International Law

Horrifying Division In America Over The Israel-Gaza Tragedy!

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The shocking Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip last weekend has caused horrifying division in America over the Israel-Gaza tragedy!

We have seen some young American Jews in law schools and universities denounce Israel, causing a split among American Jews.

We have seen Arab Americans in colleges and universities, and in major American cities, march and demonstrate against American Jews and Israel, and there have been reports of physical assaults by Arab Americans and Israeli supporters against each other, requiring more law enforcement buildup in major urban centers.

There is growing fear of open bloodshed and loss of life occurring as the upcoming invasion of Gaza City by the Israelis begins in the coming days, as Israel has made it clear it will stop at no restraints to destroy Hamas and its terrorist network.

In so doing, Israel may be engaged in the future in violation of international law and basic human rights, and likely to cause massive death and destruction of a captive population which has nowhere to go, and large numbers not supportive of the Hamas terrorism.

Massive loss of life in the Middle East is feared, and already, Israel’s loss of life from the dastardly attack on October 7 and since is the equivalent of 10 September 11’s, as if 30,000 had been killed on September 11, 2001, instead of 3,000!

The war could expand to include all of the nations of the Middle East, including the villainous Iran, and with possible supportive backing by other rivals of the United States and Israel, including Russia and North Korea!

Those who are pessimistic see a gloomy future, and the thoughts of an expanded war make some imagine that we might be on the cusp of World War III!

Joe Biden At His Prime: State Of The Union Speech And Ukraine Visit!

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President Joe Biden is clearly at his prime at the beginning of his third year in the White House!

First, he gave a magnificent State of the Union Address, and disarmed his Republican critics, forcing them to back away from the threat to “sunset” Social Security and Medicare!

It was hilarious how Florida Senator Rick Scott and Utah Senator Mike Lee were stunned by Biden going after them on the issue of these programs, paid by taxpayers over their lifetime, being threatened by their bullyism.

Biden was at his best also by surprising many observers by traveling to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and meeting with President Zelenskyy yesterday, demonstrating how the US and its NATO allies are determined to continue to assist that war torn nation that has been subjected to the worse war situation since the end of World War II!

Biden made it clear, as did Vice President Kamala Harris a day earlier, that Russia has engaged in war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and that Vladimir Putin and his government will be held accountable under international law!

For a man who is three months past his 80th birthday, Joe Biden is clearly in top shape for the battles ahead, including against a growing number of Republicans, who are proving, like former President Donald Trump, that they are leagued with Putin and Russia over the interests of freedom and democracy!

And now, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is showing he is another Russia apologist, who see the Russian war against Ukraine as a conflict America should not engage in, a stunning admission by this arrogant, authoritarian leading challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nominatoin in 2024.

So a future battle between Joe Biden, and either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis will be centered over opposition to or support of the Russian threat to world peace!

America And NATO Face Greatest Crisis Since The Cuban Missile Crisis Of 1962 Over Russian Threat To Ukraine!

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It is now clear, if it was not thought about earlier, that America and NATO face the greatest crisis since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, over the Russian threat to Ukraine!

While President Joe Biden has made it clear that no US combat forces will be going to Ukraine, one cannot be certain that the Russia-Ukraine crisis could not escalate to include a possible Russian invasion of NATO nations, such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, all of which are always on the alert for Russian wrongdoing!

If Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation continues his reckless disregard of international law, anything is possible, and horrifying to imagine!

It seems clear that Donald Trump gave Putin the thought that he could get away with aggression, and now Joe Biden and NATO have to deal with the consequences!

Thank goodness that Biden has helped to bring NATO together in a manner that clearly was going toward US withdrawal from alliances with European nations and Canada, as the Trump Administration moved toward its end in 2020!

The Second Presidential Debate In Nashville: Joe Biden Has Best Debate And Kristen Welker Triumphs!

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Last night’s Nashville Tennessee Presidential debate was far better than the first Presidential debate a few weeks ago simply because Donald Trump finally obeyed the rules, and stopped interrupting Joe Biden and being massively rude.

But the winner of the debate clearly was Joe Biden, who had his best debate of the Presidential campaign season, and proved beyond any doubt that he can perform in such a way as to prove he is nowhere near demented, and is able to make clear his main points and ideas in a cogent manner.

Biden is perfectly capable of being President of the United States, and is much more stable mentally than Donald Trump, who often has come across in the past four years as mentally deranged!

Meanwhile, Donald Trump continued to lie, lie, lie with impunity, and demonstrate that he has no plan on health care or the COVID 19 Pandemic, so while he did not harm himself in this debate, he did not gain any points either.

Trump also claimed, laughingly, that he is the least racist person there is, when he is by far by words and actions over a lifetime the most racist President in American history, and makes George Wallace seem mild by comparison! When he mentioned he has done the most of any President on the issue of race since Abraham Lincoln, he forgets Lyndon B. Johnson completely!

Trump also demonstrated he has no concern about his criminal act of separating children from their parents at the border, and now having so many unable to be reunited with their families.

This action should lead to a criminal trial for the President and his entire Cabinet at the Hague, as it is a violation of human rights and international law to mistreat children in any circumstance!

But the star of the debate above all was moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News, who was masterful in keeping control of the timing of the debate, and did herself proud, and this will advance her stature and her career. So congratulations, Kristen!

Trump’s Threat Against Iran’s Cultural, Historical, And Religious Sites Makes Him A War Criminal Under International Law!

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Donald Trump’s Twitter threat to bomb and destroy Iran’s Cultural, Historical, and Religious Sites if Iran responds to the assassination of Qasem Soleibani with military force, not only threatens the outbreak of general war in the Middle East, leading to a potential World War 3, but also makes him a war criminal under international law.

Such threats and potential attacks demonstrate how Trump has gone off the rails totally, and is a National Security threat, who needs to be removed immediately.

Sadly, though, we are seeing Republicans rush to defend him and his actions and utterances, including those one might think would hold back support, including Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse.

Clearly, the Republican Party officeholders have gone totally insane, and we now have a rogue government in international affairs, and the danger that we will have this insane leader move ever further to threaten war on many fronts.

This maniac is capable of declaring martial law and suspending the Constitution, and he must be stopped as a threat to American democracy and world peace and order!

Donald Trump Reversal A Political Ploy As Republicans Run Scared For November Elections

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Donald Trump’s reversal on the issue of separating asylum seekers at the border from their children is not based on principle, but on hysteria in Republican ranks on the upcoming midterm elections. They are about to suffer in four and a half months the biggest repudiation in modern history. And if that does not happen, God help the United States of America, as we descend into Fascist dictatorship!

And it will be illegal to incarcerate parents and children together after a 20 day period, and there is no answer as to how to bring over 2,300 children separated from their parents in the past two months back to normalcy.

It is feared that many of these children will never be reunited with their moms and dads, and the psychological damage long term done to these children, some of them infants and toddlers, but even those who are older, including preteens and teenagers, is incalculable.

What Trump and Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielson, John Kelly, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders have done is against human rights and international law, and is a war crime that should lead to the arrest, trial, and incarceration of all involved for a life term.

This is American Fascism at its worst, and all those who support such policies, including Fox News Channel, and its despicable anchors, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham, are to be condemned, and should be boycotted by all advertisers, therefore putting them out of business.
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Already, airlines and many other corporations have made clear they do not want to have anything to do with the whole corrupt, immoral, unethical, and illegal actions of the Trump government.

This disaster insures that Donald Trump will rank at the very bottom of all Presidents in future assessments by scholars and experts.

And as far as the Republican loyalists among voters, let us take their children from them without just cause, and see how they react.

These ignorant, uneducated, prejudiced, biased, despicable excuses for human beings should not be catered to, anymore than those who supported Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy or Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany or Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union.

The cancer of the Trump Presidency is on the road to being excised, and the Trump Family, father, children, and son in law, need to be held accountable, along with their henchmen mentioned above, and pay for their crimes against mothers, fathers, and children trying to escape certain violence and death from Central America, and being treated as if they are criminals, for wanting the same opportunities as generations of immigrants in the past, who saw the Statue of Liberty as the image of American welcome to those oppressed!

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

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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!

Donald Trump And North Korea

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The latest reports about Donald Trump indicate plans to resolve the North Korean problem in an extreme way that could lead to nuclear war.

One plan is to send nuclear missiles to South Korea, upping the ante of possible nuclear war directly on the population of North Korea, but 25 million South Koreans within range of the North Korean army, the fourth largest military in the world.

Another plan is to remove Kim Jon Un from power altogether.

But while the latter possibility sounds good on the surface, and is comparative to the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 under President Barack Obama’s administration, it is really NOT a similar scenario.

Osama bin Laden was not the leader of a government, an organized state.

Kim Jong Un, as crazy and dangerous as he is, IS the leader of a government, and the possibility of a massive invasion of South Korea, as in the Korean War of 1950-1953 is alarming.

Let us not forget that 33,000 Americans died in the Korean War, and a hundred thousand were wounded, and the war dragged on for three years and one month.

Let us also not forget that officially it is against international law to assassinate foreign leaders, although the United States has done that before, either directly or indirectly, as for instance in Chile in 1973, under Richard Nixon, as just one example.

The thought of the US using nuclear weapons, when the only time it occurred, was against Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, is horrifying.

But there is no question of the complexity of the North Korean threat, which experts say within a few years could target Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the state of Hawaii, along with the threat to Japan and South Korea.

The question is whether we have a sane, balanced President to deal with this issue, and there is much doubt and trepidation about that.

Dick Cheney: The Most Villainous Vice President In American History, Bar None!

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America has had 47 Vice Presidents, and some of them have been true disasters and villains.

Aaron Burr, Vice President under Thomas Jefferson (1801-1805), tried to steal the Presidential Election of 1800 from his own running mate, Thomas Jefferson. He then proceeded to kill Alexander Hamilton in a totally legal gun duel in 1804. He was then accused of a plot with Spain to take away territories from the United States, was captured, brought to trial for treason, and found not guilty. In his old age, his wife sued him for divorce due to his serial cheating, which she had been unaware of, and left him in poverty.

John C. Calhoun, Vice President under John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) and Andrew Jackson (1829-1833), showed lack of loyalty to Adams, switching support to Jackson, and then threatening to lead South Carolina in seceding from the Union, provoking the Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833.

Schuyler Colfax, first Vice President (1869-1873) under Ulysses S. Grant, was involved in the Credit Mobilier Scandal, and was therefore, forced out as the second term running mate of Grant.

Spiro Agnew, Vice President under Richard Nixon (1969-1973) was a divisive, confrontational Vice President, who was forced to resign in disgrace due to involvement in financial scandal, including taking cash bribes in his years as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and also as Vice President.

And then there was Dick Cheney, who enriched himself through his associations with Haliburton, a company which gained from war profiteering. He helped to promote war in Iraq, knowing full well that the war was based on false pretenses, and he advocated and promoted EIT (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques), meaning torture against detainees said to be involved in terrorist plots against America, including September 11, even though it went against American values of ethics and morality, as well as violation of international law. Cheney has never apologized for his actions or behavior, or had doubts in any form, while enriching himself in a totally corrupt manner. His daughter, Liz Cheney, has become the younger female version of her father; and his wife, Lynne Cheney, has shown herself to be no better.

Meanwhile, many Republicans, including Colin Powell, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and others have condemned the methods and actions of Dick Cheney, and there are calls for him and George W. Bush to be accountable for war crimes, although there is no possibility of them ever facing trial.

Without a doubt, Dick Cheney stands out as the most villainous Vice President in American history bar none!

The Disgraceful Breaking Of International Law And Ethics And Morality Of The Bush-Cheney Administration!

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Just about the most shocking event in many years is the revelation yesterday in the US Senate of the total lack of ethics, morality and decency, and the disgraceful breaking of international law by the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney Administration!

Torture is outlawed by all decent nations, and just because terrorists and some rogue regimes choose to torture is not a justification for such practices. The most obscene, reprehensible tactics authorized by the Bush-Cheney regime qualifies them for facing trial under international law as war criminals, plain and simple.

This crime is worse than ANYTHING ever done under any President of the United States, bar none, and should, rightfully, place George W. Bush in the very bottom of the rankings of Presidents for all time!

Dick Cheney will always stand out as the absolutely worst Vice President in history, with no conscience, ethics or morals, on top of being a war profiteer from the military involvement in Iraq, through his connections with Haliburton!

Bush and Cheney will escape judgment in an international court, but their names will be forever besmirched in history, and the fact that decent people in both political parties, such as Senator John McCain of Arizona (himself tortured in a North Vietnamese prison), Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator Diane Feinstein of California, and Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia join in condemning their lawlessness is a sign that we have not lost all morality and ethics. In effect, the Presidential Election of 2000, where Al Gore won the biggest popular vote margin for a losing candidate (due to questionable Supreme Court intervention) led to this monstrosity in the name of the American people! And if John McCain, by far the preferable GOP candidate in 2000, had been able to overcome the reprehensible tactics of George W. Bush in the primaries, and ended up running against Al Gore, this nation would have been assured of having a lawful, moral, ethical President, instead of the trash we put into the White House and the Vice Presidency!

It will take a long time for the American reputation to be revived to what it has been, and we have to work very hard to insure that, in the future, we elect to the Presidency ONLY men or women who have a basic sense of the limits of power; a sense of ethics and morality; and a sense of common decency and belief in international standards of behavior!

And to think that these reprehensible tactics did nothing to protect America, and instead endangers our citizens and military long into the future, is the ultimate irony above all!