Month: August 2021

13 Years Of “The Progressive Professor”, And 7,165 Entries!

Ronald 4 Comments

Thirteen years ago on August 11, 2008, this author and scholar began “The Progressive Professor”, at the suggestion of his son David.

I have posted 7,165 entries to this date, an average of 550 per year, or 1.5 entries daily, although there have been rare dates when I have not posted, and those dates, more years ago than recently, when I posted multiple entries.

Still, to have persisted at this commitment from the time of Barack Obama being nominated for President in 2008 to the insanity of Republican governors acting like Fascist dictators in the summer of 2021 regarding the COVID 19 Pandemic, is an amazing series of events!

I hope to continue this blog for many more years, and I want to make clear I also post articles on History News Network since January 2016, and have close to 180 articles of longer length there for readers to peruse.

All of those articles, besides being under the blog name “Ronald L. Feinman”, are also listed on the right side of my blog.

I wish to thank my readers and the comments that have been made over the years–a total of 22,088 at this writing! I encourage continued commentary on all issues!

Let all of us remain healthy, and use the brains given to us to make wise decisions that protect ourselves, but also display our compassion and empathy for others, and employ common sense in our thinking!

Republican Party Has Become The Party Of Dictatorial State Government, And A Death Cult!

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The Republican Party has long advertised itself as the party against strong central government.

But now, the governors of Florida, Texas, Iowa, South Dakota and others have set themselves up as dictators of state government, threatening local county governments and school boards who want to promote vaccinations and masking as ways to deal with the COVID 19 Pandemic.

By refusing to promote public safety and health, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Kim Reynolds, Kristi Noem, and other reckless Republican governors are promoting a death cult, and will cause mass loss of life, more for young people, who cannot yet be vaccinated.

So the party, supposedly, of pro Life, is now just the opposite.

Something must be done to take away the dictatorial power of these dangerous state governors, who are total hypocrites on government authority!

47th Anniversary Of Richard Nixon Resignation, And Gerald Ford Becoming The 38th President!

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Today, August 9, in 1974, the nation and the world witnessed Richard Nixon resigning the Presidency.

The event also elevated Gerald Ford to become the 38th President, and the only one NOT elected Vice President or President, due to the 25th Amendment, which saved the nation after Vice President Spiro Agnew had earlier resigned in October 1973, due to corruption charges.

If there were no 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, a Democrat, with no desire to be President, and having a well known liquor problem, would have been the successor to the Oval Office.

Certainly, Albert would have been preferable to Spiro Agnew.

But despite controversy over Ford pardoning Nixon on September 8, 1974, which was a major factor in his defeat to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 Presidential election, Ford has been perceived in recent decades as the “right” person in a time of turmoil.

One can criticize President Ford, but also, one can see that Ford calmed the nation and in many ways, has been perceived in a better light over the decades.

A Third Of Senate Republicans Are Ignoring Donald Trump Criticism On Physical Infrastructure Legislation!

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It is fascinating to witness that, at this point, a third of the 50 Senate Republicans are ignoring Donald Trump’s criticism of the Physical Infrastructure legislation in process in the upper chamber, as they realize the urgent need for such projects!

The final total of Republicans could be more than the present 17 Senators, and this, hopefully, is a sign of the waning influence of the former President over the party and its future. With Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in support, and being attacked by Donald Trump, it is a sign that the Senate is not ready to follow the House Republicans and their treasonous leadership, led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy into the abyss!

For the Republican Party to survive in shape for the future, which is highly doubtful, it MUST separate itself from the extremists that fueled the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection!

As it is, it was 8 Republican Senators who refused to accept the Electoral College vote count after the Insurrection, as compared to 139 House Republicans, nearly two thirds of all in the lower chamber.

That in itself is shocking, two thirds of the House Republicans, but only 16 percent of the Republicans in the Senate, so it is the Senate which has the opportunity to promote survival of the party future.

There needs to be a massive move to remove the cancer of House Republicans, in order to save the party for the long term!

200 Days Since Donald Trump Left Office, And Nine Months Since Joe Biden Declared President-Elect, And The Insurrection Continues!

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Today marks 200 days since Donald Trump left office, and the Insurrection continues, as Republicans plot to hide the truth of January 6, 2021, and to do everything they can to fix future elections so that they can win, despite promoting policies and ideas that undermine American democracy!

Today also marks nine months since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the Presidential Election of 2020!

The Republican Party is also promoting anti science by ignoring the COVID 19 Pandemic and its growing hospitalization and death rate, even though they claim to be the party of Pro Life, which is proof of their hypocrisy!

Never have we had so many crazy, delusional, dangerous members of Congress, who spout forth conspiracy theories, and advocate racism, white supremacy, nativism, and xenophobia, while having no regard for the sufferings of millions of Americans who are in danger of being evicted from their homes, and their struggles to keep up with their student loan repayments.

Thank goodness for the good heart, compassion, and empathy of President Biden, who has extended the rent moratorium and student loan moratorium, while Republicans have no concern about these matters.

56th Anniversary Of Voting Rights Act, Now A Major Crisis Of American Democracy!

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On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, supported by Democrats, but also a substantial number of Republicans, who understood that voting rights were the central human right in a nation that was a democracy.

It was a reaction against the denial in the former Confederates states of the South to enforce the 15th Amendment of 1870, which gave men of color the right to vote after the Civil War.

Now, America is again in a crisis, as the Supreme Court cut back enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, in Shelby County V. Holder, and many Republican states are now claiming voter fraud in 2020, when it did not exist, and are passing all kinds of restrictions to prevent minority voters, young voters, and poor people from their constitutional right to vote.

Texas, Georgia, Florida and Arizona, and their crooked, corrupt governors and state legislatures are trying to fix the results of future elections, by making it impossible or extremely difficult for people to vote, and Texas has seen the Democrats in the state legislature for the past month and more, leaving the state and coming to Washington, DC to promote a restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

These Texas Democrats face arrest and possible imprisonment, which should not be permitted, and instead, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the right wingers in his state and others, should face prosecution for what they are attempting to perpetrate.

H R 1–For the People Act, and H R 4–John Lewis Voting Rights Act, need to be passed into law now!

A Wave Of Horrendous State Governors: A National Crisis!

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America is in the midst of a national crisis of horrendous state governors who are abusing power and pursuing corrupt, illegal ends!

The ones that stand out the most are:

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott
Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp
New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo

However, the list of abusive state governors is much longer, including:

Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey
Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds
Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves
Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson
Montana Republican Governor Greg Gianforte
Nebraska Republican Governor Pete Ricketts
Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt
South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster
South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem
Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee

So we have 13 Republican Governors From the South and the West, who are, in different degrees, outrageously terrible as state governors, while only Andrew Cuomo is a Democrat who needs to be held accountable for his abuses of power!

Barack Obama Turns 60, And Is Rated In Top Ten Of Presidents By C SPAN Historians’ Survey!

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Today is the 60th birthday of President Barack Obama, and this highly honored and successful President in many ways is able to celebrate his historical reputation.

Obama is the 5th youngest President at inauguration at age 47, with only Theodore Roosevelt (42), John F. Kennedy (43), Bill Clinton (46), and Ulysses S. Grant (46) younger than Obama was at the time of inauguration.

The C Span Historians’ Survey of 2021 rates Obama overall as Number 10, after having been Number 12 in the C Span Historians’ Survey of 2017!

Time For NY Governor Andrew Cuomo To Resign Or Be Impeached!

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is a political leader that this scholar and blogger has never cared for, as he has always come across as extremely egotistical, overly aggressive and arrogant, and personally obnoxious.

Even years ago, this blogger had doubts about his personality and character, and now, with an investigation by NY Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that Cuomo has engaged in severe sexual harassment with eleven women, it is time for him to resign or face impeachment by the NY legislature!

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul is perfectly qualified to succeed him, after six and a half years in the Number 2 position.

Cuomo, despite his denials, is clearly unfit to stay on as Governor, or to consider a run for a 4th term!

Presidents And The Month Of August

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Presidents and the month of August have quite a history, with nine Presidents connected to the month.

Five Presidents were born in August:

August 4, 1961–Barack Obama
August 10, 1874–Herbert Hoover
August 19, 1946–Bill Clinton
August 20, 1833–Benjamin Harrison
August 27, 1908–Lyndon B. Johnson

One President died in August:

Warren G. Harding–August 2, 1923

One President resigned in August:

Richard Nixon–August 9, 1974

Two Presidents succeeded to the Presidency in August:

Calvin Coolidge–August 2, 1923
Gerald Ford–August 9, 1974