffer at the ballot box in November 2024!

It is tragic that there will be so much harm visited on vulnerable Americans, but in the end, Joe Biden, his party, and reasonable Senate and House Republicans must stand strong and refuse to give in!

Senator Dianne Feinstein: A Massively Significant Figure For Three Decades!

Ronald 2 Comments

California and the nation have lost a massively significant figure in US Senate History, in the three decades contribution of Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

One of only three Jewish women to have served in the US Senate, and the longest serving woman Senator in American history, Feinstein was a very significant force on many issues, including gun control, national security, civil liberties, the environment, and many other issues, and knew how to work across the aisle with Republicans.

She was also the longest serving California Senator, sadly going into rapid decline in the past year, which made many observers think she should resign, but she refused to do so.

She became only the fifth Senator to reach the age of 90 in office, joining Strom Thurmond (100), Theodore Green (93), Robert Byrd (92) and Carl Hayden (91), and Chuck Grassley has just reached the age of 90 this month, as the sixth Senator to reach 90 in office.

She was Chair of the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee at different times, and had been Mayor of San Francisco after the assassination of Mayor George Moscone in 1978, making gun regulation her most lasting commitment, and promoting the Assault Weapons Ban passed in 1994, but allowed to expire in 2004!

When the history of the Senate in the late 20th century and early 21st century is written, she will shine as a major star for her impact on American history!

Pitiful Second Republican Presidential Debate

Ronald 6 Comments

Watching last night’s second Republican Presidential debate on the Fox Business Channel was a pure exercise in futility, as it clearly was a pitiful scene of candidates talking over each other and ignoring the moderators.

Chris Christie called Donald Trump “Donald Duck”, for refusing to participate, one of the rare funny moments.

Watching Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis was difficult, as both continued to come across as arrogant, nasty, unpleasant personalities, and both oriented toward Fascism, with DeSantis claiming he would do so much on “Day One”! 🙁

Tim Scott was really weak and ineffective, and Mike Pence’s highlight moment was stating he has slept with the same woman, his wife, for 38 years, a cringy moment from a candidate who is truly someone who showed no courage or principle under Donald Trump, except after former Vice President Dan Quayle, of all people, told Pence that all he had to do was count the electoral votes on January 6, 2021! 🙁

Doug Burgum was more aggressive, but has zero chance of moving forward, while Nikki Haley stood out mostly for showing more intelligence and personality than any of the men, but to believe she will be the Republican Presidential nominee requires a sense of delusion!

Clearly, the Republican Party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan is dead!

Donald Trump Rhetoric Increases: Danger To Public Safety!

Ronald 1 Comment

Donald Trump’s rhetoric has ratched up dramatically, increasingly a danger to public safety.

He has promised revenge if he is restored to the Oval Office, and he has called for the execution of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and has said he wants to go after NBC and MSNBC and destroy their ability to report the truth and the facts.

His call for death and destruction of a free news media, on top of threats and denunciation of the judges, prosecutors, potential witnesses, and potential jurors in the four upcoming trials he faces, has created a great danger of bloodshed and violence.

The answer is to incarcerate him before and during trial, and prevent him from being on the ballot for President in any state, by use of the 14th Amendment Section 3, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and or the intervention of state Secretaries of State who control who is eligible to be on the ballot in state and local elections!

Senator Bob Menendez MUST Resign: A Danger To American Foreign Policy!

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New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez must resign from the Senate, as he is a clear and present danger to American foreign policy!

He has been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and being engaged in alleged deals with Egypt is very worrisome at the least!

This has nothing to do with party politics, just simply for national security and safety!

Menendez has already once before been indicted, although the case did not lead to conviction, but he is the first US Senator to have been indicted twice in his career!

He will not be able to be reelected, and it is time for him to pursue his defense, and end his political career, for the sake of the Democratic Party!

Polls One Year Ahead Of National Elections Prove Nothing!

Ronald 4 Comments

National polling a year or more ahead of a national election is pointless, as much too often, it proves to be totally out of line with reality.

Also, elections are not decided nationally, but state by state, so therefore, the hysteria over the close polls on the Presidency showing a tight race should not cause people to panic.

At this point in many past election cycles, we were told Barack Obama was in bad shape in 2011; that Hillary Clinton was the guaranteed nominee in 2007; that Rudy Giuliani was the favored Republican candidate in 2007; that Howard Dean was favored in 2003; and on and on and on!

A year and more is an eternity, and the Democrats and Joe Biden still would be the favorite moving forward!