Author: Ronald

Alternative Candidates Who Might Enter The Democratic Presidential Race

Ronald 8 Comments

Hard to believe, but rumors are spreading that there could be alternative candidates who might enter the Democratic Presidential race.

These would include:

2016 Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton

Former First Lady Michelle Obama

Former 2004 Presidential nominee John Kerry

Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Former Attorney General Eric Holder

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown

Most of these ideas are totally preposterous.

It is time for Hillary Clinton to pass the torch finally, and make an unequivocal statement she will not run, as she would divide the party and the nation in such a way that would be totally destructive.

Michelle Obama is not going to run, too smart to consider it.

John Kerry is another too old nominee, who is from the distant past, 2004 as a Presidential candidate, and would be 77 when taking the oath, and the last thing we need is another old candidate.

The same goes for Michael Bloomberg, who would five months younger than Bernie Sanders and nine months older than Joe Biden, and would be one month short of 79 in January 2021, too old, and really too divisive with his record as NYC Mayor, and not loyal to the Democratic Party.

Eric Holder and Deval Patrick would only create more racial division, with Cory Booker and Kamala Harris and Julian Castro already in the race, and Holder highly controversial and being 70 the day after the inauguration, and Deval Patrick just another Massachusetts politician, but with no real constituency to run.

If any candidate deciding to run makes sense, it just might be Sherrod Brown, who considered running, and would be a strong competitor from Ohio, but if he is to run, time is of the essence. He would be 68 at the time of the inauguration, and might be a good Vice Presidential choice instead of for the Presidency.

But except for Brown, really, the next Democratic Presidential nominee needs to come from the present, rapidly dwindling list, and dreaming of alternatives needs to end!

Donald Trump Comparing Impeachment Probe To Lynching Is Totally Disgraceful And Reprehensible!

Ronald 21 Comments

Donald Trump has the gall to compare the impeachment probe going on in the House of Representatives to a lynching, demonstrating his total lack of the history of lynching, and his lack of concern for the racism that he continues to display incessantly!

Lynching went on for a century after the Civil War and reached its peak in the post World War I years, with thousands of African Americans, and some Hispanics, Jews, and Catholics also being tortured and murdered and set on fire in a brutal fashion, that was long covered up.

But now there is a Lynching Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, called the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum, and there are other Civil Rights Museums that demonstrate through horrible photographs and contemporary accounts the obscene abuse and lack of concern for human life in the American South and much of the Midwest and even California, as well, where African Americans were seen as less than human.

The photos are hard to look at, and the realization that children and large crowds often witnessed these miscarriages of justice, cheered it on, and took human flesh as souvenirs of the “sporting event” they had just participated in or lost all sense of morality, ethics and religiosity by not caring about the suffering of thousands of mostly men, but also some women.

Donald Trump comes across more every day as a totally obscene, disgraceful excuse for a human being, who has no concern about the human suffering that goes on around him in America and in the world at large.

If there was ever a President as deserving of impeachment, conviction, and imprisonment for the crimes he has conducted or endorsed by his incendiary, reckless rhetoric, it is Donald Trump, as no one else, not even Richard Nixon was anywhere near as evil as the 45th President of the United States!

And for Senator Lindsey Graham to defend Trump’s comment is beyond belief, and John McCain would be furious at his former friend for defending Trump!

Donald Trump Donation Of Salary Not Unique: Herbert Hoover And John F. Kennedy Also Donated Their Salary To Charity

Ronald 26 Comments

Donald Trump once again showed he was a liar, more than 13,000 times in less than three years, when he asserted yesterday, that he was the first President since George Washington to donate his salary to charity.

First point to make is if he did donate his salary, which one can highly doubt, who gained the benefit is the question. Trump has claimed he has given to the National Park Service (hard to believe); the Department of Education; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Small Business Administration; the Surgeon General’s Office; and the Department of Agriculture. I would think there should be some proof beyond his statement, with his consistent habit of lying about everything imaginable.

Secondly, the record shows two Presidents, both super wealthy for their times, regularly donated their salaries. These were the 31st President, Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), and the 35th President, John F. Kennedy (1961-1963).

Finally, even if Donald Trump is donating his salary, by playing golf, he has spent at least 83 years of his salary on his hobby, at taxpayer expense. And he has spent more on golf in less than three years in office than Barack Obama spent on vacations over eight years.

Abandonment Of Kurdish Allies Who Fought ISIS Will Reverberate In History As One Of Worst Blunders Of Any President

Ronald 7 Comments

The decision of President Donald Trump to give license to the Turkish Government to slaughter America’s Kurdish allies is a horrendous blunder, which will reverberate in history, and will, sadly, lead to ISIS attacks on Europe and the United States in the short and long run.

After having successfully neutralized ISIS, which formed in 2014, and with thousands of Kurdish troops in the Middle East sacrificing their lives in the effort, now we see our President abandoning them to slaughter, an action which will make it difficult for any nation or nationality group worldwide to ever trust America again.

Trump’s action also emboldens Vladimir Putin, as now Russia has more involvement in the Middle East than ever before, and it is assured that Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan are turning over in their graves at what Trump has done.

It also insures that Iran will have a greater role in the area, which Trump has been, previously motivated to prevent.

One would think that Israel should be very concerned, as Trump has made their security position much more difficult to insure.

Many Republicans in Congress have finally spoken up against this despicable action, more than any other issue that has arisen to alienate them, and it just further promotes the impeachment move against the President, which now seems much more assured to occur soon.

A Sense That Pete Buttigieg Is On The Rise As A Moderate Alternative To Joe Biden

Ronald 20 Comments

The big winner of the Ohio Presidential debate this past week seems to many to be Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who is seen as on the rise as a moderate alternative to Joe Biden.

Mayor Pete has been successful in raising large amounts of money in the third quarter, and his debate performance demonstrated his intelligence, his knowledge, and his perception of what Americans want, similar in his understanding of what Americans were looking for as when they voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

He is not promoting “pie in the sky”, massive changes in four years, as Bernie Sanders, and even Elizabeth Warren are doing, knowing full well that the nation is not going to elect a Democratic Congress large enough in majority to do the kinds of path breaking changes that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were able to bring about in 1935-1936 and 1965-1966, respectively.

As Pete has said, we first need to recover from the chaos and anarchy of Donald Trump, and to expect the nation to go to the far left, and support a required end of all private health insurance, is simply not reality.

This blogger takes the view that Americans should have a choice of keeping the health care coverage they have, or move toward government control through Medicare, but not force it on everyone over a four year period, and always allow private health insurance as an alternative, left up to the decisions of individual Americans and their families.

A long range goal is extend Medicare in stages, first to those between 50-65, then those in their 40s, then those in their 30s, and continuing on, but again with private insurance allowed if preferred.

And in foreign affairs, Mayor Pete would offer a revival of American respect and responsibility, veering away from the disastrous and reckless diplomacy of Donald Trump, and would restore American rationality and respect among our allies, and recognition that he would not be pushed around by authoritarians as has been occurring with Donald Trump.

A young, dynamic President is needed, and Mayor Pete fills the bill, following in the Democratic Party tradition of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. A new generation of leadership is required.

John Kasich Comes Out For Impeachment

Ronald 43 Comments

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich has taken a big step and endorsed impeachment of Donald Trump, a big step, which will, hopefully, lead to more Republicans moving in that direction.

The horrible news about the abuses of office, and the collaboration of Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and others in the administration has made the constitutional crisis worse than Watergate and Richard Nixon, and requires action not only in the House of Representatives, but also by Republicans in the US Senate.

To gain 20 or more Republicans to convict Trump still seems like a long shot, but Kasich, one of the few reputable Republicans, hopefully will assist in convincing a “Profile in Courage” by Senators putting the nation ahead of their own personal ambitions and agenda.

We are in uncharted waters, and the future looks extremely scary!

The Most Powerful Woman In American History (Nancy Pelosi) Faces The Most Dangerous President In American History (Donald Trump)

Ronald 6 Comments

When the history of America from 2017 to the present is chronicled, there is no question that it will be acknowledged that the most powerful woman in American history was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and that she successfully combated the most dangerous President in American history, Donald Trump.

Trump is a bully, a misogynist, and totally out of control, but Pelosi has shown fantastic skills in confronting him, as at the White House gathering on Wednesday, where she told him that he had proved that he was connected to Russia and Vladimir Putin, and would be held accountable for that transgression.

Pelosi has been very careful in the promotion of the impeachment of Donald Trump, and has been criticized by many in her own party for the laid back approach, but Pelosi is simply making the case stronger against Trump by his own actions and utterances.

The outcome of the struggle between Pelosi and Trump is not clear, but it is without doubt that she is a “Profile in Courage”, and she will be so honored in American history long term.

The Two Democrats Who Might Replace Joe Biden, And Both Are From The Midwest Battleground

Ronald 11 Comments

Further thought and analysis on the Ohio Presidential debate of Tuesday makes this blogger and scholar believe that two Midwesterners–South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar—come out as the stars of the debate.

Both were very strong in promoting a moderate center left vision of the Democratic Party, which gives the party a better chance of success against Donald Trump.

Being from Indiana and Minnesota respectively gives either or both a better opportunity to contest the states lost by Hillary Clinton in 2016 by small margins.

So if Joe Biden slips, which seems very possible, both offer an equivalent vision of what Biden stands for, rather than the more leftist Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders.

There are still three and a half months to the first contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, so despite early indications that Biden, Warren, and Sanders have a dominant position, there is still time for alternatives, and the most likely, clearly, are Buttigieg and Klobuchar.

Impressions Of The Fourth Democratic Presidential Debate In Ohio–Eight Of The Twelve Should Continue

Ronald 20 Comments

The Democratic Presidential debate last night showed strong performances right from the beginning by Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar on the subject of health care, challenging Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders on their promotion of Medicare For All.

Joe Biden held his own, which is significant, and Julian Castro and Kamala Harris improved their position. Bernie Sanders looked in good health, and Cory Booker made some good points regarding the need to focus on the record of Donald Trump, more than criticism of some candidates by others.

Totally unimpressive were Tom Steyer, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang, and they should drop out of the race, as there are simply too many candidates.

Beto O’Rourke harmed his candidacy by his consistent stand on gun regulation including confiscation of weapons, not a winnable tactic.

In realistic terms, there should be eight Democrats left in the race—Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.

The Total Collapse Of The Reputation Of Rudy Giuliani, From “America’s Mayor”, To Widespread Corruption And Indecency!

Ronald 3 Comments

It is hard to believe that Rudy Giuliani was once “America’s Mayor”, hailed all over the nation after September 11.

In 2008, Giuliani sought the Republican nomination for President, and was perceived as a moderate mainstream Republican with some very liberal views.

But Giuliani flopped badly, after having led the polls in 2007, and being seen as a potential occupant of the Oval Office.

Giuliani has clearly deteriorated mentally and ethically since 2008, having now gone through three wives and divorces, and displaying weird, crazy behavior in recent years, particularly since tying his future to President Donald Trump,

Giuliani is now enmeshed in the Ukraine scandal, and seems likely to be indicted for corruption in his business dealings and in his work for Trump. The man who was once considered a great prosecutor now faces the likelihood of prison time, and disgrace.

It is hard to feel sympathy for Rudy Giuliani, however, as his public and private behavior has become so obnoxious and degrading, and it is obvious that Donald Trump has helped to make him yet another victim of the evil man who is ready to throw anyone and everyone under the bus. Many think Giuliani is mentally deranged and totally unstable, similar to Donald Trump.

It is now urgent that future Presidential contenders undergo mental testing, as any sane person can see that Donald Trump should have been removed from the Oval Office long ago, and by still being there, is undermining the domestic and foreign policy of America, in such a way, that it is likely to be long lasting beyond his time in office.