Civil Rights

Open, Abusive And Non Embarrassed Lying Now The Republican Playbook!

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It is now perfectly clear to anyone with a brain, ethics, morality, and common decency that the Republican Party has become a party of open, abusive, and non embarrassed lying about everything imaginable!

It has also become a party with fake religiosity, and willing to take away the basic civil rights of racial minorities, women, and gays and transgender individuals!

The Republican Party backs a tyrant who did great harm to American democracy, and most members of that party, with a very few exceptions, have no issue with the possibility that Donald Trump might be their nominee again in 2024!

The horrific US Capitol Insurrection, in which Republicans, as well as Democrats, were in dire danger of their lives, seems to have been pushed to the wayside by gutless members of the party, who have no concern about the damage, injuries, and deaths caused by a lawless mob of traitors and seditionists!

How can a person such as Kevin McCarthy sleep at night with a clear conscience, knowing he is truly a coward and a sycophant who puts his own personal advancement ahead of everything else?

How can criminal elements who want a Fascist authoritarian government, be allowed to move forward on their plans for the future in 2024 and beyond?

This crisis America is in could end up worse than the Civil War, if decent people stand by and allow a corrupt party and obscence individuals to steal our government and impose the potential of martial law on this nation, which has survived so many earlier challenges!

Extremism On Both Sides Lurks In Upcoming Midterm Congressional Elections!

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It is very sad and troubling that extremism on both sides lurks in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections.

It is much more so on the Republican side, but some Democrats are also clearly not willing to cross the aisle, and that means nasty days ahead, probably worse than now, as the nation moves closer to the possibility of inability of Congress to get anything done, despite the multitude of problems, including:

COVID 19 Pandemic
Climate Change
Escalating Crime
Mental Health Crisis
Protection of Civil Rights
Protection of Women’s Rights
Protection Of Gay Rights
Threat of Russia Against Ukraine
Threat of China Against Taiwan
Threat of Middle East War Between Israel and Iran

and many other problems and issues!

Sad 44th Anniversary Of The Passing Of Hubert Humphrey, My Original Political Hero!

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On this day, January 13, 1978, 44 years ago, my original political hero, Senator, Vice President, and Presidential nominee Hubert H. Humphrey passed away from cancer at the young age of 66.

When I was young, Humphrey became my political hero, with his strong liberal championship of views on civil rights, and introducing many ideas that became part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society in the mid 1960s.

Not well utliized by Johnson, Humphrey became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the Presidency in 1968, a divided party that had elements rallying around Senator Robert F. Kennedy before his tragic assassination, and also those who backed fellow Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy.

In a three way Presidential race, Humphrey would fall short, losing to Richard Nixon, and with George Wallace being a strong third party candidate.

Humphrey, who had been Mayor of Minneapolis, and then a US Senator from 1949-1965, returned to the Senate in 1971, replacing the retiring Senator McCarthy, and competed unsuccessfully for the Presidential nomination in 1972, and remained a major figure until his untimely death in 1978.

This author and blogger literally wept when Humphrey died, as I was drawn to his humanity, empathy, decency, and compassion.

And once he passed away, I looked around the US Senate for a successor leader I could believe in, and found the young Delaware Senator Joe Biden, still in his first term at age 35.

I feel fortunate that although there were many barriers to Joe Biden’s advancement to the Presidency, that after serving in the Senate for 36 years, and as Vice President under Barack Obama for eight years, that four years later, on his third try for the Oval Office, Biden finally won, and saved the nation from the menace of Donald Trump.

Neither Humphrey nor Biden were or are perfect, no such situation exists, but the two men shared characteristics that caused me to fall in love with them as political leaders.

I am sure that Humphrey would be very proud of Joe Biden, and the two men stand out as uncommonly models of leadership!

The Republican Party Of History Is Gone! 1854-2022!

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The Republican Party of history once stood for human rights, civil rights, racial equality, in the age of Abraham Lincoln.

The Republican Party of history once stood for progressive reforms, in the age of Theodore Roosevelt, Robert LaFollette, Sr., and George Norris.

The Republican Party of history once stood for promoting internationalism and fighting the Cold War for democracy and against the threat of totalitarianism, in the age of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.

The Republican Party of history once stood for Civil Rights in the age of Senators and Congressmen who joined with Democrats to promote political and social reform.

The Republican Party of history had its elements which were evil and divisive, but the party overall stood for basic principles of decency while promoting conservatism and the concept of limited national government.

But now, the Republican Party has promoted massive give aways to the wealthy, while having no concern about the needs of the middle class and the poor.

But now, the Republican Party consorts with authoritarian regimes of the Left and the Right, including collaborating with Vladimir Putin to fix the Presidential Election of 2016, and to make concessions to the Russian Federation during the era of Donald Trump.

But now, the Republican Party has the craziest conceivable elements in its party, who promote sedition, treason, and attacks on the Constitution and the rule of law.

Only a small element of the 2021-2022 Republican Party is part of the mainstream of American politics, and they are outnumbered and attacked for their commitment to decency, honesty, and the tenets of American democracy. Plaudits to Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez, Peter Meijer, John Katko, Tom Rice, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey, and a small group of other courageous, principled Congressmen and Senators!

Donald Trump and his ilk, which include millions of ignorant, prejudiced white supremacists, antisemites, Islamophobes, racists, nativists and misogynists, represent a dire threat to the American republic, and must be combatted by every legal tool available, to allow America to reach its 250th anniversary in 2026 as a nation still keeping its values and heritage that are a model for democracy around the world in the 21st century!

Five Months Of President Joe Biden: A World Of Difference!

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President Joe Biden has now been in the Oval Office for five months, and what a world of difference!

The right wing media and the Republican Party, of course, are constantly on the attack on every issue imaginable.

But Joe Biden has been successful in so many ways:

The COVID 19 Pandemic response, a great success with 300 million vaccinations after five months (150 days)
The Economic Revival through the American Rescue Plan legislation, greater success than thought possible in five months
Moving toward action on Infrastructure, Voting Rights, Gun Regulations, Health Care And Education Reform
Reversing many actions of Donald Trump on the Environment by Executive Order
Reversing actions of Trump on Immigration, Climate Change, Civil Rights, and so many other domestic issues
Choosing Federal Judges to balance out the right wing tilt of the Trump Judicial appointments
Restoring good relations with NATO, the European Union, and the G-7 Nations
Succeeding in making Vladimir Putin know he has met his match, with Putin saying Biden was professional, constructive, and experienced
Making clear to the world community that America has returned to world leadership and a sense of ethics and morals
Restoring Dignity, Compassion, Empathy, Decency, Humanity to the Oval Office

Social Justice 53 Years After Martin Luther King Jr’s Assassination

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On this 53rd anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, it is sad that we see systemic racism still alive and popular among too many Americans.

The George Floyd murder trial; the Georgia legislation that puts voting rights under attack; the anti Asian attacks that have become so prevalent in the past year; the increased threat of domestic terrorism; and the continued attack on immigrants of all backgrounds are signs of the failure of social justice to make progress after King gave up his life in the quest for equity and fairness in society.

The Presidency of Donald Trump allowed people who promote racism, nativism, white supremacy, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia to flourish, as Trump was George Wallace on steroids.

When Wallace ran for President in 1968 and won five states, 46 electoral votes, and 13 percent of the popular vote, it was shocking, but at least there was no way that Wallace could win the Presidency.

But a half century later, Donald Trump was able to gather the forces of hatred and win the Presidency, despite losing the popular vote by 2.85 million votes, and would go on to marshal his forces to promote undermining of American democracy, and continues to do so by promoting the lie that he won the Presidential Election of 2020, and inciting the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021!

So the commitment of Martin Luther King Jr. to human rights and social justice must continue with a new generation of committed leaders!

The Senate Filibuster Designed For Obstruction, And Historic Denial Of Basic Civil Rights

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The US Senate is the greatest deliberative legislative body in the world, but also condemned in history for promoting denial of civil rights for people of color, particularly, but not only for African Americans.

The filibuster was used to prevent federal anti lynching laws in the years after Reconstruction and through to the 1950s by Southern Democrats, and then it was used to prevent basic civil rights laws, until Lyndon B. Johnson showed great courage, and used various tactics to overcome the denial of civil rights, and accomplish the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Now, the Republicans have used it in the past decade to stop progress under President Barack Obama, and now are threatening the same under Joe Biden, and specifically in areas including voting rights, and inhumane treatment of various minorities, including people of color, women, gays and lesbians, disabled people, and immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa.

They claim the mantle of “minority rights”, but only for their narrowminded effort to promote white supremacy, and refuse to accept the reality of a multi ethnic and multi racial and diverse future America in the next 25 years.

The Senate has been an obstructionist legislative body, where Senators who represent far less than a majority of the population are able to prevent what a clear majority of the population wishes to see in the promotion of human rights and work against racism, nativism, misogyny, homophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia!

So a change, requiring a “spoken” filibuster, which used to be the norm, needs to be revived, and that will bring about the ability to overcome the filibuster in a short period, and allow for progress on so many important issues the Senate needs to address to advance American democracy!

One Month Anniversary Of The Biden Presidency: Tremendous Initiatives And Goals And Early Success!

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It is today one month since Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States, and there is a sense of great optimism.

The basic decency, compassion, empathy of Joe Biden is very evident, and he has staked out goals in foreign policy and domestic policy, canceling out most of the damage done by Donald Trump in his horrendous four years in office.

Biden has embraced NATO and our democratic allies in Asia;

has made clear that America will hold authoritarian governments around the world accountable for their outrageous violations of basic freedoms;

has selected an exceptional group of Cabinet and other advisors to deal with the myriad of issues he faces, greater than anyone since Franklin D. Roosevelt nine decades ago;

has committed himself to the fight against climate change;

has dedicated himself to the need for immigration reform, and to protect DACA recipients who have been living in uncertainty for the past five years;

has worked to promote the environment and conservation after the worst environmental record of any American President;

has been moving forward on a major economic relief bill;

has surpassed his goal of daily vaccinations against COVID 19 and made it a national commitment, not just left up to states alone;

has made the fight for civil liberties, civil rights, and the struggle against racism, nativism, misogyny a major commitment;

has endorsed full protection for the gay and lesbian community;

and above all, has restored the dignity and prestige of the American Presidency which was in rapid decline.

Joe Biden may not be able to accomplish everything he wishes, due to political realities, but his heart is in the right place, and he clearly is out to promote progressive goals and work against domestic terrorist groups which endanger American democracy.

Joe Biden Becomes Third President (After Ulysses S. Grant And Lyndon B. Johnson) To Emphasize Racial Equity In First Months Of His Presidency

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President Joe Biden has made racial equity a landmark moment of his Presidency from the beginning, and already is perceived as being the third President to make civil rights a major goal immediately upon taking the oath.

The first President to do this was Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, promoting the concept of the 15th Amendment, granting the right to vote to African American men, and being added to the Constitution in 1870.

Also, Grant promoted better treatment of Native Americans in his Inaugural week, and is seen as the most tolerant and open minded on that issue of any President in the post Civil War years.

The second President to make civil rights a key issue immediately was Lyndon B. Johnson upon becoming President after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Johnson made the push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had been floundering in Congress after it was introduced by Kennedy in the summer of 1963. And Johnson went on to promote also the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as the 15th Amendment had been denied for many decades in the Southern states, as Jim Crow segregation reigned.

And now, Joe Biden is pushing and promoting action, as a result of the well known discrimination in criminal justice; and in dealing with the endemic poverty in minority communities; the lack of adequate health care including in the COVID 19 Pandemic; problems of education and work opportunities and housing that persist; the need to clean the environment where often there is massive pollution in areas ignored before now; and also the difficulties faced by women, transgender citizens, the gay community, and the disabled. The purpose is to get rid of systemic discrimination against all the above groups.

One can hope that major progress on these areas of policy can be accomplished!

Crazy Trumpites Call For Martial Law, And “Proud Boys” Terrorists/Hoodlums (Brown Shirt Storm Troopers), Promote Violence!

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With 46 days until the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, we are witnessing, including this author personally with some people he knows, the rise of crazy Trumpites who are calling for Martial Law, suspension of the Constitution and Rule of Law, and refusing to accept Joe Biden’s clear cut victory!

These people are totally nuts, off the wall, and being manipulated by religious extremists of the Jewish and Christian faiths, and are endorsing lawlessness, and violation of civil liberties and civil rights!

And the “Proud Boys”, a terrorist/hoodlum group, brown shirt stormtroopers, is growing that is promoting violence and inciting crazy people on the sidelines to support Donald Trump, as they are acting like the bullies and terrorists of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Soviet Russia in the past history of the 20th century!

It seems likely that Trump will try to stage an alternative event on Inauguration Day in Washington, DC, and not attend the inauguration of his successor, which is the norm.

This could lead to violence and bloodshed, endangering the Inauguration crowd, and making the safety of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris more difficult, and threatening their lives!

Donald Trump needs to be made to understand that any inciting of bloodshed and violence, once out of office, could lead to arrest, incarceration with no bail, and conviction on terrorism charges!

And any alternative inauguration event should not be televised live during the Presidential Inauguration, no split screen, or any attention given by news media to distract from the historic event!