Author: Ronald

Reality: If Biden Wins Florida, He Only Needs To Win One More Trump State Of 2016!

Ronald 10 Comments

The odds of Donald Trump being able to pull out a win in November is very poor, particularly if Florida, third in electoral votes with 29, goes to Joe Biden.

The Democratic states of 2016 all seem solid for Joe Biden, although the Republicans are trying to win New Hampshire, Minnesota, Nevada and New Mexico, but the odds are very long against that occurring.

With Florida being won by Biden, all that the Democratic Presidential nominee needs to hit the 270 mark is win one of the following:

Pennsylvania 20 electoral votes

Michigan 16 electoral votes

Wisconsin 10 electoral votes

North Carolina 15 electoral votes

Arizona 11 electoral votes

Ohio 18 electoral votes

Georgia 16 electoral votes

Right now, in public opinion polls, Biden is ahead of Donald Trump in all but the last two states, and one must remember that in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Trump only won by a combination of 78,000 votes combined in 2016!

Florida is prime territory for Democrats, with the growing Puerto Rican population, enhanced by the hurricane which hit that island in 2017, and by senior citizens notably turning against Donald Trump in the midst of the CoronaVirus Pandemic. Since Trump did not win by very much in Florida in 2016, and with the enhanced Democratic campaign that will be mounted in Florida, the likelihood of Florida going Democratic, along with at least one of the above seven states is, seemingly, not all that difficult.

Also, Florida could end up trending “Blue” on Election Night, throwing the plot of Trump to declare victory that evening out of possibility.

It would be fitting and ironic that the state that Donald Trump has now made his official residence could put the nail in the coffin of Donald Trump staying on as President!

The Revelations About Trump And The Military Seem Likely To Be “The September Surprise”, Which Will Decide The Election!

Ronald 19 Comments

There is a growing feeling that the revelations about Donald Trump calling those in the military “Losers” and “Suckers”, who have sacrificed their lives or been seriously wounded affecting their remaining lives forever, will be the decisive factor in the Presidential Election of 2020.

If this occurs, we may call the revelation of The Atlantic Magazine the “September Surprise”, rather than the traditional belief and often reality of an “October Surprise” that determines the final result of the election.

Many retired military, and many military families whose members are endangering their lives daily, have already expressed total shock and disbelief that their Commander in Chief has so little regard for the troops, and those in military cemeteries.

The fact that Donald Trump evaded the draft on the basis of “bone spurs”, signed off by a doctor who knew Trump’s father and had an apartment rent covered by the father for the favor of writing a draft deferment letter for his son, enrages many people, whether connected to the military or not.

The lack of respect and honor by Trump, who has made a big deal over those who bend their knee for the Star Spangled Banner, and constantly has invoked false military themes, is a moment of reckoning for many people who may not have been irritated by other issues and matters, but are so by this reality.

Why No Criticism By Republicans In Congress Toward Donald Trump And Revelations About His Comments On Military?

Ronald 5 Comments

The Republican Party has always prided itself on its support and promotion of the military, and their “waving of the American flag” patriotism.

66 members of the party in Congress, as compared to 30 Democrats, have served in the military

So why is it there is not a peep from Republicans in Congress to the revelations about Donald Trump’s comments about his true feelings on the military, that they are a bunch of “losers” and “suckers”?

And even more so, why is it that those Republicans in Congress who have served in the military themselves are staying silent?

And most particularly, what about those Republicans in the House who are required to run for office every two years, and those Senators who are facing election in the six year cycle?

So regarding the better known, more newsworthy Senators who face election, 8 in total:

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

Tom Cotton of Arkansas

James Inhofe of Oklahoma

Joni Ernst of Iowa

Martha McSally of Arizona

Dan Sullivan of Alaska

Roger Marshall, Congressman and Senate candidate from Kansas

And also the following 3 Republican Senators who do not face election this fall:

Rick Scott of Florida

Roger Wicker of Mississippi

Todd Young of Indiana

And also, among the many Republican House members, why is Greg Pence of Indiana, brother of Vice President Mike Pence, staying silent?

And why is Vice President Mike Pence, whose son is in the military, not speaking up?

Donald Trump Disparages Military Service, Heroism, And Sacrifice

Ronald 21 Comments

One would think America had reached bottom with Donald Trump behavior and utterances, but no, not so!

We now learn that Donald Trump, who used “bone spurs” as the excuse to avoid military service during the Vietnam War, has regularly disparaged military service, heroism, and sacrifice, and it has all been confirmed by Fox News Channel, imagine that!

Calling those who served or serve in the military “Suckers” and “Losers”,

and not wishing to visit cemeteries to honor the dead,

and more concerned about the effect on his hair at a military site if it rains or is windy,

and condemning Senator John McCain as a “Loser’ for being captured and imprisoned for five years in Vietnam,

and threatening his son Donald Jr if he joined the military, when he was young, with him being disowned by his own father,

What can one say, and how can Donald Trump recover from this revelation, as already, there are hints that many military retirees, and family members, and troops presently serving, are rapidly abandoning Trump, with a sense of outrage and fury, and rightfully so!

Donald Trump has no patriotism, no loyalty to the nation he leads, and yet he is unwilling to condemn the evils of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and is clearly compromised, so is a traitor, clear and simple!

Trump is a disgrace to the Oval Office, and must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and face life in prison, along with his evil wife and first three children!

He is a stain upon the Presidency, and it will take years to undo the damage he has wrought!

Trump’s Use Of Projection On Joe Biden Has And Will Continue To Boomerang on Trump!

Ronald 14 Comments

Donald Trump and his top lieutenants will do anything to win the Presidential Election of 2020, and they have used issues that are part of Donald Trump’s life story on Joe Biden, and it has boomeranged and will continue to do so.

Trump and his minions talk about Hunter Biden and corruption in Ukraine, when Trump was impeached for corruption in Ukraine. Trump’s son Donald Jr. meanwhile was involved in Russian collusion for his father during the Presidential Election of 2016. The Hunter Biden story has disappeared in the midst of the Presidential campaign.

Trump and his minions portray Joe Biden as a child molester because he hugs young children, but until the CoronaVirus Pandemic, Joe Biden was known as a hugger, but it was all innocent, part of his warm, caring personality and sincere concern for others.

Trump however has been accused of raping a 13 year old girl on the island of Jeffrey Epstein, and had his own daughter on his lap, when she was a young teenager, in a very overly intimate pose for someone your own daughter, but really any female under the age of 18.

Trump and his minions claim, due to the complaints of one woman, Tara Reade, who briefly worked in Biden’s Senate office, and had no complaints for 27 years until recently, that Biden sexually assaulted her. But that has gone nowhere, and no other women have claimed such actions, which would seem likely, not just be one woman.

Meanwhile, we know that Trump paid two women for their intimacy with him, including when his wife gave birth to their son, and he has three marriages, and cheated on all three wives, and has had about 25 women claiming sexual assault that was unwelcome, not invited contact.

Trump and his minions claim that Joe Biden is demented, is unable to finish his thoughts, is incoherent much of the time, and that he is mentally unfit to serve as President, all pure lies.

Trump, meanwhile, has acted mentally deranged, and many psychologists and psychiatrists from a distance have said he is in early dementia, a mental illness that ended his father’s life. Trump has a very poor vocabulary and is seen as a toddler or early teen at the most in his behavior and utterances, a true embarrassment to the Oval Office,

Now we have evidence that Donald Trump has had one or more strokes, as his ability to communicate, walk, and even hold a cup of water with one hand, has become evident. He is tremendously overweight and does no exercise, while Joe Biden is trim for his age and does exercises, including biking seen publicly.

So every attack on Joe Biden is simply projection, Donald Trump’s insecurities and shortcomings being exposed, as he transfers his faults and blunders to his opponent. Biden has character, and Trump lacks any such decent character,

This is not a winning strategy, which drives Donald Trump nuts, and Joe Biden continues to lead him in all public opinion polls by bigger margins than Hillary Clinton had. It will not be enough for Trump to use projection, so he is using other illegal and unethical tactics, right out in public, for all of us to see.

This just leads to the solid conclusion that Donald Trump is the most massive abuser of power, and most corrupt President by far in American history, and his ego will not be able to accept a defeat, and it will make him more insane than he already is!

Too Many Voters Only Consider Personal Views, Not The Best For The Nation When They Cast Their Vote

Ronald 18 Comments

Every person has an element of self interest that motivates them in their daily lives and actions, and that is perfectly normal.

However, when people only consider their self interest in the sacred act of voting on leadership of their nation or their state, that is something to be deplored as improper behavior.

So what motivates so many people in how they vote, in no special order?

Their finances

Their biases and prejudices toward people different than them

Their desire to control other people’s lives

Their religious beliefs which they wish to promote on others

Their lack of concern over poor, boorish behavior by some candidates

Their sense of patriotism and nationalism

Their ignorance about public issues and viewpoints of candidates

Their personal egos, connected to insecurities

Their lack of compassion and empathy for others

What distinguishes progressives from conservatives is that these nine factors do not play into their voting patterns!

Time For Republican Giants George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman To Endorse And Vote For Joe Biden, As Essential For Nation’s Future!

Ronald 11 Comments

Now that the Republican National Convention is done, and with Donald Trump acting more crazy and corrupt by the day, it is time for action by well known Republican leaders!

Many former Republican members of past Presidential administrations, as well as many who had worked for Donald Trump until they were forced out or quit on their own, have condemned Trump and crossed party lines to endorse and support Joe Biden.

Also, many former Republican members of Congress have done the same, and so have many conservative commentators who are columnists for newspapers and online media.

The amount of rejection of Donald Trump is a record breaker, and has never been matched by any previous President so outraging party members that they abandoned ship.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Republican office holders in the House of Representatives and US Senate, although privately, many have expressed unhappiness, but are unwilling to speak up in opposition, particularly if they are on the ballot themselves this year. So, as a result, many of them will go down in a flaming and crashing defeat this November, and have, in the process, lost all their dignity and self respect!

But at this time, there are three high profile Republicans who need to stand up and show their principles, reject Donald Trump openly, and endorse Joe Biden to save the nation!

The first is former President George W. Bush, who had through confidential sources, made clear he is not supporting Donald Trump, who has trashed him and his family for years, including the departed George H. W. and Barbara Bush, brother Jeb Bush, and the former President himself.

It is time for Bush to speak up, as a retired President, and openly condemn Trump and endorse Biden, who he knows very well, gets along with, and respects. Party lines do not matter now, but the nation and its future, so come on, George W, and redeem some of your reputation harmed by your eight year Presidency!

Secondly, Utah Senator and 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who voted for impeachment conviction of Donald Trump on one of two counts, and has been a strong critic of Trump, needs to go further than not voting for Trump, as in 2016, and then voting for his wife.

That is silly, and passing the buck, and what Romney needs to do is endorse Joe Biden as the person he might not agree with on many issues, but is a safe choice to lead the nation, but leaving Romney the opening to disagree on future policies if he feels a need to do so.

There is no gamble on doing this, as Romney does not face election for his Senate seat until 2024, and may very well choose not to run for another six year term at then the age of 77. And if he did, as a Mormon in Mormon dominated Utah, which saw Independent Evan McMullin, a conservative, won 21.5 percent of the popular vote in 2016, and with Hillary Clinton winning 27.5 percent, it meant together they had more popular votes and percentage than Donald Trump, as Mormons do find Trump distasteful. So Mitt Romney needs to step up like a man and endorse Joe Biden!

And finally, another leading figure, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who served as Ambassador to China under Democrat Barack Obama, and ambassador to Russia under Donald Trump, needs to show courage and endorse Joe Biden over his former boss. Huntsman was very quiet while in Moscow, but it seems clear he was uncomfortable, and chose to leave before this campaign year.

This author and blogger has always admired Huntsman, going back to when he agreed to go to China for Barack Obama, and then sought the Presidency in 2012 as a Republican contender. Huntsman is solid on foreign policy, and very decent and principled and rational in a party which has had horrific contenders for the most part in 2012 and 2016.

Seriously, other than Huntsman in 2012 and John Kasich in 2016, no one else made this blogger and author comfortable enough to imagine being able to accept as a potential President, with Huntsman more so than Kasich.

As a fan of Huntsman, and respecting him despite differences on some domestic issues, since I am a proud progressive, I say it is time for Huntsman to condemn Trump, and fully endorse Joe Biden.

And after the hoped for election of Biden, it would be appropriate and smart for Joe Biden to offer Jon Huntsman a top Cabinet position, such as Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or Secretary of Homeland Security. It is common for a Democratic President to have one Republican in his Cabinet, and who better than Huntsman, who has been bipartisan and is only nearing 61 years of age in March 2021.

Come on, President Bush, Senator Romney, and most significantly, Ambassador Huntsman, do the right thing and fully endorse Joe Biden for the safety and security of the nation!

Donald Trump Is A Traitor To America, And Promoting Terrorism By White Nationalists And White Supremacists!

Ronald 12 Comments

It is not a pleasure for this blogger and author to write that President Donald Trump is a traitor to America, having worked with the Russians in 2016 to defeat Hillary Clinton, as made clear in the Mueller Report in 2019, and the Republican controlled Senate Intelligence Committee Report a month ago! So he is as much of a traitor, if not more, than Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution, and some are already calling him “Benedict Donald”!

But also, Donald Trump is a terrorist, inciting and promoting attacks by white nationalists and white supremacists, with such despicable followers of those philosophies murdering people in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon just in the past few days, and Trump today defending the young man who came across state lines, driven by his mother, and killing two and wounding one in Kenosha!

Trump is attempting to promote a racial war, and caravans of white power people, young toughs who see Trump as their leader, have been looking for trouble and violence, ironically, recently, in mostly white cities (Portland, Seattle, Kenosha) where most demonstrators for Black Lives Matter are WHITES, with some now becoming victims!

Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden is promoting reconciliation, and blaming Trump rightfully for claiming that only he, Trump, can overcome so called racial violence and crime, when it has been incited by his supporters going after those who protest police brutality, with most victims being whites!

Black Lives Matter protesters do not bring firearms to their demonstrations, only white supremacists and white vigilantes, encouraged by Trump.

Crime in America had reached a 50 year low before Trump took office, and much of that crime that has occurred now is due to these right wing hatemongers, as well as the human suffering going on in the midst of the Second Great Depression and CoronaVirus Pandemic, along with the growing level of police misconduct against African Americans.

It is amazing that the young man who murdered in Kenosha was not stopped by police for having a firearm being wielded by him, and try to imagine an African American man in the same circumstance!

Trump is sowing chaos in order to try to gain white suburbia and women by fear, but it will not succeed. He even tried to defend today the young man who killed two in Kenosha!

The time of George Wallace in 1968 is back, but it seems clear that Joe Biden will overcome the hate and the chaos, and is still far ahead in public opinion polls, even after the Republican National Convention.

Donald Trump will have to be held to account once he leaves office, as he is the most lawbreaking President in American history by far, much more than Richard Nixon, who looks by comparison to be a “choir boy”!

Fascism Is On The Horizon If Donald Trump Is Reelected: Warning Of Author Sinclair Lewis In His Work “It Can’t Happen Here” In 1935

Ronald 18 Comments

In 1935, Novelist Sinclair Lewis wrote a prophetic novel, “It Can’t Happen Here”, stating that what was happening in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, could happen in the United States. Lewis wrote that it would be “clothed in a flag and carrying a Bible!”

This was way before the horrors of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany reached their peaks over the next decade, but already enough evidence of the dangers of the manipulation of minds with emotional rhetoric dividing groups in a society, based upon race, ethnicity, religion, and national origins.

Lewis was warning about the potential dangers represented by Huey Long of Louisiana, who was assassinated months later in 1935, with the story of his assassination covered in my book “Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama” (Rowman Littlefield Publishers 2015, Paperback Edition 2017).

It could also be applied later, in the 1950s, to Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin; to third party Presidential candidate George Wallace of Alabama in 1968; and to President Donald Trump.

Only Trump, with his Fascist appeal, backed up by military, police and evangelical support, and rallies to appeal to those who are racist oriented, and also nativists, white supremacists at Charlottesville, antisemitic, Islamophobic, and misogynistic, is a clear and present danger, as he is the President of the United States.

He has stoked Fascist appeals as a manipulative method for the past five years since he announced his candidacy in 2015, and has set out to destroy all traditions and norms!

A lot of intelligent people, including those I know or knew, and also a lot of not so bright people who have emotional attachment to Donald Trump, since they are ignorant and share his horrific beliefs, have rallied around him.

And yet, many conservatives and Republicans who really care about our Constitution and rule of law, and the perpetuation of our democracy, are alarmed by Trump’s constant attack on “Fake Media”.

Trump calls everyone and everything which opposes his authoritarian bent as unAmerican. He waves the American flag as if he owns patriotism, when it is his critics who are truly patriotic, and care about human rights and freedom.

Donald Trump incites in a crazy manner on Twitter daily, and in the midst of the greatest crises since the Great Depression and World War II, he ignores and refuses to take responsibility for the Second Great Depression and the CoronaVirus Pandemic!

He stokes bloodshed and violence in attacking those who are promoting the need for racial healing, and encourages right wing hoodlums in the streets of Portland, Seattle, Kenosha and elsewhere,

This presents the danger of greater violence in the two months left to the Presidential Election of 2020, and the interim to the next inauguration, and his stated refusal to accept defeat if the election goes against him, an absolutely terrifying scenario!

It would seem that his opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, face constant threats of assassination, and this author of a book on assassinations is truly alarmed that someone who is a Trumpite will attempt to do that!

If Trump is reelected, this nation will be threatened in its basic values in a way never having come to power with Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, or George Wallace, despite these earlier threats in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1960s. It will be an authoritarian dictatorship without any control, a nightmare that will mirror the horrors of Fascist Italy and even Nazi Germany!

As Sinclair Lewis wrote in “It Can’t Happen Here”, it actually “Can Happen Here”!

Toughest Democratic Race To Take Sides: Ed Markey Vs. Joe Kennedy III In Massachusetts

Ronald 1 Comment

The toughest Democratic race for Congress is coming to a conclusion on Tuesday, September 1, when Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts faces Congressman Joe Kennedy III for the nomination for the US Senate.

Both are clearly progressives, but Markey is seen as more Left than Kennedy.

Markey has been endorsed by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, former Vice President Al Gore, former Democratic Presidential nominee (1988) Michael Dukakis, documentary creator Ken Burns, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Carole King, Tom Steyer, many environmental groups, and the Boston Globe Editorial Board, as well as most Massachusetts mayors and many Democrats in the state legislature. and half the Congressional delegation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Kennedy, and the Kennedy Family is, of course, behind Kennedy, and also many Congressmen, including the late John Lewis and Joaquin Castro, but he has alienated many who think he should have waited until Markey retired, or Warren ended up in a potential Joe Biden cabinet.

The seat is guaranteed to whoever wins the primary on Tuesday, as Republicans have not won state wide except with the first African American Senator since Reconstruction (Edward Brooke) decades ago, and Scott Brown, who succeeded Ted Kennedy and then was defeated by Elizabeth Warren.

Markey has served since 1976, 44 years in Congress, starting when he was 30 years old, with 37 in the US House of Representatives, and then he took over John Kerry’s Senate seat when Kerry became Secretary of State under Barack Obama in 2013. In so doing, Markey set a record as the longest serving Congressman, who then ended up in the US Senate at age 67.

Markey is just about the most liberal Democratic Senator, while Kennedy in eight years in the House, and now nearing 40, is also liberal, but it could be argued not as much, whatever that means!

So two men, who started off at 30 and 32 in Congress, now face each other, as the old guy with the long record, and the young guy, who is a Kennedy, but seems likely to lose the primary, based on recent polls, which show Markey 12 points ahead of Kennedy!

This might mean the end of all Kennedys in Massachusetts always winning, and it could be that Joe Kennedy III might not get another chance to go to the Senate, and might not be able to run again for the House of Representatives.

This is quite a gamble by a Kennedy, and it seems likely to be a lost cause!

The inclination of this blogger and author is that if I lived in Massachusetts, I would vote for Markey, but not be happy about rejecting a talented Joe Kennedy III!

This race should not have happened, as Joe III should have waited for either Markey or Warren to leave the Senate, without this pitched battle now coming to its end on Tuesday!