George W. Bush

Mitt Romney And Harvard: A Phony Issue!

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Barack Obama went to Harvard.

George W. Bush went to Harvard.

John F. Kennedy went to Harvard.

Franklin D. Roosevelt went to Harvard.

Theodore Roosevelt went to Harvard.

Rutherford B. Hayes went to Harvard.

John Quincy Adams went to Harvard.

John Adams went to Harvard.

A total of EIGHT Presidents went to Harvard!

Mitt Romney, if he won the White House,. would be the NINTH to have gone to Harvard.

But Romney tried to use this fact, of Obama’s Harvard Law School degree, against him last week, which is awfully lame, when Romney received not only a law degree, but also a business degree from Harvard, and spent four years in Cambridge, as compared to Obama’s three years at the law school.

What is Romney trying to do?

is he trying to say that one should not elect people who went to Harvard, and that no Harvard educated people should be in the cabinets or in advisory positions of any President?

If that is so, then Romney would have very few advisers for his campaign, and would have trouble filling top positions if he became President!

Is this the best that Mitt Romney can do, to be petty, to be ridiculous, to be glorifying mediocrity, rather than advertise the fact that Harvard educated people, and that of other Ivy League universities, are among the best educated people in this nation?

And if a reader wants to imagine that the author has a Harvard degree, forget it, as he is the product of public university education, but has no grudge, jealousy, or anger in understanding and accepting the reality that Harvard and other Ivy League universities have contributed a massive amount to the governing of our nation, as well as in all the professions and the business world!

One should be proud of his or her Ivy League education, and have a sense of purpose and commitment to use that education,. not only to advance oneself, but also to advance the nation that gave him or her that opportunity for a world class education!

Mitt Romney: Total Opportunist, Totally Unprincipled!

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So now Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, has what he has wanted all of his life: to be the nominee of the Republican Party for the Presidency of the United States!

Now the problem is to WIN the Presidency from a man who is one of the great orators and political “animals” of the modern Presidency, right up there with Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

Each of the above had his shortcomings and weaknesses, but each knew how to inspire and motivate people, and have people believe in them and their principles.

Mitt Romney has no such problem, no such oratorical gift, no such ability to inspire and motivate people, and no principles he will not abandon in his mad dash to be President!

Mitt Romney offers himself as a chameleon who will change his views on a moment’s notice if he believes it will help promote his desire to be President!

But by being so inconsistent, so changeable, so lacking in embarrassment that he has totally changed his views and repudiated his record as Governor of Massachusetts, he makes it difficult for anyone to feel a commitment to go out there and vote for Mitt as a principled political leader who one can know how he would conduct himself as President.

Mitt Romney is phony even when he laughs, even when he tells a joke, even when he attempts to sing. One finds himself embarrassed for him, that he cannot look at tapes of himself and wince at how he appears to the American people.

This is a man of unknown quality, an intelligent man for sure, a good family man for sure, probably a lot of fun to be around in private according to his wife’s testimony, a man of strong religious principle for sure, and a man who if he was not running for President might come across as genuine if he was not seeking your vote.

But he is asking us to vote for him without having any clue as to whether he will go back to being a moderate, or remain on the right wing of the Republican Party. We do not know if he would be willing to gut the social safety network that even George W. Bush expanded. We do not know if he would be able to get along with right wing Republicans in Congress, or would be his own man and break with the extremism that they represent.

We do not know how he would shape the Supreme Court, whether he would pick moderates or make the Court so right wing that it would set us back for two generations of time.

We do not know how he would communicate with the media, and through them, with the American people on a daily basis. He certainly would have a tough act to follow, lacking the charisma and personality of Barack Obama.

Would Mitt Romney be willing to preside over the dissolution of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as we know it? Would he be unwilling to work with our European allies, and be ready to commit troops to ever continuous war in the Middle East? Would he be someone who would resist religious influence to promote an intrusion in government beyond the wishes of the Founding Fathers? Would the Mormon Church gain a special foothold in government, and be able to promote its backward, resistance to change, mentality with a Mormon in the White House, or would Romney, like John F. Kennedy, make clear that he happens to be a Mormon, but is not the Mormon President, not dedicated to the church’s advancement in a nation that is a country of all religions and also, no religious beliefs?

What it comes down to is that Mitt Romney as President would be a total “blank slate”, an unknown, who we would have no idea of what kind of President he would turn out to be.

The question is whether the American people want to gamble on a man who is so much an unknown quantity, due primarily to his chameleon nature!

The betting is clearly that the answer will be NO!

The Destruction Of Civil Liberties: Anyone Arrested For Any Charge Can Be Strip Searched Multiple Times, By Declaration Of The Right Wing Majority Of Supreme Court!

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An extremely shocking, disastrous decision of the US Supreme Court today will bring the power of the legal system down heavy on ANYONE arrested and detained, no matter how minor the infraction, including traffic violations!

By a straight 5-4 conservative majority of the Supreme Court, a person arrested for failure to pay traffic fines, which he had actually paid, led to six days of detainment in a local jail, and constant, repetitive strip searches that left the person involved feeling a loss of his masculinity, self esteem and self image.

This is not for serious criminals who are accused of murder and rape and robbery alone; it is for ANY charge, no matter how minor, and not only for convicted criminals, but any suspect on any accusation that leads to arrest and detention.

The local police gain unusual powers and control, and what makes it any different than a dictatorship, one may ask?

It is one thing if someone is thought to have contraband on his person, but for everyone for any minor offense or accusation? This is absolutely CRAZY, but nothing can be done about it, and all of us will face the fear that if by chance we are ever detained for ANY reason, we will lose our sense of dignity and self worth!

And realize this includes not only men, but women and CHILDREN as well!

This is insanity, and shows the dangers when the “wrong” President is in office!

This is the result, long term, of the Bush V. Gore case, where the Supreme Court, on a purely partisan basis, gave George W. Bush the Presidency over Al Gore, which led to Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito in 2005 and 2006!

These two men are proving to be hard line conservatives, and now we must wonder if Roberts, who supposedly worries about the image of the Court, will do what is right on the Obama Health Care legislation in June, and prevent a purely partisan decision by 5-4.

But it also makes one wonder about Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, who sometimes goes against the conservative majority on the Court, and who could have prevented this nightmare decision today, but chose not to do so.

Will he stay with the conservative majority again on the Obama Health Care law? This is crucial, since if he joins the four liberals on the Court, it is seen as likely that Roberts would join that side, but if Kennedy stays with the conservatives, Roberts assuredly will stay with them as well.

These are the consequences of electing a President, and makes the re-election of Barack Obama even more urgent, as otherwise, the Court will become no better than a Fascist Court in spirit, if not in name!

This decision of the Court will damage the reputation of that body, and it is something all of us who care about civil liberties will mourn for a long time!

Just be very careful NEVER to face arrest, as if we can control that!

Conservatives Who Support The Obama Health Care Law: Charles Fried, Laurence Silberman, Jeffrey Sutton

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Three major conservative leaders have made clear by statements and actions that they believe the Obama Health Care law is constitutional under the commerce clause of the Constitution.

Charles Fried, who was Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, was highly critical of some of the questioning by conservative Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court this past week. Fried said health care is interstate commerce, and that Congress has the right to regulate interstate commerce. The arguments utilized in questioning are “phony rhetoric” in Fried’s mind.

Judge Laurence Silberman of the DC Court Of Appeals upheld the Obama Health Care law as constitutional in one of the cases brought by states before circuit courts on the way to the Supreme Court, decided on November 8, 2011. He has been a federal judge for 27 years, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and is a good friend, of all people, of Justice Clarence Thomas, who is seen as a guaranteed vote against the Obama Health Care law.

And Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the 6th Circuit Court Of Appeals upheld the health care law on June 29, 2011, and is seen as a leader of the conservative Federalist Society! He was appointed by George W. Bush, and is considered a disciple of Justice Antonin Scalia! He is well known as a states rights advocate!

So go figure!

This tells us ANYTHING can happen on this Court decision, and not to come to a conclusion this early that the Obama Health Care law is going to be overturned!

Mitt Romney Is Now The GOP Nominee, Or Is He? And If So, Is It Worth Being the GOP Nominee?

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Every indication is that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be the GOP Presidential nominee to run against President Barack Obama in November, but is that really true?

Romney has been endorsed by just about everyone imaginable, including, most recently, former President George H. W. Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio these past two days.

Romney has a major lead in delegates over former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and it seems clear that if Santorum cannot win Wisconsin this coming Tuesday and his home state of Pennsylvania on April 24 (a start which defeated him for re-election for the Senate by 18 percentage points in 2006), he is done, although social conservatives adore him.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, has only won South Carolina and Georgia, and has now cut back his campaign in a massive way, and is raising money by charging ordinary citizens for signed pictures, a quite despicable, egotistical, and uncouth event, which only adds to his image as an obnoxious individual, who no one really wants to be President, because he simply loves himself too much and comes across as reckless and unstable. But he could present an annoyance at the Tampa Convention of the Republican Party in late August.

So Romney seems safe, even though he is unlikely to gain enough delegates before the convention opens, and is not well liked or trusted by many Republicans..He comes across as awkward, distant, plastic, not genuine nor sincere, and far from lovable!

And Romney tends to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as every time he wins, he or his staff manages to botch the result by what they say in the next 24 hours! He talks too much about his money and assets, shows no concern for the average American who is struggling in this economy, acts like a boss instead of one of us, tries to tell jokes and is not one bit funny, and even when he tries to sing, to match Barack Obama singing like Al Green, he is totally flat and,. frankly, shows he cannot carry a tune, so comes across as ridiculous and embarrassing to himself and others. And also, deciding to build a tremendous mansion in La Jolla, California, tremendously large because of Romney’s five children and numerous grandchildren, and having an elevator for cars, really undermines the concept that Romney can claim to be one of us! Do all families with five or more children and numerous grandchildren need to have so much space, or life is difficult? And why flaunt your wealth when you are facing election, instead of waiting to next year when he is either in or out of the White House, and it would not be a controversial issue, as it is in the election year? Why does Romney not understand this? It is as if he is from outer space, rather than our every day lives.

And another problem, being a Mormon, he has made clear, and we have no reason to doubt him, that he does not smoke, does not drink alcohol, does not drink coffee, does not use illegal drugs, and does not swear.

These “puritanical” characteristics are certainly admirable, but also quite unbelievable! It is one thing not to smoke or use illegal drugs, but to say Romney NEVER has had an alcoholic drink, NEVER has drank coffee, and has NEVER, when angry or banged his toes, sworn or cursed, is beyond human understanding!

How is that possible, no matter what the tenets of the religion of Mormonism are? It makes Romney seem even more distant, more unreal, than if he actually admitted, “OK, I have at times drank liquor, like an occasional coffee, and being human, of course, I have, regrettably, cursed or sworn at times!”

Do we want a perfect President? So what if Barack Obama has smoked, George W. Bush has drank too much in the past, Bill Clinton tried marijuna; all Presidents probably have drank coffee, and probably every President has sworn or cursed?

Presidents are human, and trying to claim perfection, makes Mitt Romney seem ever more impossible to relate to, or believe. And imagine if later we find that Mitt Romney is lying to us!

These are the problems that Mitt Romney faces, as he becomes the nominee, but is behind Barack Obama in EVERY public opinion poll in “swing states”! What is going to convince the American people to vote Mitt Romney in as our 45th President?

The Supreme Court On Trial IF It Destroys Health Care Reform: Creation Of A Constitutional Crisis

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The US Supreme Court is in the midst of a crisis of massive proportions, if it destroys the Obama Health Care reform in June.

It will create a crisis in health care for about 50 million Americans, and affect young adults, senior citizens, and people with pre-existing conditions in a massively negative way.

It will undermine the major effort of the Obama Administration to bring health care into the 21st century, and on the same level as every other democratic nation in the world, many of whom have had national health care for all for decades.

It will also put the Supreme Court as an institution on trial, as it is already perceived as overly partisan, with many of the decisions decided on party line vote, based on which party’s President chose the members of the Court.

It will also make it even more obvious that the election will have the effect of deciding the future direction of the Court, based on which party gains the Presidency and has control of the US Senate. This has always been true, and has been mentioned by this author numerous times on this blog.

This Court could undermine public faith and respect for the institution itself, doing even more damage than the Bush V. Gore case of 2000, and the Citizens United case of 2010.

The Court has been a hot political issue in the past in election years, including:

1800-Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams, with the power of the Court a key issue, and Adams’ last minute appointment of Chief Justice John Marshall leading, despite opposition of Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and Andrew Jackson, to a very powerful Supreme Court shaped by Marshall.

1860–The election of Abraham Lincoln, who attacked the Dred Scott decision that stated that a slave owner could take his slave anywhere in the United States, and helping to lead to the secession of the South, and the coming of the Civil War.

1876–An election where the popular vote loser, Rutherford B. Hayes, was chosen by a committee which included five Supreme Court Justices, when no one was able to win the contested electoral votes of three Southern states–Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida.

1912 and 1924–Third party (Progressive Party) candidates Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette, Sr., respectively, proposed limitations on the powers of the Supreme Court .

1936–Franklin D. Roosevelt made the Court an issue because of its constant declaration of New Deal laws as unconstitutional, and tried to “pack” the Court by a proposal to add six new Justices for each one on the Court over the age of 70, an idea soundly defeated in 1937.

1968–Richard Nixon campaigned against the “liberal” Court of Chief Justice Earl Warren, who then had to swear him as President in January 1969, but retired shortly after.

2000–The Supreme Court on a partisan vote stopped the vote count in the state of Florida, thereby awarding George W. Bush the Presidency over Al Gore, with a margin of victory in Florida of 537 votes statewide.

2012 could be another such case of a President confronting a defiant Supreme Court to the will of the majority in Congress and the American people!

Presidential And Vice Presidential Candidates: “Shot Gun” Marriages Most Of The Time!

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When a Presidential nominee selects his Vice Presidential running mate in any Presidential campaign, it can be regarded as a judgment of the Presidential nominee’s leadership.

It can also cause much grief, as too often, the combination of Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees does not work, whether elected or not.

Since the time of Richard Nixon as Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the Vice Presidency has become a significant and powerful office, there has been much distrust, stress, and alienation between the people running for the top two offices, and if elected, has become a major problem that affects the nation.

Witness the following:

While President Eisenhower allowed Vice President Nixon to take on more authority as Eisenhower suffered health crises, the two men never were very close, and Eisenhower held off on backing Nixon publicly for a second term as Vice President in 1956.

Lyndon B. Johnson had very little role and a difficult relationship with President John F. Kennedy, and his brother, Attorney General Robert F.Kennedy.

When Nixon ran against Kennedy in 1960, his running mate, Henry Cabot Lodge, followed a very relaxed campaign strategy, taking long naps and breaks during the Fall campaign, and it was clear that the two men did not get along well.

When Lyndon Johnson chose Hubert Humphrey as his Vice President in 1964, he treated Humphrey in a very disrespectful way, similar to what had occurred to Johnson under Kennedy. Humphrey was ruined in his later Presidential candidacy by having to endorse and support the Vietnam War, a war he had grave doubts about, and was often left out of important cabinet meetings.

When Nixon became President, he looked at his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, in a less than respectful way, and just allowed Agnew to do “dirty work” of attacking liberals and the news media, and refused to keep him informed about many policies, and let him resign due to scandal, without a word of support.

When Nixon chose Gerald Ford after Agnew resigned, he saw him as a lightweight, who would insure his own survival in the Watergate scandal, an assumption that Nixon was totally wrong about!

George McGovern chose Thomas Eagleton in 1972, without any knowledge of his mental treatments and then, effectively abandoned him for Sargent Shriver, a Kennedy brother in law.

Gerald Ford got along well with Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President, but dropped him in favor of Bob Dole when he ran in 1976, a move that probably caused his defeat.

When Ronald Reagan chose George H. W. Bush in 1980, the two men did not trust each other, and had been major rivals, and although Bush worked hard for Reagan, there was no personal chemistry between them, and the Bushes were never invited to stay at the White House under the Reagan Administration.

Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, without knowing about the illegal activities of her husband, and they did not seem very close during the campaign.

George H. W. Bush did not have much confidence, or give much authority, to his Vice President, Dan Quayle, who was a major burden during his administration, due to Quayle’s blunders and misstatements.

Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen seemed like oil and water, when they ran together in 1988.

Much the same can be said for Bob Dole and Jack Kemp in the 1996 Presidential campaign.

The combination of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman never seemed to click during the 2000 Presidential campaign, and Lieberman publicly called for giving up the fight for Florida’s electoral votes when Gore was still suing for a recount against George W. Bush.

In 2004, John Kerry and John Edwards did not get along very well, as Edwards was very much his own man in his own mind.

And sadly, the same holds true for John McCain and Sarah Palin, with her becoming a major headache, embarrassment, and burden in 2008.

The only times running mates really seemed to work well together were:

Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie in the 1968 campaign.

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale in the Carter Presidency, with Mondale practically seen as co-President.

Bill Clinton and Al Gore in the Clinton Presidency, until the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when there was a falling out between the two men, which affected the 2000 Presidential campaign.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the second Bush Presidency, although their relationship started to deteriorate in the second term.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, presently, in the Obama Presidency, working very well together, as united as Carter and Mondale were in the 1970s

This is all discussed as reality in our history as Mitt Romney edges closer to the Presidential nomination of his party.

And even if, somehow, Rick Santorum, or someone else ends up as the Republican nominee, who is chosen to be his Vice Presidential running mate will be crucial to the campaign, and if he wins, to the office of Vice President, and to the nation.

Ranking Presidents Affected By Being A One Term Or Two Term President?

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The game of ranking Presidents is a continuous topic among historians, political scientists, journalists, and ordinary citizens.

In the upcoming June issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly, Professor Curt Nichols, an assistant professor of political science at Baylor University in Texas, comes up with a new theory and premise about how Presidents are ultimately ranked in history.

Nichols used a statistical method known as regression analysis, utilizing Presidential ranking polls conducted by C Span, the Wall Street Journal, and the Siena Research Institute.

Each poll has different factors in judging Presidential leadership, with C Span having ten.

But Nichols says the rating score of Presidents is ultimately raised if the following six factors are considered:

Number of years served
Wartime leadership
If transformation of political landscape occurs in their term
If they are part of the Founding Fathers group
If they are considered “progressive” and pursue “equal justice for all”
If they are assassinated progressives

At the same time, two factors will decrease the rating scores of Presidents:

If the President is impeached, resigns, or has major political scandals during his administration
If they push the nation into political crisis or are unable to lift the country out of a political crisis

Going by this discussion, Nichols believes that IF Barack Obama is defeated for re-election, he will rank only as “average”, as number 22, between William McKinley and George H. W. Bush.

But Nichols also believes that If Barack Obama is re-elected to the Presidency, he could end up as high as number FOUR, behind Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington, and ahead of Thomas Jefferson!

There is lots of room for debate on the Nichols viewpoint, but it certainly will cause much more discussion and analysis of the men who have been President of the United States.

A few observations here:

If wartime Presidents have an edge, then why is James Madison, William McKinley, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush rated quite low on the rankings list generally accepted?

One term Presidencies that stick out as better include James K. Polk and John F. Kennedy.

Two term Presidencies that are seen negatively include James Madison, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, and George W. Bush.

So whether having a second term really helps raise the stature of a President is still very debatable.

And whether Barack Obama could end up ranked ahead of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton is something that will be hotly debated into the long term future.

Jeb Bush Must Take Blame For Signing Florida “Stand Your Ground” Law In 2005!

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Beyond the tragedy and the turmoil caused by the death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, is to assess who is ultimately responsible for the passage of the Florida “Stand Your Ground” law in 2005.

One could blame the Florida legislature, and particularly the majority Republican Party, which passed a bill left purposely vague, and has caused the death of many people who could be alive today if the legislation had never passed.

But, in reality, one cannot blame the legislature as the primary source of criticism!

Rather, it is the job of the Governor of the state to use his wisdom and judgment, and utilize the veto if legislation passed is seen as unwise, dangerous, and reckless. As President Harry Truman said while in office, “The buck stops here”, meaning in the office of the executive, whether President, Governor or Mayor!

It is the job of the executive to stand in the way of emotional reactions by the legislative branch. No one can claim that he or she had to sign legislation, as that is what we elect him or her for, to use their best judgment, and if seen as wrong, that executive must be held accountable.

Ok, so therefore, who is ultimately responsible for this disaster? Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who now must take responsibility, but will he? Don’t bet on it! The Bush family has NEVER taken responsibility for anything they have done which went wrong, certainly not brother President George W. Bush, and the arrogance of their father, President George H. W. Bush is legion in public situations. The Bush family does not have a distinguished record of decency and honesty, so to expect an apology or taking any blame is highly unlikely to be the reaction of Jeb Bush.

However, with the recent discussion that Jeb might be running for President in 2016, or accept a Vice Presidential nomination from Mitt Romney, this is the time for it to be made clear to Jeb Bush that he has forfeited his right to run for Vice President or President!

And if he does, all good people will haunt him and his campaign for the arrogance, the egotism, the gall of Jeb Bush to do what he knew had to lead to disaster, but instead, he chose to cave in to the National Rifle Association and the right wing of his extremist party in the Florida legislature!

Look at it this way: Jeb Bush will likely forfeit a chance for the Presidency or be dogged by it if he does run, but his life will go on, and he will live in great comfort, while Trayvon Martin has forfeited his life and a chance to give joy to his family, to accomplish occupational goals, to fall in love, to have children, to have a normal, decent life!

One wonders how Jeb Bush can sleep at night knowing that what he failed to do, veto this despicable law, has caused the death of a promising young man, who should not have had to face the threat of a bully who thought he had license to kill, thanks to Jeb Bush’s lack of conscience!

Are Virginia, North Carolina And Colorado The Ultimate Deciders Of The Presidential Election Of 2012?

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A new study comes up with the conclusion that the ultimate swing states for the Presidential Election Of 2012 are Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado.

These states have in common the following: growing numbers of well educated, high income voters with technology expertise in significant technology hubs; plus large increases in Hispanic and Latino population; and large components of women who are also more educated and professional and will not tolerate the attack on women that the Republican Party is engaged in nationally, in many states, and on conservative talk radio.

These states all voted for George W. Bush in 2004, but switched to Barack Obama in 2008, and the trend toward the Democrats, including also Independent voters, seems hard to reverse by the Republican Party and its candidate for President, whoever that will be!