Author: Ronald

Trump’s Crime Against Children And Parents At The Mexico Border: A Crime Against Humanity, For Which His Administration Should Be Prosecuted!

Ronald 8 Comments

It is enough to make any decent human being vomit to witness what is happening at the US border with Mexico in Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico, where immigrant migrant children are being ripped from the arms and protection of their mothers and fathers by border agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who are acting like Nazi Gestapo agents.

Babies being breastfed by their mothers; wailing toddlers; children of older age; and preteens and teenagers are being effectively incarcerated by order of the racist, nativist government of Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions and others in the Trump regime, in former Walmarts and newly planned “Tent Cities” in the hot summer in Texas, reminding us of former Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio who set up such inhumane conditions, and was pardoned by Donald Trump!

And Jeff Sessions has the gall to quote the Bible in defense of the inhumanity being practiced, and Bible Toters are promoting child abuse, creating emotional damage to children which will last a lifetime, and will likely cause mental trauma that may lead to these children as adults to commit crimes in revenge for their mistreatment.

One can be certain that many parents will never find their children again as record keeping and accountability are not evident, and that there will be many cases of their babies being sold into slavery, and that sexual abuse will occur, including mixing boys of prepubescent and teenage years together, encouraging bullyism and abuse by older against younger.

The horrors of what is going on makes Trump and his government ever more lacking in ethics, morals, common decency, conscience, compassion or empathy!

The so called “family values” claim of the Republican Party is a mockery, and yet we see little reaction by Republican Congressional leaders and those in Texas!

This is a massive violation of human rights that cannot be allowed to stand, as what Trump is doing is against international law, and stains the image of all decent Americans, that we allow such abuses to go on for any amount of time without immediate rectification!

Trump and his cabinet advisers involved in this crime against humanity need to be removed and prosecuted for what they have done to our nation and its people!

Could The Equal Rights Amendment Become The 28th Amendment? The 27th Amendment As A Case Study

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Lo and Behold!

The proposed Equal Rights Amendment, passed through both houses of Congress by wide margins, and then ratified by 35 states between 1972 and 1977, three states short of the three fourths or 38 states needed to ratify, and abandoned after one three year extension from the original seven year plan, in 1982, suddenly has life again!

Nevada’s legislature became state 36 in 2017, and Illinois just became the 37th recently, and now North Carolina is moving ahead on the measure, even though it is 41 years since the original 35 states ratified it, and 46 years since it was passed by both houses of Congress. Also, as a backup, the states of Arizona, Utah, Florida and Virginia are moving in the same direction.

There is precedent for this great delay in the 27th Amendment, suggested in 1789, and only finally ratified by enough states in 1992, mandating that Congress cannot raise its own pay during the same session of Congress that they enact a raise, but only for the succeeding Congress.

If that can happen 203 years after the original enactment, then why not 46 years?

George Will, the conservative ideologue, is bitterly opposed, as he argues progress has been made for women as members of Congress and in society and in law. from what it was in the 1970s.

While that is true, there is still no reason NOT to put women in the Constitution specifically, as the only mention is the 19th Amendment in 1920, giving women the right to vote long after the first push for suffrage at the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.

Ranking Vice Presidents And Their Influence On Their Presidents, From Richard Nixon To Mike Pence

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Recent information has made it clear that Vice President Mike Pence is a weak Vice President, apparently intimidated by President Donald Trump, and unwilling to challenge him in any way.

In fact, Mike Pence has fawned over Donald Trump in a very degrading way and manner, that we have never seen in any other modern Vice President.

Until Richard Nixon under Dwight D. Eisenhower, no Vice President ever had much impact on their President.

Nixon became the first activist Vice President, given lots of assignments and work, but never openly fawning on Ike.

Lyndon B. Johnson under John F. Kennedy was not utilized very effectively, but he never kowtowed to Kennedy.

Hubert Humphrey under LBJ knew he had to support the Vietnam War, but did not lose his dignity in the process.

Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon actually did a lot of work attacking the news media for Nixon, although he was poorly treated and abandoned by Nixon when he caused his own legal trouble, that forced him out of office.

Gerald Ford kept his dignity under Nixon in the eight months he was Vice President, before succeeding Nixon in the White House.

Nelson Rockefeller was given responsibilities by Gerald Ford, more than anyone since Nixon under Ike.

Walter Mondale became the most active and engaged Vice President, totally on the same wave length with Jimmy Carter.

George H. W. Bush, while not a “bosom buddy” of Ronald Reagan, played an important role and had total respect of Reagan.

Dan Quayle was a disaster under George H. W. Bush, and a real embarrassment, but Bush always treated him with respect, nevertheless, and kept him on the ticket for 1992.

Al Gore was very close and involved with Bill Clinton, until the Monica Lewinsky Scandal, which led to a breach never fully healed.

Dick Cheney was almost President in the sense that he was leaned on by George W. Bush in his first term, losing some of his power and input in the second term.

Joe Biden had the closest, most intimate relationship with Barack Obama, at least on the level of Walter Mondale with Jimmy Carter, and they remain close today, as do Mondale and Carter.

And now, Mike Pence, who seems afraid of his boss, Donald Trump, and it seems clear he has no guts to challenge Trump on anything, making him look totally wimpy and weak.

We are in a constitutional crisis, but Mike Pence is not willing to fight for the country and its democracy, but rather for Tyrant Donald Trump, so he will go down in history as a disgraceful Vice President, with no guts or courage to challenge Trump, and take away his authority under the 25th Amendment!

So, in conclusion, ranking the last 13 Vice Presidents in influence, one would say the ranking would be:

Joe Biden and Walter Mondale tied for first

Cheney, Gore and Bush tied for second.

Rockefeller and Nixon tied for third.

Johnson and Humphrey tied for fourth.

Ford, for shortage of time and circumstances, fifth.

Pence might be sixth, ahead of Agnew and Quayle at the bottom of the list.

Our future with Vice President Pence is not promising!

Donald Trump Throws South Korea And Japan “Under The Bus” With His Love Affair With Kim, And Tears Apart The G-7 Alliance! What Is Going On?

Ronald 7 Comments

Donald Trump has done the most egregious action imaginable!

He has thrown South Korea and Japan “under the bus” with his love affair with Kim Jong Un, and he has torn apart the G-7 Alliance with his attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.

Trump is a whacko, who has been manipulated, charmed, and bamboozled by a man half his age, and he is undermining the Korean Peninsula and national security.

And the idea that he would be invited to North Korea, and have this mass murderer, biggest violator of human rights, be invited to the White House?

This is pure insanity, and the US Senate must stop playing politics, and the Republican Party must speak out and fight against any agreement that Donald Trump negotiated without any staff or advisers with him, and is imposing on our allies in Asia, and on the American people.

Donald Trump is undermining all sense of propriety in foreign affairs, and to repudiate our allies for the past 70 years, and insult our Canadian neighbors, along with the British, French, German, and Japanese leadership is totally beyond the pale!

The Dangers Of The Trump-Kim Jong Un Summit

Ronald 4 Comments

Donald Trump is going into the summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in a severely weakened state.

He has just alienated America’a G-7 allies, and particularly, tore into Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for no verifiable reason.

He is saying that he will know in the first minute whether Kim Jong Un is serious, going on gut alone.

He seems ready to abandon South Korea and Japan, and alienate China, forgetting they are in the region, and that their interests must be considered.

He goes in with absolutely no detailed knowledge of Korean history, or the dangers North Korea represents.

He loves to be praised, and Kim could flatter him with his smiles and cordiality, which would all be theater and nothing more.

He could also overreact to any disagreements that arise at the summit, and lead America toward use of nuclear weapons.

We have a psycho, a mad man, who lives in his own reality, and could cause World War Three!

We are, in many ways, at the most delicate moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962,

And Donald Trump is no John F. Kennedy!

Donald Trump Represents A Major Threat To World Peace And Stability, With His Repudiation Of G-7 Allies, And Bromance With Authoritarians!

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WE have just lived through the most insane, crazy moment in international diplomacy in our lifetime!

We have witnessed the President of the United States act like a petulant child, denounce our long term allies, refuse to sign a joint statement of the actions of the G-7 summit, and see our President personally insult and denounce our longest alliance and friendship with our Canadian neighbors and its leader, Justin Trudeau.

We have seen Angela Merkel of Germany become the leader of the Free World Democracies.

We have seen Emmanuel Macron of France give up on the personal niceties of an earlier “touchy feely” set of meetings with our President.

We have seen Theresa May of Great Britain totally exasperated with an American President on the level of no such similar event in the past century.

We have seen Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe very concerned at the potential abandonment of his nation’s interests in the upcoming negotiations of our President with North Korea.

We have seen our President express more closeness and camaraderie with Russia’s Vladimir Putin than with our past three Presidents (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama), as he throws them effectively “under the bus’, and particularly blaming Barack Obama for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to the G-8 summit becoming the G-7 Summit, and a future possibly of a G-6 summit without the United States.

We have a President, Donald Trump, representing a major threat to world peace and stability with his repudiation of G-7 Allies, and a “Bromance” with Authoritarian leaders beyond just Vladimir Putin.

When will this nightmare end, and Donald Trump be removed from power, before he does permanent damage to our nation and the world?

Or is it already too late?

The Disaster Of Puerto Rico, 4,645 Dead, More Than September 11: A Violation Of Human Rights Perpetrated By The Trump Administration

Ronald 3 Comments

The tragic disaster of Puerto Rico, whose population are US Citizens, is a massive violation of human rights perpetrated by the Trump Administration.

The total of 4.645 dead, not the 64 first stated, is an unbelievable loss of life, nearly two and a half times the loss of life in Hurricane Katrina (1833), and one and a half times the losses of September 11 (2996).

And yet, nothing is said or no apologies offered, or mistakes acknowledged, by Donald Trump or any of his underlings in the cabinet, and also in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has the primary responsibility in natural disasters.

There is no conscience, no sorrow, no regrets, as Trump and his advisers are openly racist against Puerto Ricans.

If this loss of life had occurred in Texas or Florida, we would have heard mass denunciation of the lack of response, but the Republican Party in Congress has nothing to say about this great tragedy.

And with the hurricane season upon us, and reconstruction of facilities not accomplished in Puerto Rico, there is great fear of the final decimation of the island, which deserves equal treatment and consideration as much as any state and any other group of people.

If the government cannot guarantee the safety and security of its own population, then the government has failed the ultimate test—protection of national security of all of its citizens.

On this ground alone, Donald Trump and his ilk should be forced out of office, and indicted, convicted, and imprisoned for basic violation of human rights!

Celebration, As This “Progressive Professor” Blog Reaches Its 6,000th Posting, After Nearly Ten Years!

Ronald 6 Comments

Today, June 8, 2018 is a day to celebrate, as this posting you are now reading is the 6,000th posting since the author began this expression of his beliefs and of important historical and political events nearly ten years ago.

In two months and three days (August 11), it will be exactly ten years since my son, David Feinman, knowing my strong knowledge of history, and passion for politics, suggested that I start a blog.

Now, nearly ten years later, my blog not only includes the 6,000 postings, but also many intelligent and contributory comments by my readers and supporters.

It also includes a wide variety of web sites on the right side, as well as all of my History News Network articles, and those reproduced on Time and Newsweek, as well as articles on The Hill website.

Additionally, my C Span events on my Assassinations book, and a wide multitude of radio appearances are included, especially those on WWGH 107.1 FM, Marion, Ohio, over the past year, as well as others on Blog Talk Radio and other sites, and also relevant newspaper articles, and several videos of lectures on Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson at Florida Atlantic University Lifelong Learning in Jupiter, Florida.

This has been a fascinating and enriching nearly ten years, and I hope to continue to do this blog for many more years.

And I invite all of my readers to continue to contribute their comments and ideas, as they add a lot to this blog!

Donald Trump’s Destruction Of American Alliances With Our Long Term Allies, And His Total Lack Of Knowledge Of History

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Donald Trump is totally ignorant of American and World History, and could not pass an exam for a high school diploma, let alone a college degree.

Trump yesterday brought up to the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, in a phone call, the so called “fact” that Canada burned the White House in the War of 1812, a total fabrication, as it was Great Britain, which controlled Canada as a colony, that did so in August 1814.

What is the point of bringing this up, even if it were true?

In wartime, harm is done by both sides, and we have plenty to be accountable for as a nation in our many wars we have waged and continue to wage.

Even to bring up the British is unseemly, as this is is history, but we and they have moved beyond this, and to have grudges over actions taken long ago, is a waste of time.

Both Canada and Great Britain, along with other nations Trump has insulted (Australia, France) have been great friends for a long time, and our closest allies in the world.

Also, add Germany, Japan, and South Korea to the list, with them being more recent allies since World War II and the Korean War, but reliable allies.

Donald Trump has destroyed any camaraderie with our long term allies, including the other nations in NATO, and is undermining any cooperation with the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and our Asian allies by his “Trade Wars”, that will only lead to greater tensions and suspicions, and likely worldwide economic depression as in the 1930s.

It only helps our rivals, our competitors including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

The insanity of Donald Trump,and his total ignorance and stupidity on history, are harming long term interests of America, and must be combated in every way conceivable!

This situation even includes Trump’s condemnation of Football players taking a knee for the National Anthem, and Trump rescinding an invitation for the Philadelphia Eagles to come to the White House over it, even though no Eagles player actually took a knee, but at the same time not knowing the words of the National Anthem that he insists everyone stand for!

Trump’s “Spygate” Claim: Repudiated By Trey Gowdy, Andrew Napolitano, Shepard Smith, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, And Other “Allies” Of Trump

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Donald Trump promoting a “Spygate” claim, that his Presidential campaign was illegally spied upon, and his continued charge of a “witch hunt” going on with his administration being illegally investigated, is all preposterous and just in his sick head.

Even Republicans, conservatives, and Fox News Channel personalities are dismissing such crazy talk.

Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, Fox News Channel’s well known conservative attorney Andrew Napolitano and talk show host Shepard Smith, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have all rejected such accusations.

Donald Trump is showing more maniacal and conspiratorial behavior by the day, and yet, no real move against the dangers of his mental instability are evident within his party or his cabinet and advisers.

So the danger to the nation and the world grows exponentially, and it is time to end this nightmare, but no sign of any such action coming, a very depressing situation!