Author: Ronald

The Federal Court System Is Going Back To 19th Century Mentality With Mediocre Trump Appointees Unwilling To Accept “Stare Decisis” On Major Issues Supposedly Settled, And Undermining American Democracy

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America is in danger of seeing the federal court system being hijacked by President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Republican Party, and putting us back in the late 19th century “Gilded Age”, where unregulated capitalism prevailed; segregation reigned; labor was victimized; the environment was being destroyed by industrial waste; and women had no basic legal rights.

Many Trump appointees to the lower federal courts are totally incompetent, and only placed in their lifetime positions to undermine all of the progress brought about under many different Presidents and Congresses in the past century to advance human rights.

Trump appointees seem ready to defy “stare decisis”, the concept of past precedent having a major impact on many areas of the law, when cases comes to the Supreme Court and other federal courts.

So we may be seeing the end of abortion rights for women; denial of equality of racial and religious minorities; refusal to promote a more fair justice system; treating gays, lesbians and transgender in a discriminatory manner; and the reassertion of unregulated corporate power.

A Different America In 2040: More Young Minorities, More Muslims Than Jews, Older Average Age Population

Ronald 3 Comments

In just one more generation, America will be a very different nation than it was when I was born at the time of the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) in World War II’s last few months.

This blogger was born in New York City as a minority, a Jew in a primarily Protestant white America, with large percentages of Italian and Irish Catholics as the so called “minority”, along with Jews.

Yes, there were some African Americans in my graduating class, along with a few Puerto Ricans and Asian Americans, and even one native American young man.

But the idea that a century or so after my birth, in the 2040s, that we would have a population of aging white people in a nation rapidly rising in average age, and with a majority of young people being Latinos, Asians and African American ethnicity, and with more Muslims than Jews in the population, is indeed astounding.

But this is not something to mourn over, but see it as a challenge, to make a nation truly international in origin, not just from Europe, prosper and move ahead toward future challenges with optimism.

So the future is NOT the racist, nativist, white supremacist, antisemitic, and Islamophobic message sent out by Trump supporters, who also wish to control women and gays and lesbians, but rather to embrace the diversity of our nation and lead the world in tolerance.

This is something I wish for as I am now part of the aging population that wants a great future for the nation he loves!

11,037 House Members And 1,983 Senate Members Since 1789

Ronald 2 Comments

In the 230 plus years that Congress has been in existence since March 4, 1789, we have had 11,037 people serve in the House of Representatives, and 1,983 people serve in the US Senate.

10,360 members served only in the House of Representatives, while 1,306 members served only in the US Senate, and 677 members have served in both bodies of Congress.

29 members of the House of Representatives have served 40 or more years, with John Dingell of Michigan serving the longest, 59 years from 1955 to 2015.

16 Women in the House of Representatives have served 25 or more years, with Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, having served 36 plus years since 1983, the longest of any woman, and still serving, with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, being the third longest serving at nearly 32 years and counting from California since 1987.

25 US Senators have served 35 and a half years or more, with Robert Byrd of West Virginia serving nearly 51 and a half years from 1959 to 2010. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii served nearly 50 years from 1963 to 2012, while Strom Thurmond of South Carolina served 47 and a half years and was past age 100 when he left the Senate. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts served 46 years and more than 9 months from 1962 to 2009. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, still in the Senate, is 5th longest serving at 44 plus years since 1975.

The Battle In The Democratic Party Over Impeachment Vs. Democratic Goal Of Accomplishment Of Party Agenda

Ronald 49 Comments

The battle is in full swing now to move the House of Representatives toward impeachment hearings against Donald Trump.

But Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is still reluctant to move ahead, and it is causing a split within the Democratic caucus.

Donald Trump is refusing to cooperate in any fashion, including stonewalling any testimony by anyone connected to Trump, including by subpoena, and going to court to block any investigation of Trump tax returns.

Many Democrats are saying that the main emphasis of the Democratic Party should be to promote their agenda for the upcoming election, including dealing with Health Care, Global Warming, Environmental Protection, Education, the Minimum Wage, Civil Rights, and so much more.

The argument is that Donald Trump, even if impeached, will not be convicted by the Republican controlled US Senate, but the argument for doing what can be done is that it is needed to set a standard for future Presidents, so that never again, hopefully, will we have a lawless President on the level of a Donald Trump.

Despite Democratic desires to accomplish their legislative goals, the reality is that little actual legislation is possible as long as there is a divided Congress, where both parties control one chamber.

America is now, in many ways, in a greater crisis than we have had over the future of our Constitution and Bill of Rights since World War II, already seen as far greater than the Presidency of Richard Nixon. Then, many Republicans cooperated in doing what was essential to do, to get Nixon out of office, but sadly that is not the agenda now for a party which can only find one person, Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan, committed to impeachment and punishment for President Trump.

Michigan Congressman Justin Amash The Only Elected Republican Willing To Stand Up To Donald Trump On Obstruction Of Justice

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Michigan Republican Congressman Justin Amash is not someone who progressives would admire, but on the issue of Donald Trump and impeachment, he is the only Congressional Republican willing to stick his neck out, and call for the impeachment of the President for Obstruction of Justice.

Amash is a right wing Republican who has served since 2011, and is one of the most conservative members of Congress, with libertarian beliefs, and a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and a founder and Chair of the Liberty Caucus in that legislative body. He was an original Tea Party activist in 2009-2010 after Barack Obama became President.

His parents are Palestinian and Syrian Christians, so he is of Arab descent, and he represents western Michigan, including Grand Rapids, the area of Michigan represented by Gerald Ford for 25 years before he became Vice President and President.

He has been a critic of Trump from the beginning, and refused to endorse him, and now House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has repudiated him, claiming he votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi more than with his party, which is purely a lie.

Amash has voted against funding for the border wall; has been critical of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement); voted against the Muslim Ban from seven nations promoted by Donald Trump in 2017; opposed renewal of the Patriot Act in 2011 and and is a critic of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; has served on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and believes in Congress having the final say in the commitment of troops to combat overseas.

It seems as if he is a man without a party now, and it is rumored that he might run for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination in 2020, which if he does, he could help affect the election and help to cause the defeat of Donald Trump, which would be true justice!

Clinton Case And Trump Case For Impeachment Totally Different, Including Clinton Popularity Remained High, And Trump Has Never Had A Majority Popularity Rating!

Ronald 5 Comments

As the debate begins over whether Donald Trump should face impeachment by the House of Representatives, even if the US Senate will not convict, it is instructive to examine the Bill Clinton Impeachment and compare it to the proposed Donald Trump Impeachment.

Bill Clinton remained popular through the whole impeachment crisis and after, and yet the majority of the American people did not support his impeachment, based on the Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky scandals. But the Republican Party played politics, and insisted on impeaching him and bringing him to trial in the Senate, knowing full well that Clinton would NOT be removed from office, and knowing that if he was removed, Al Gore would have become President and had an edge as a sitting President for the 2000 Presidential election.

Donald Trump, on the other hand has never been popular with more than 42-43 percent of the American people, and the support for his impeachment has grown as time has passed, although a majority in polls do not yet support action to be taken, despite the clear cut abuses of power and obstruction of justice being utilized by Trump, including refusal to hand over documents and have people testify before Congressional committees. And the fact that he has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from his properties, violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, is yet another reason for his impeachment, no matter what happens in the Senate.

Democrats know that if Donald Trump were to be removed, Mike Pence would replace him, a horrifying thought, but for the record of history, it is clear that Donald Trump is more abusive of power, and violating the separation of powers and checks and balances, endangering the nation in international affairs, and in retaining the great reforms of Democratic and Republican Presidents since Theodore Roosevelt and through Barack Obama.

There is no acceptable excuse for moving ahead on impeachment, and it is time for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to stop worrying about the impact of impeachment, and do the right thing, make Donald Trump accountable under the Constitution for his violation of his Presidential oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States!

“Pro Life” Religious Extremists Are Totalitarian Minded Hypocrites Who Do Not Care About Poor Children Once They Are Born!

Ronald 6 Comments

The extreme right wing Christians who are now declaring war on abortion rights of women are totalitarian minded hypocrites who do NOT care about the lives of poor children once they are born.

They are pro birth, but not truly pro life, as many of them support capital punishment, and have no desire or interest in supporting single mothers, abused mothers, raped mothers, incest mothers, and are from states that historically have always mistreated the poor.

Yet they claim to be following the teachings of Jesus, when many are them are actually antisemites, as well as racists, nativists, and misogynists. Their only interest in the religion of Judaism is to convince them to become Christians, and even at the time when Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the evangelical preachers were preaching the virtues of their extremist views of Christianity, rather than supporting the Jewish faith.

Evangelical right wingers are not true friend of Jews, or any other faith, or of the dignity of women to control their own lives, and particularly when they are the victims of violence through rape and incest, and when they are themselves children as young as 11 or 12.

The role of extremist religion and women’s rights continues to be a battleground, and anyone who believes in the dignity of women must fight this massive campaign to outlaw legal abortion, as it is designed to harm women who will still get abortions underground, endangering their lives.

This must be a key campaign issue in the Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2020!

Donald Trump Advocates Black Spiked Wall On Mexican Border, Demonstrates How Evil And Mentally Deranged He Is!

Ronald 23 Comments

Donald Trump is becoming clearly more mentally deranged every day, as now when he advocates building a Border Wall with Mexico with a specific design.

Trump has openly said that the wall should be black steel and have spikes, with the goal of making it impossible for anyone to scale the wall, as the black steel would be too hot, and the spikes would be sharp and cause massive injuries and blood letting to occur.

How sickening and outrageous such a thought is even crossing one’s mind, let alone being expressed, as this utterance by the 45th President!

And let us not forget that at a recent rally, when someone in the crowd advocated shooting migrants trying to cross the border, Trump laughed and said only in the Florida Panhandle (where the rally occurred), would someone come up with such a thought! But the point was Trump should have immediately become angry and condemned the sick person who uttered such a thought in the crowd. Instead, the crowd laughed along with Trump, so one can imagine that many of these excuses for human beings, including women and racial minorities, not just white males, would willingly participate in mass murder, as occurred in the Holocaust under Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany!

What has happened to the moral compass of America, which clearly is a very sick nation! We have millions of racists, nativists, misogynists, antisemites, all willing to sacrifice human lives. At the same time, they are working to promote a so called Pro Life agenda for fetuses, but with no concern about the children born to poor mothers, and providing no medical, housing, or food support to many of these unfortunate families, who live in backwards states that abuse and mistreat their own population. But this is done in the name of their hypocritical religious views, which are NOT the teachings of Jesus Christ!

Is It Essential To Have A Woman On The Democratic Ticket In 2020, The Centennial Of The 19th Amendment? If So, Amy Klobuchar Is The Right Choice!

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The question arises whether it is essential to have a woman on the Democratic Presidential ticket in 2020, the Centennial of the 19th Amendment.

The experience with women on the national ticket is not a good one. Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York ran with Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale in 1984, and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska ran with Republican Presidential nominee John McCain in 2008.

Having said that, the potential women who could be on the national ticket are far superior to Ferraro and Palin.

Many observers have the feeling that no woman could engage in adequate verbal combat with Donald Trump on a debate stage.

But what about engaging in debate with Vice President Mike Pence? That seems much more promising.

The issue is which woman would be seen as best to debate, in the sense of coming across as even tempered, calm, rational, and effective in any debate with a male opponent, as neither Ferraro nor Palin came across well when debating George H. W. Bush in 1984 in the case of Ferraro, or Joe Biden in 2008 in the case of Palin.

The gut feeling this blogger and scholar has is that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar would probably be most effective in a debate. She is not seen by the population as emotional, shrill, or as someone who would be perceived as overly feminist in her views. Understand that this whole issue is not a problem with the author, but he is trying to perceive how white working class males would judge a woman candidate.

Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Kirsten Gillibrand would all have “problems” that would make them negatively seen by the group which helped to elect Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. This is reality, not what the author wishes was so, but we cannot deny the issue of misogyny.

Klobuchar would make a great Vice Presidential running mate, from the Midwest, and yet with a tradition inherited from Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone, of Democratic Farmer Labor commitment that made Minnesota one of the most advanced states politically in the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st century.

The odds of her being the Presidential nominee seem highly unlikely at this point, but she would be an excellent choice to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency with an older man as President, such as Joe Biden.

New York City Mayors, Other Mayors And The Presidency

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New York City has had Mayors who have sought the Presidency, but never has a NYC Mayor reached the White House.

With the announcement by present NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio of him becoming number 23 to run for the White House, this is a good time to look back at failed runs for the White House by NYC Mayors, and the history of other Mayors who have run for President.

DeWitt Clinton was the Federalist nominee for President in 1812 against President James Madison, but lost.

John Lindsay switched from the Republican to Democratic Party in 1972, but lost early in the process and withdrew his candidacy by April.

Rudy Giuliani was leading in polls in 2007 as a potential Republican nominee, but flopped badly and withdrew in January 2008.

Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, then an Independent, then a Democrat, considered announcing in 2016 and 2020, but decided not to at the present time, due to Joe Biden entering the race with similar views.

Additionally, a future President ran for Mayor of NYC in 1886 as a Republican, and ended up third, and yet went on to the White House, and that was Theodore Roosevelt.

Additionally, we have former Buffalo, New York Mayor and New York Governor Grover Cleveland who went on to the Presidency in 1884.

Other Mayors who ran for the Presidency include:

Hubert Humphrey of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who went on to the Senate and Vice Presidency, but lost the Presidential election of 1968 to Richard Nixon.

Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, who ran for the Democratic nomination unsuccessfully in 1972.

Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio, who also served in Congress, and was a Democratic candidate unsuccessfully in 2004 and 2008.

Martin O’Malley of Baltimore, Maryland, who also served as Maryland Governor, and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Additionally, two Presidents who succeeded after the death of the incumbent President, had served as Mayors of small cities–Andrew Johnson as Greeneville, Tennessee Mayor; and Calvin Coolidge as Northampton, Massachusetts Mayor, and was successful in winning his own term as President in 1924.

And now, of course, we have four former Mayors running in the Democratic Presidential competition:

Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey

Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas

John Hickenlooper of Denver, Colorado

Bernie Sanders of Burlington, Vermont

We also have three sitting Mayors now running for the Democratic nomination:

Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana

Bill de Blasio of New York City

Wayne Messam of Miramar, Florida