American Democracy

Desire Vs Reality: Democrats At This Point Must Settle For Half Social Infrastructure Ambitions!

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Sadly, it is now clear that Joe Biden and progressive Democrats have no choice to but accept a Social Infrastructure bill worth about half of the originally planned $3.5 trillion to help make life better for everyday Americans.

This author and scholar is furious about the impact of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, as well as some moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives.

But this is the reality when we have an evenly divided US Senate and a House of Representatives with a narrow margin of six votes.

But consider that IF Georgia had not elected two Democratic Senators in January—Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff–the first elected African American and first Jewish senators in Georgia history—the Republicans would be running the Senate under Mitch McConnell.

So the goal now is to accomplish what can be done, and try to work in the first half of 2022 for more, or make it the key campaign issue for the Congressional elections coming up next November.

Right now, celebrating what can be done, which advances the American nation, is still a major positive for Democrats, and it still will be the major domestic initiative, along with the financial assistance to deal with the COVID 19 Pandemic, that we have seen since Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society nearly sixty years ago.

So let us be happy for what can be done, and work to accomplish more Democratic Senators in the midterms, as there are more Republican seats up for election, and five Republicans are leaving, and more extreme nominees are likely, which, hopefully, will cause a major Democratic edge, despite historical trends, as this is a crisis situation for American democracy!

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

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Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

Voting Rights Extension 2006: 98-0 In Senate! Voting Rights Extension 2021–Rejected By Republicans!

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Today is the 10th Anniversary of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC.

It is very clear what Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he was alive today–total anger at what the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, has done–to work to destroy the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson, and reaffirmed as recently as 2006, under President George W. Bush, when the US Senate voted 98-0 to renew it, with full backing of the Republican President and his party unanimously.

But now, in the age of Donald Trump and a Republican Party morphing into the old segregationist Southern Democratic Party from Reconstruction times to the 1960s, we are stunned to see not one Republican Senator—not even Mitt Romney, nor Ben Sasse, nor Lisa Murkowski, nor Susan Collins—willing to vote to overcome the filibuster tactic. This vote was just to consider and discuss and debate a Voting Rights Act to restore the damage done by the US Supreme Court in 2013 in Shelby County V Holder, and by many Southern and Western states legislatures since then, to restrict the right to vote, the bedrock of a democracy!

The Republican Party has lost its credibility completely as a serious alternative conservative party, and now is just a bunch of power seeking, phony so called “religious’ people, who are out to promote white supremacy, nativism and misogyny! They are out to promote election subversion and voter suppression and deny the right to vote to millions of Americans!

The party will not recover long term if it does not abandon Donald Trump now, and there is no sign of that occurring!

Fox News Channel: 25 Years Of Promoting Hatred, Bigotry, Lies, Fear, And Evil!

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Fox News Channel, the purveyor of hatred, bigotry, lies, fear, and evil, is now celebrating its 25th anniversary, being created in 1996.

It has poisoned the media environment, and allowed demagogues to prosper, including, most notably, Donald Trump.

Their evening news anchors, past and present, have done great harm to the concept of truth and the need for cooperation and unity to deal with the problems the nation has faced in the past quarter century.

Such horrendous individuals, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Judge Jeanine Pirro, along with many others past and present, have misled Americans by promoting the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump won the Presidential Election of 2020; promoted white supremacy, racism and nativism; encouraged Americans to resist COVID 19 vaccinations and mask mandates; and so much else!

But the evil and lies are not just about the present, but undermining American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law in all of the events and controversies since the late 1990s, including the contentious Presidential Election of 2000; the September 11 attacks and the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars; the Barack Obama years; and the Donald Trump Presidency.

Former Republicans Who Are Conservatives Will Support Democrats As Only Way To Stop Fascism

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Christine Todd Whitman—Miles Taylor—Max Boot.

Former New Jersey Governor–Security expert in the George W. Bush and Donald Trump Administrations–Conservative Writer and Historian.

The first two in the NY Times, and the last one in the Washington Post, made clear their intentions for the future.

These are three Republicans who would define themselves as conservatives, along with many others, who have come to the smart conclusion that the Donald Trump dominated Republican Party in Congress and the states MUST be defeated soundly in 2022 as part of a plan to expunge the Fascist, authoritarian nature of a major political party.

So they and others have dedicated themselves to voting Democratic in the upcoming elections, not because they necessarily agree on all matters with Democrats, but simply because it is the only alternative to excise the cancer of Donald Trump and his minions.

This is not a laughing matter, as American democracy and the rule of law is at stake, and only a sound defeat of the evil and dangerous Trump control of the GOP can save the day.

As this author and blogger has stated in the past five years, the Republican Party may need to be put in the dustbin of history, and a new, responsible, and reasonable conservative alternative to the Democrats needs to be created from scratch, a little like the birth of the Republican party in the death throes of the Whig Party in the 1850s.

The War On Knowledge, Facts, Truth, Particularly On History And Science!

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In 2021, America sadly lives in a time of a war on knowledge, facts, and truth!

This is particularly true on the subjects of history and science!

We are being told that the sad and troubling moments of American history should not be taught to our younger generation, and that the myth of perfectibility and positive moments should be taught instead, rather than facing the widespread reality of racism, sexism, nativism, and the promotion of evil leaders over time who have undermined American democracy!

We are also being told that science is not to be respected or believed, and that scientists and doctors are conspiring against the health of the American people in regards to the COVID 19 Pandemic! This is a dangerous conspiracy theory and will cause the longevity of the pandemic!

And former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has proposed that parents decide what the teachers of their children are to teach, to control the curriculum, a shocking and outrageous assertion! A vast majority of parents, sorry to say, are ignorant, lacking in appropriate educational credentials, and even if so called “educated”, it is not their place to decide the curriculum and promote mind control!

America Is In A New “Gilded Age” Of Obscene Wealth And Monopoly Capitalism: Reform Is Essential!

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At the beginning of the 20th century, America escaped the Gilded Age period of obscene wealth and monopoly capitalism, under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Robert LaFollette Sr., George Norris, and others who promoted the Progressive Era.

The Progressive Era was far from perfect, but it gave hope of escaping the worst elements of the GIlded Age in the last third of the 19th century.

We have had ups and downs since the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the New Frontier, and Great Society, particularly with the triumph of conservatism under Ronald Reagan and the two Presidents Bush, and then made ever worse by Donald Trump.

But now, the news of billionaires having arrangements to keep their wealth from being taxed by overseas havens and even South Dakota allowing such reprehensible tactics is highly disturbing. This, along with the clear cut monopoly of Facebook promoting division, conflict, polarization, and affecting even young girls’ self image due to the toxic Instagram social media site, cries out for strong movement toward another “Progressive Era”.

The idea that concentration of wealth and power rivals and is clearly greater than the time of John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J P Morgan, and other monopolists of the late 19th and early 20th century is totally outrageous!

But is it possible in a nation with a 50-50 US Senate and a six vote margin in the House of Representatives to accomplish necessary reform?

This present, disturbing situation is a massive crisis of American democracy, with the threat of Donald Trump possibly regaining power, and destroying any possibility of reform!

Facebook And Social Media In General A Deleterious Force: A Need For Regulation!

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This author and blogger can recall the “good old days”, when there was no Facebook and other social media companies, obsessed by profit, and unconcerned about dividing America into opposing forces that see those who disagree with them as dire enemies.

The expose by a whistle blower of what many have sensed was reality has led this author and blogger to decide not to spend time on social media, and instead to back off and focus more on the major news sources to keep up with the constant flow of events.

Despite the criticism of reputable journalism sources–including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times–the record of their reliability over the long haul makes them the best source of information. They are more reliable than even electronic media on cable networks.

Clearly, there needs to be some kind of government regulation to overcome the reality that social media helped to inspire the January 6 Insurrection, and is a danger to the future of American democracy. Also, it is clear that the COVID-19 Pandemic and resistance to vaccination and masking is due to the influence of Facebook in particular, and that Instagram, owned by Facebook, has had a horrific event on self image, particularly of teenage girls.

Social Media has gone out of control, of any sense of responsibility to America, only centered on profits!

Automatic Mail Ballots Should Be Sent By All States To All Voters As A National Law To Insure Voting Rights!

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Nine states and Washington, DC send automatic mail ballots to all eligible voters who reside in their states.

These states include:

California
Colorado
Hawaii
Nevada
New Jersey
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington State
Washington, DC

There is no viable reason why voters have to show up in person to vote, as long as they are registered and live in the state they reside in.

Such a system of mail in voting boosts voting, particularly of poor people, racial minorities, the disabled, members of the military, and the elderly.

Voting rights were guaranteed over time, and then added to by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with Constitutional amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26, and so therefore, there should be ZERO boundaries for voting!

If we are to remain a democracy, this needs to become a national law that goes into effect by the Presidential Election of 2024, if not earlier with the Midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

Joe Biden At The United Nations: International Respectability Of US Is Returning

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Joe Biden hit a homerun at the United Nations General Assembly today.

Biden restored the international respectability of the US, making clear he values close ties and cooperation with the world body.

The damage done by Donald Trump was massive, but now America is on the right course.

Biden warned about the danger to American democracy that had been presented by Trump’s abuses, but reassured the world that America was back.

The future of international relations is extremely important, and Joe Biden took a major step in restoring that crucial matter.