Magnificent Victory On All Fronts, And Repudiation Of Trump And MAGA!

Ronald 31 Comments

American Democracy survives, as on Election Day 2025, there was a magnificent victory on all fronts by Democrats, everywhere one looked!

From the victory of a Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City Mayor, to a moderate centrist Democrat Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey elected as Governors, to a 2-1 victory for the Proposition of reapportionment of House seats in California, and even the retention of three state Supreme Court Justices in Pennsylvania, Democrats revived after the tragedy of the Presidential Election of 2024.

The Democratic Party showed its diversity, with a Muslim NYC Mayor, and Women Governors with military background in Virginia and New Jersey!

With all of the disillusionment the Democrats have gone through this past year since Donald Trump was elected, the reality remains that the Democratic Party IS “the party of the people”, of all backgrounds, and its diversity is its strength!

The Republican Party has become a party of sycophants to an authoritarian Fascist dictator wannabe, who is mentally deficient, mean spirited, cruel, heartless, and promoting an attack on democracy and the rule of law.

The Republicans are primarily a party of those who promote racism, nativism, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and homophobia, allowing extremist white supremacist Christianity to become its central message, even though Donald Trump is, most certainly, totally irreligious!

Dick Cheney, Most Controversial Vice President, Dies At Age 84!

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Dick Cheney, the 46th Vice President of the United States, under the two terms of President George W. Bush, passed away at age 84 on November 3.

The most controversial Vice President since John C. Calhoun under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson 170 years earlier, Cheney was termed “Darth Vader” by the multitude of critics, who condemned Cheney and Bush for intervention in Iraq on false premises of “Weapons of Mass Destruction” that were never found, but caused the deaths of about 4,500 American military personnel in a war that lasted for nearly a decade.

Cheney was seen as corrupt in his corporate dealings, and had a tough public persona that caused great anger and vehemence against him.

Cheney promoted the use of torture, including waterboarding, against Muslim suspects, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Cheney came across as “tough as nails”, harsh, uncompromising, and many observers felt he was more the President in the first term of George W. Bush, than Bush himself.

In the second term, Bush became more assertive, and the role of Cheney declined in influence.

The public image never changed, but ironically, Cheney and his daughter, former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, became the image of a family which resisted the threat of Donald Trump, making Dick Cheney in retrospect seem less evil and threatening by comparison.

The idea that Dick Cheney would actually “cross the aisle” and vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 is a sign of how much the Republican Party had changed from the time of Bush-Cheney to the time of the authoritarian oriented Donald Trump!

Cheney had served as a Wyoming Congressman and Republican Whip in the House of Representatives, after being White House Chief Of Staff to President Gerald Ford, before being a creditable Secretary of Defense under President George H W Bush.

A Truly Divided Nation With No Sign Of Compromise!

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As America votes in off year elections in just a few states, the recognition is that America is a truly divided nation with no sign of compromise, as we move toward the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Republic, with every indication of Fascist authoritarianism being dominant under Donald Trump!

At present, there are 25 Trump states and 19 Anti Trump states, with only six states really competitive, both in support or opposition to Trump, and in percentages of seats in the House of Representatives.

In the 25 Trump states, 22 of them have Republican governors, and all of the state legislatures and Senate seats, as well.

Only six states really remain “competitive”—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada, a total of 77 Electoral College votes.

In Electoral Votes, the Democrats have 226 from the 19 Anti Trump states and the District of Columbia. The 25 Trump states have 235 electoral votes.

Also, Nebraska and Maine have divided electoral votes, with the Second District of Nebraska often having one electoral vote going to Democrats and the Second District of Maine often having one electoral vote going to Republicans, so they balance each other.

The states that have strongly gone Republican, while formerly competitive, are Texas, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina.

With Texas and Florida still gaining population growth, the likelihood is that both states will have more electoral votes after reapportionment in 2032, which makes the Democrats facing a massive challenge in future elections.

And California, Illinois, and New York are likely to lose Electoral votes, necessitating the need for Democrats to win the six “swing states” that have been in play, but won recently by Republicans, as in 2024!

The Horrors And Fears Latinos Now Face Due To ICE Raids!

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Tragically, Latinos in America, whether born in America, or naturalized citizens, or those with a “green card”, or those who are undocumented, face the horrors and fear of ICE raids!

This is true in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, and elsewhere, as thousands upon thousands of immigrants who washed cars, shopped for groceries, delivered food, walked dogs, drove their cars and attended schools and jobs, are being summarily arrested and facing deportation!

Mothers and fathers and even teenagers have been separated from their families without notice or knowledge of where such victims are being sent on the way to deportation.

This is a civil liberties crisis unmatched in American history, with an out of control Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency waging massive raids, with a hardline attitude by Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, and others, who are acting as authoritarians under their sycophantic loyalty to Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court has bent to the will of the Trump Administration, with six of the nine members of the high Court giving leeway to whatever is occurring, which is violating the Bill Of Rights, and the future will be determined in future cases being argued on the Court.

At the same time, lower courts have often blocked Trump actions, so we have a split judicial system, but with the Supreme Court soon to decide just how far these violations of basic human rights will be implemented long term.

The lives of these unfortunate victims are being upended, as people stay home from work and school, and are unable to pay their bills, and have to depend on others for grocery shopping.

“The American Dream” is being upended, and is, sadly, likely to get worse, under a Supreme Court more extreme than any in a century since the 1920s, as the advancements of the previous Warren and Burger Courts are being upended by the Roberts Court!

42 Million Americans Have Food Stamps (SNAP), Now On Hold As November Begins!

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Waking up on the first day of November, 42 million Americans are being denied basic federal assistance to insure they have food, a travesty caused by the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, on top of the escalation of premiums for the Affordable Care Act, which if not modified, will lead to millions of Americans without any health care coverage in 2026!

And the irony is that a majority of those who are going without food support and health care coverage are residents of “Red” states, but the Republican Party and Donald Trump have no concern for their own constituents.

SNAP primarily supports children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and the highest percentage of people who receive these meager benefits are found in Louisiana, the home state of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and second ranking House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Also high in percentage of people covered by SNAP are the Republican states of Oklahoma and West Virginia,

SNAP households with children are 34 percent; with elderly individuals 33 percent; with nonelderly individuals with a disability 18 percent; and with adults ages 18-49 without either a disability or children with 17 percent. Of course, some households include multiple categories.

Nearly four out of five household in 2023 include a child, elderly individual, or nonelderly individual with a disability.

20 percent of the population in Louisiana, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia receive SNAP benefits, and overall, 12 percent of the American people receive SNAP benefits.

This disastrous situation needs to be resolved NOW! 🙁

Trump, Hegseth Violate International Law By Attacking Ships In Caribbean, Rather Than Navy Stopping Ships To Investigate If Engaged In Drug Activities!

Ronald 12 Comments

The United States government, under President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, have been engaged in a multitude of attacks on boats in the Caribbean and a few in the Pacific Ocean as well, mostly off the coast of Venezuela, waging war on what they claim are drug dealers, but have no proof of such. A total of 14 attacks, killing about 60 people have taken place in the past few weeks.

The US Navy and US Coast Guard could stop these boats, each of which have only a few people on board, and if they were engaged in drug trafficking, they could arrest them without much use of force.

As it is, a few people have survived, and have been returned to their nation of origin, which indicates that they were NOT involved in drug trafficking, because if so, they should have been brought to the US for prosecution.

So what is going on here is illegal under international law, and the UN Human Rights Commission has condemned the attacks.

It is a prelude to a likely attempt to invade Venezuela, which is an unfriendly nation, but is not clearly involved in any activities that allow the United States to use military force.

Government Paralyzed As Health Care Costs Skyrocket!

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The US government is under lockdown, while Donald Trump has been gallivanting all over Asia, ignoring the reality of massive health care cost increases, due to the passage by the MAGA Republican Party majority in Congress of the so called “Big and Beautiful Bill”, which gave massive tax cuts to corporations and billionaires.

With massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP (Food Stamps) for 42 million people, and the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), it means tens of millions of lower middle class and poor Americans will face hunger, and lack of health care protections, a totally outrageous and cruel reality.

No one in America should face hunger and starvation, or inability to have medical coverage, in a nation which professes the “right to life” of fetuses, but once born, no concern on the part of the Republican Party and Donald Trump.

Four Democrats, Straight White Christian Men, May Be Best Alternatives For 2028!

Ronald 5 Comments

In a time of so much division and conflict in America, it is noticeable that most of the potential Democratic Party Presidential contenders are perceived as having disadvantages in a time of white Christian nationalist extremism taking over the Republican Party, encouraged by Donald Trump.

The following list of 20 potential Presidential contenders is quite revealing, as we have the elections next week in NYC, New Jersey, Virginia, and the California vote on reapportionment of Congressional seats.

So we have potential Presidential contenders who are females—Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Klobuchar.

So we have potential Presidential contenders who are African Americans or Latino or Asian ethnicity—Wes Moore, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Stephen A. Smith, Ruben Gallego, Ro Khanna.

So we have potential Presidential contenders who are Jewish—JD Pritzker, Josh Shapiro, Jared Polis, Jon Ossoff, Josh Green.

So we have potential Presidential contenders who are gay—Pete Buttigieg, Jared Polis.

And then, we have white male “straight” Christian Presidential contenders—Gavin Newsom, Andy Beshear, Chris Murphy, Mark Kelly.

One could argue that in the present political climate, the latter four names—all white male “straight” Christian contenders—might be the best bet moving forward, although saying that is tragic, as it should not matter if one is a female, a racial minority, Jewish, or Gay individual.

Other than Barack Obama, the sad truth is that no woman, racial minority, Jewish, or gay politician, has been able to break through to this point, a sad commentary on American life!

Pure Hysteria About Mamdani “Socialism”, Depicting Him As A “Communist” And “Islamic Terrorist”, By Republicans!

Ronald 8 Comments

New York City is very likely to elect Zohran Mamdani the 111th Mayor a week from now, despite the dire warnings being spread by Republicans and corporate leaders, and even many religious leaders, both Jewish and otherwise.

There is pure hysteria being spread that Mamdani, a self described “Democratic Socialist”, is a “Communist” and an “Islamic Terrorist”, as he is of the Muslim faith.

The Jewish community is deeply divided over Mamdani, who has been harshly critical of the Israel-Gaza War, which has killed about 65,000 Palestinians. Some Jewish groups who are totally supportive of any tactic or policy of the Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu see Mamdani as a dire threat to Jews in New York City and elsewhere.

The fact that Mamdani has plans to help the struggling middle class and poor, rather than cater to the wealthy elite, also has led the Republican Party nationally under Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, to portray him with the lunatic accusation that he is a “Communist’, which demonstrates total ignorance and stupidity about the meaning of the term.

If anything, Trump himself being too “cozy” with Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and Kim Jong Un of North Korea (both Communists), belies the manipulation of public opinion being perpetrated by a Republican Party, which clearly does not care about the rapidly worsening economic conditions caused by Trump’s refusal to care about the economic plight of tens of millions of Americans who were told the cost of living would decrease under Trump in his second term.

The Wiping Out Of History By Donald Trump: Museums And The White House! :(

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President Donald Trump has declared war on History, attacking various museums and their exhibits, and destroying the East Wing of the White House without any input, consultation, or authorization by any agency or organization.

For someone like this historian and scholar, this is a very depressing situation!

Interference with museum exhibits at the National African American Museum and National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, along with the National Museum of American History, National Gallery of Art, and all other Smithsonian Museums is an attempt to wipe out truth, and distort the reality of the American past.

The same situation affects all National Parks and Monuments, with “sanitizing” of the reality of these sites.

Additionally, interference with the Library Of Congress, and cultural institutions, such as the Kennedy Center For The Perfoming Arts, is infuriating!

Declaring war on “DEI”, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, is trying to repeal the 20th Century Civil Rights Movement, and reforms moving forward on race and gender, and instead working to impose white male dominance of all cultural institutions!