Month: February 2019

The “Achilles Heel” Of Ten Presidents: What Harms Their Historical Reputation

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When one studies the Presidency, it always comes down to one issue that can undermine their historical reputation.

So for John Adams, for example, it is the passage and enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

For James Madison, it is the burning of the White House and Capitol Hill in 1814 by the British during the War of 1812.

For Andrew Jackson, it is the forced removal of five Indian tribes to Oklahoma in the 1830s, the so called “Trail of Tears”.

For Franklin Pierce, it is the signing of the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854, bringing the nation closer to the Civil War of the future.

For Woodrow Wilson, it is the violation of civil liberties during the First World War, and immediately after, during the Red Scare of 1919-1920.

For Franklin D. Roosevelt, it is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

For Lyndon B. Johnson, it is the escalation of the Vietnam War in the mid 1960s.

For Richard Nixon, it is the engagement in the Watergate Scandal in the early 1970s.

For George W. Bush, it is the provoking of the Iraq War in 2003 and after.

And for Donald Trump, it is the collusion with the Russian government Vladimir Putin, which is going to bring down his Presidency.

Latest Presidential Ranking Survey For Presidents Day Changes Ratings Of Several Presidents Upward And Downward

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The game of Presidential rankings is one always changing, and the newest survey of scholars, including this author as a participant, does not disappoint in that regard.

The Siena College survey, now done six times since 1982, once for each new President being considered in the rankings, has some surprises.

157 experts, questioned by the Siena College Research Institute, raised two of the Founding Father generation to the top ten, with James Madison number 7 and James Monroe, his successor at number 8. In so doing, two modern Presidents were dropped out of the top ten, with Ronald Reagan at number 13 and Lyndon B. Johnson at number 16.

A rare occurrence was that Abraham Lincoln was number 3, when usually he is on top, although in earlier Siena College surveys, Franklin D. Roosevelt had been number one, now number two, with George Washington moving up to number one.

Barack Obama, number 8 in the American Political Science Association survey in 2018, and number 12 in the C Span 2017 survey, ended up number 17 in the Siena College survey, so below such Presidents as Woodrow Wilson, James K. Polk, John Adams, and Bill Clinton.

And Donald Trump, who was dead last in the APSA poll, was number 42, above James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, with Johnson ending up below Buchanan, the opposite of both the C Span and APSA surveys.

Of course, the game of Presidential ranking is a never ending and highly debatable one, and the way that Presidents are ranked is purely in the eyes and expertise of the beholder.

Should a great man, such as Madison or Monroe, but not as accomplished as more modern Presidents, such as Reagan or LBJ, be higher in the ratings?

That is left up to how people perceive Presidents, and whether they include the whole life, or just the actual years of the Presidency, in their judgments.

The Survival And Independence Of News Media Under Threat In Age Of Donald Trump

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America is in a crisis, with the attack on the news media by Donald Trump.

Unfortunately one third to 45 percent of the American people believe that the news media are promoting “fake news’.

They would rather believe Donald Trump, or Fox News Channel, or Talk Radio, and many of these people see the rest of the media to be the enemy, rather than their role of exposing evil.

Without a thriving media, corruption and scandal would run totally rampant.

America is blessed with journalists who often are threatened by mob mentality at Trump rallies.

These journalists are committed to pursuit of the truth, and many news media sources are failing to make a profit, and are closing up, causing the mass loss of brilliant young journalists.

The fact that the media industry is a business which needs to make a profit does not take away from their sacrifices in trying to learn the truth.

Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal would never have been exposed if not for two young cub reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post from 1972 through 1974.

Today, in the time of danger that Donald Trump represents, it is the Washington Post again, along with the New York Times, which is promoting the survival of constitutional government.

Trump Declaring National Emergency On Mexican Border When There Is No National Emergency: A Grab For Absolute Power Like Adolf Hitler And The Staged Reichstag Fire

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After two years of unconstitutional actions by Donald Trump, he is now going a step further.

He is declaring a national emergency on the Mexican border when there is no national emergency.

This is a grab for absolute power like Adolf Hitler and the staged Reichstag Fire in 1933, which led to the centralization of power in Nazi Germany.

There is no national emergency, and illegal immigration has declined rapidly in recent years, and this is just the continuation of the racism and nativism that Trump has promoted over many years.

Congress should pass a law over the President’s veto to prevent such action, and it is certain that the federal courts will block immediate enforcement of such national emergency.

All this action is doing is stirring fear, trepidation, and hysteria among the one third of the nation that are Trump supporters.

Those who support Trump should think twice about the long range effect of a national emergency which is unnecessary.

A future Democratic President may very well declare a national emergency on climate change, and on gun violence, and those are REAL issues, not fake ones!

A Potential Great Combination First And Second Lady Of The United States: Dr. Jill Biden And Connie Schultz

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Speculation is growing that former Vice President Joe Biden will try for the third time for the White House, and that he just might pick Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who just won his third term in the Senate, as his Vice Presidential running mate. Of course, it seems likely that Brown may seek the Presidency himself.

The argument is that Biden, a moderate centrist has support of the white working class of the Midwest, and that adding Brown as his Vice President would insure that Ohio, a crucial state in presidential elections, and much of the Midwest would assist Biden in winning the states that Hillary Clinton could not gain in 2016.

Another time, we can evaluate these two men, but one very appealing thought is that their wives would be a potential great contribution as First Lady and Second Lady.

Dr. Jill Biden is well regarded and respected by just about everyone. She is cordial, warm, genuine, and reminds many of her husband’s traits. She has a doctoral degree in education, and has taught at the college level for many years at Northern Virginia Community College in the field of English and writing, and earlier taught emotionally disturbed children. As Second Lady in the Barack Obama Presidency, she was a major contributor to the goals of the administration, and would be a standout as First Lady.

Connie Schultz, the wife of Sherrod Brown, also has a distinguished record and background as a writer, journalist and college professor at Kent State University. She is a nationally syndicated journalist, and worked at the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper for 18 years. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2005 for her columns covering the underdog and the underprivileged. She has demonstrated compassion, empathy, and genuine concern for those less fortunate, just like her husband, and just like Joe and Jill Biden.

Could we be so lucky to have a First Couple and a Second Couple as wonderful as this combination?

It would be a step forward for our nation if we could be honored with Dr. Jil Biden and Connie Schultz as our First and Second Ladies, models for women’s advancement in America, and concern for those who have not had the equal opportunity promised in the concept of the “American Dream”.

Five Women Contending For Democratic Presidential Nomination: Who Has Best Chance, Or Will They All Cancel Each Other Out?

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The Presidential Election competition for 2020 is certainly the most diverse ever seen.

Instead of seeing one woman or two women competing as in recent elections, we have a total of five women trying to gain the Democratic Presidential nomination.

The question which arises is whether America is really ready to elect a woman President in a nation which has so much misogyny, while so many other nations have had women leaders without any controversy.

The question is who has the best chance, or will they all cancel each other out, and we will end up with a male Presidential candidate in the end.

It would seem to this author and blogger that of the five women candidates for President, that Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has the appeal of being potentially the youngest President at age 39 in 2020, has zero chance of being the nominee. Only one sitting member of the House of Representatives, James A. Garfield of Ohio in 1880, ever was elected President, and tragically, was assassinated six months into office, after being shot after just four months in the Presidency.

Among the other four, it would seem that New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, with her bullying of former Minnesota Senator Al Franken over unsubstantiated charges of sexual harassment, would be the second most like to fail in her bid for the Presidency.

The other three, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Kamala Harris of California; and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota all would seem to have a much better chance of survival.

However, Warren might be more to the left than the nation would tolerate; and Harris, being of a mixed race background, might face a daunting task of overcoming both racism, and what all women candidates face–misogyny.

So on paper, Klobuchar, from the Midwest, and coming across as more centrist a progressive, in the tradition of Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone, might have the best chance to be nominated and elected.

Time will tell ultimately whether any of the women will survive, or even if any of them might be a Vice Presidential running mate, with only Klobuchar, and possibly, Harris, agreeing to be in that role.

Early Caucuses And Primaries Favor Different Democratic Presidential Nominees

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A year from now, the early Presidential caucuses and primaries create a situation where different candidates may have an edge, and are likely to create more complications in deciding who will gain and who will lose favor.

The Iowa Caucuses might favor Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar or Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.

The New Hampshire Primary might favor Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders or Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Nevada Caucuses might favor California Senator Kamala Harris or Colorado Senator Michael Bennet.

The South Carolina Primary might favor either New Jersey Senator Cory Booker or California Senator Kamala Harris, with its heavily African American Democratic membership in that Southern state.

On Super Tuesday, March 3, Harris might be favored in her home state of California; and former San Antonio Mayor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro or former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke might have the edge in Texas.

As the month of March wears on, with a number of Midwestern primaries in Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Illinois, Klobuchar and Brown would seem to have the edge, assuming no one has become the obvious Presidential choice after Super Tuesday, as at least seven other primaries are conducted that day.

Of course, based on past elections, it could be that the nominee would be decided simply by the large number of states conducting their primaries on March 3 (at least 9 states, including the giant ones of California and Texas).

The Border Wall Conflict Comes To A Head As Trump And Beto O’Rourke Have Competing Rallies In El Paso, Texas This Evening

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Tonight, we will see a classic confrontation on the Border Wall conflict as Donald Trump and potential Democratic Presidential contender Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke have competing rallies in El Paso, Texas, on the issue of the Border Wall.

Trump has called El Paso a city of crime, when it has one of the lowest rates of crime over the long haul, even before there was the building of a wall in 2008. The Republican Mayor of El Paso, along with other Republican and Democratic political leaders in the area, have denounced the lies that Trump perpetrates about the effects and the rationale for a wall.

Trump is holding a campaign style rally, and O’Rourke, who gained notice by his close race against Senator Ted Cruz, coming within three points in the deeply Red state of Texas, of defeating him, is to conduct a competing rally at the same time and basic location.

The question will be how large the crowd will be for each rally, and how effective their oratory will be. O’Rourke has been able to gain large rallies during his Senate campaign, and has had the ability to gain large amounts of campaign funds from ordinary citizens, who find him appealing in a way only Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been able to before now, in the Democratic Party.

Is this the beginning of a Presidential campaign, and will Beto O’Rourke be the magical figure to overcome Donald Trump?

Also, will there be the potential for violence tonight, hopefully not, but not beyond possibility, on an extremely emotional and divisive issue.

This will be a split screen news event this evening, and could be a major moment in the making of the Presidential Election of 2020.

Losing Presidential Candidates Who Should Have Been President: Henry Clay, Charles Evans Hughes, Hubert Humphrey

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When one looks back in American history at losing Presidential candidates who should have been President in their times, three names stand out:

Henry Clay of Kentucky, 1824, 1832, 1844

Charles Evans Hughes of New York, 1916

Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, 1968

All three of these Presidential candidates were exceptional public servants.

Henry Clay was the most important legislator of the first half of the 19th century, known as the Great Compromiser, for his promotion of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise Tariff of 1833, and the Compromise of 1850. He was the youngest Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, and also served a number of terms in the US Senate. He stood for a stronger national government, in the Alexander Hamilton model, and had a great impact on many others including Abraham Lincoln, who became a Whig Party member due to the influence of Clay on him.

Charles Evans Hughes was the progressive Republican Governor of New York, in the Robert LaFollette-Wisconsin model in the early 20th century, served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, resigned to run for President against Woodrow Wilson in the closest electoral vote election since 1876, and third closest electoral vote election of all time, and then went on to be Secretary of State. Finally, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the 1930s, the New Deal era.

Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic Senator from Minnesota, a leading liberal figure, who had been Mayor of Minneapolis before going to the Senate. He was seen as a premier liberal in Congress, responsible for many of the ideas that became the Great Society. He was Vice President under Lyndon B. Johnson, unhappy in that position and forced to support the Vietnam War in speeches, which undermined his Presidential campaign in 1968 against Richard Nixon. He came back to the Senate after his Presidential defeat, and sadly died at the young age of 66 in 1978.

If these three losing Presidential candidates had won, the history of the United States would have been vastly different.

The Political Knives Are Out For Democratic Presidential Contenders

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The Presidential Election is upon us in February 2019, as more Democrats are announcing their candidacies for President.

And as they announce or are about to announce, the political knives are out for them, both by opponents in the party, and Republican and right wing critics, out to undermine all of them by any means possible.

There is no question that Donald Trump operatives are part of the equation, but we also are getting reports on POLITICO, HUFFINGTON POST, BUZZ FEED, and the NEW YORK TIMES and WASHINGTON POST that make it clear that all candidates have flaws, imperfections, and issues that could derail their candidacies.

But of course, Donald Trump has plenty of flaws, imperfections, and issues, well demonstrated since he announced his candidacy in June 2015.

So what are some of the imperfections, shortcomings, flaws of Democratic contenders?

Joe Biden has a tendency to gaffes, stupid statements he makes very often, as he tends to be extremely wordy and gabby as a personality. Also, his handling of the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill matter in 1991 bedogs him, despite his apologies on that matter. Additionally, he is known as having been the credit card Senator, because of major banks and their credit card operations being centered in Delaware, his home state. This has led to overly high interest rates for customers over the years, and to inability of many people to go bankrupt when they are strapped financially, particularly those who have student loan debt. Additionally, he was a sponsor of tough crime laws in the 1990s, which caused many minority groups in particular to face stiff sentences for drug convictions. And finally as Vice President, he swore in Senators for new terms or first terms, and tended to be “touchy feely” with daughters, wives, and other women in the families of Senators, which could be seen as a problem by the “Me Too” Movement against sexual harassment.

Elizabeth Warren has identified herself as a native American, and it has become an albatross around her neck, leading to her apologizing, but it remains an issue which Donald Trump has, and will continue to exploit. Additionally, many people think she is too shrill, but this is a double standard, as many male politicians, including Donald Trump, Chris Christie Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani are shrill as well.

Amy Klobuchar has now been revealed as a nightmare for her staff to work for, very temperamental, cruel, abusive, demanding, which is totally against her public persona, but a list of Senators tough to work for in the same manner, shows seven out of the top ten are women. So what does one make of this, truly something to shake one’s head over.

Tulsi Gabbard is criticized for her meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who has committed mass murder during the eight year long Syrian Civil War.

“Beto” O’Rourke has the record of several arrests when a college student, for minor burglaries and break ins, seemingly fueled by alcohol.

Kamala Harris is criticized for opposing the death penalty for a cop killer in California, and generally, for being opposed to capital punishment.

Many progressives are unhappy with Sherrod Brown, for being against a one step movement toward Medicare For All, suggesting a slower approach in that direction.

Bernie Sanders is criticized as too far left with his “socialist” views, thought by many to be the road to defeat, particularly with Donald Trump attacking Socialism, which he sees as the Democratic Party direction.

Kirsten Gillibrand is criticized for having “bullied” Minnesota Senator Al Franken to resign over accusations of sexual harassment. Also, her overly conservative record in the House of Representatives before becoming Senator is used against her.

Cory Booker is criticized for being too tied to Wall Street and Pharmaceutical companies, and some wonder if his revelation of a dating relationship with an actress is trying to hide his single status, which has led to rumors about his sexuality.

It is clear one has to have a thick skin to participate in the Presidential race, and it does make one wonder how anyone can survive such scrutiny and remain sane and balanced.

So, sadly, the desire for perfection in a candidate or nominee is gone, and we have to pick an imperfect person to run against Donald Trump, but with the understanding that no matter what the imperfections, Donald Trump is the worst President in American history in his character, his morality, his ethics, his utterances, and his actions.