Jimmy Carter

Shocking Diagnosis On Joe Biden: Time For Compassion And Unity!

The revelation on Sunday that former President Joe Biden has stage 4 Prostate Cancer, and that it has metatasized to his bones, is a shock and a time for compassion and unity, as well as prayers for his recovery, which although daunting, is a possibility.

Even President Donald Trump and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have found it possible to send their good wishes and avoid the constant attacks they have unleashed on Joe Biden, while he was President, and now as a former President.

This author and blogger has seen Joe Biden as the most compassionate, decent, empathetic political leader, bar none, since the tragic death of Hubert H. Humphrey a long 47 years ago, in 1978.

At that time, I looked around and saw Biden as the best model to replace Humphrey, and wished for him to become President, with him unable to accomplish this goal in 1988 and 2008.

But I was thrilled when Barack Obama made Joe Biden his Vice President, and their relationship and interaction was only surpassed in American history before and since, by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale from 1977-1981.

Looking back now, it is clear that had Joe Biden somehow won a second term, he would, most likely, be forced to resign, and Kamala Harris would have become President.

If only Joe Biden had realized, at his age, that it was time to retire, and had done so earlier, the nightmare America is living through in the present, could have been avoided.

That is the tragedy of a man who wanted the best for his nation, but yet, may have blundered in not realizing his age and mortality earlier than July 2024, when he announced he would not run, and was replaced by Harris.

In any case, let all of us pray for Joe Biden’s recovery, and many more years of life in retirement!

Trump Destruction Of USAID, Department Of Education, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Emergency Management Agency, And More! :(

As the nation reaches the end of the First Hundred Days of Donald Trump’s second term, there are so many shocking and disappointing developments.

One of the most disgraceful is the move by the Trump Administration to dismantle the following agencies of the federal government:

The US Agency For International Development
The US Department of Education
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Federal Emergency Management Agency

If indeed these four agencies are allowed to “disappear”, it will mean the US no longer cares about those around the world who are affected by disease, war, and poverty;

that US AID, created under the administration of John F. Kennedy will no longer exist;

that Education, which became a federal commitment under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, and was made a separate agency under Jimmy Carter, will cease to be involved in setting national educational standards;

that protection of consumers, fought for by Elizabeth Warren under the Obama Administration before she became a US Senator from Massachusetts, will disappear;

that the promotion of federal aid to states and localities due to natural disasters, created in the administration of Jimmy Carter, will no longer be available;

that all of these humane and compassionate attempts to make government work for all Americans and the world community at large, will be wiped out, due to the lack of compassion and empathy of Donald Trump!

These agencies being destroyed will be a slap in the face of Presidents who cared about the nation and the world, and particularly against the memory of Jimmy Carter, who died just a few months ago!

This is a crime against America and the world at large!

55th Anniversary Of Earth Day, But Trump Is Promoting Defiance On Environmental Issues!

Wisconsin Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson is considered the brainchild of Earth Day, first celebrated on April 22, 1970, and embraced by President Richard Nixon, who went on to accomplish one of the best environmental records of all Presidents, considered just behind Theodore Roosevelt.

Later Presidents, and especially Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton (with the encouragement of Vice President Al Gore), Barack Obama, and Joe Biden—all Democrats—advocated for the environment, while Ronald Reagan in particular, and even more so, Donald Trump, have worked against facing the threat of climate change and global warming.

Instead, Trump is promoting drilling for oil and natural gas, mining for coal, and cutting down forest lands, all undermining the future of the planet, and American conservation of natural resources.

Already, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is on a campaign to reverse the great progress made under Joe Biden and earlier Democratic Presidents.

Fact: Democrats Clean Up Republican Economic Disasters Since 1933!

It is historical fact, whether Republicans and conservatives believe it or not, that Democratic Presidents clean up Republican Presidents’ economic disasters since 1933.

Franklin D. Roosevelt with his “New Deal” helped to resolve the Great Depression that occurred under the watch of President Herbert Hoover.

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson brought about great economic prosperity in the 1960s after three recessions in the 1950s under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Jimmy Carter had to deal with the economic recession in 1974-1975 under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and the economy revived in the first three years of his term in the late 1970s.

While Jimmy Carter had to deal with a brief six month recession in 1980, a contributing factor in his defeat for reelection that year, successor Ronald Reagan had to deal with a much more damaging recession in 1982, and later again with a stock market crash in 1987.

Bill Clinton brought about great economic prosperity after the recession that occurred under President George H. W. Bush in 1992, which led to his defeat for reelection. And Clinton brought about a balanced budget in his second term in the late 1990s.

Barack Obama brought about a recovery from the Great Recession that began under President George W. Bush, leading to the greatest economic recovery in American history.

Joe Biden brought about a recovery from the COVID 19 Pandemic under Donald Trump, which caused a massive loss of employment, but economic growth in the stock market and lowering unemployment made Biden a success.

Now, with Donald Trump, second term, undermining the American economy with his lunatic Tariff Wars against the entire world, the stock market has had massive losses, and unemployment is rising, and inflation is occurring, and it wil be up to the next Democratic President in 2029 to work to overcome the massive damage being wrought!

More Widespread Presidential Corruption In Next Four Years Than At Any Time In American History! :(

The United States has had many periods of political corruption on the national level in its nearly 250 year history.

It is clear that at least six Presidents–all coincidentally Republicans–have presided over high levels of corruption.

In the Gilded Age 1870s, under President Ulysses S. Grant, there was the first example of a widespread corruption, generally called the Credit Mobilier Scandal, but encompassing much more than that specific scandal. However, there is no indication that Grant personally was involved, but he is criticized for having made poor choices for appointees to various cabinet and other positions. The corruption helped to lead to the Civil Service reform bill known as the Pendleton Act of 1883.

Approximately a half century later, under President Warren G. Harding in his brief less than two and a half year administration, the most prominent scandal was known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, but the level of corruption was much greater than just that, with three key Cabinet and other appointees involved in major scandals. Additionally, and not known at the time, Harding had his own personal scandals, and he was judged the worst President of the 20th century, due to his incompetence and poor judgment. His successor, Calvin Coolidge, cleaned up the scandals, instead of trying to cover them up.

Until the time of Donald Trump, clearly, under President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, there were more scandals and abuse of power, most famously known as the Watergate Scandal, than any other President. Nixon was the first President who was clearly involved on a personal level in many of the scandals and indictments of his Presidency. The fortunate development, however, was that his own Republican Party held Nixon accountable, as he faced impeachment, and he resigned from office, succeeded by Gerald Ford, who elevated the level of the Presidential office.

During the 1980s, under President Ronald Reagan, there were a whole series of scandals, with the best known being the Iran-Contra Scandal, but with Reagan claiming no knowledge, and apparently not directly involved in them, but plenty of indictments and some convictions, with Reagan giving the excuse that he was not aware of malfeasance, and being given a pass, as many observers thought there were signs of mental deterioration in his second term. Reagan’s personal popularity also aided him in overcoming accusations, as suggestions of moving toward impeachment did not have much support.

Then, under George W. Bush in the early 2000s, there were plenty of examples of abuse of power, particularly surrounding the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, but also the indictments of many people appointed by Bush, and also, the perceived abuses of power by Vice President Dick Cheney. But suggestions of impeachment were pushed to the side, despite much conflict and concerns at the time.

Despite all of these earlier Presidential scandals, it has been much greater under Donald Trump in his first term, with him being impeached twice; inciting the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021; facing indictments on four different cases after leaving office; being convicted on one set of charges involving financial matters; and yet, protected by the Supreme Court in Trump V US in July 2024, giving him ability to evade responsibility for his actions.

And now, in his second term, Trump is abusing power in ways far greater than his first term, and yet, so far, he seems to be moving toward authoritarian control, and American democracy is in crisis, as he looks to go after his enemies, and purge what he calls “the deep state”!

Trump’s use of pardons and clemency, and his setting a record for massive executive orders, along with many incompetent appointments, and indication that he plans to disobey any federal court orders, is an alarm bell of troubles ahead!

Some readers of this blog entry might think it is unfair to label these six Republican Presidents as scandalous, and ignore Democratic Presidents.

But the record, at most, shows comparatively minor “scandals” under Democratic Presidents, nothing on the level of these six Republican Preaidents, with Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden having nothing substantial occurring during their administrations, despite Republican attempts to besmirch them. And Bill Clinton’s major scandal was his private love life, which was exposed and reprehensible, but does not match the government corruption under the six named Republican Presidents above.

And notice, not included as having major scandals are Republicans Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush.

Trump’s War On Federal Government: Young Civil Servants, Higher Education, Veterans, And More! :(

Donald Trump’s war on the federal government is an attack on the future and on so many other areas of life.

It is a war on young people who have and wish to enter public service, with many thousands of probationary workers now unemployed, due to major cutbacks in many federal agencies.

It is a war on higher education, cutting funding for training and educating an intelligent work force in the sciences, the humanities, and all other areas of public knowledge.

It is a war on our patriotic veterans, who are losing many government jobs, and a cutting of programs to help veterans who risked their lives, and now are being denied adequate consideration of their health and welfare needs.

It is a war on protection of our national security, with mass purges of dedicated intelligence, foreign policy, and defense personnel who have dedicated their lives and careers to protecting the homeland from foreign threats of authoritarian government, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

It is a war on health care, science, and medicine, and endangers all Americans when it comes to threats from many diseases worldwide, that now will not be dealt with in an efficient matter, and will cost a multitude of lives.

It is a war on the environment, conservation, and the realities of climate change, guaranteeing worldwide disasters that will threaten human existence in the future.

It is a war on our long held alliances with democracies in Europe and in Asia, and antagonizing, unnecessarily, our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and inciting anti Americanism in Latin America. It is causing our closest allies in NATO and in Asia to reconsider sharing intelligence information.

It is a war on public virtue, with a certainty that we will witness the greatest level of corruption and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few evil individuals, ever seen in American history, far surpassing the earlier corruption that took place under Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and even the first term of Donald Trump.

The Trump Presidency is setting America back to an earlier time before all of the great reforms that took place from the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosvelt and Woodrow Wilson; the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Fair Deal of Harry Truman; the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy; the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson; the movements forward under Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon; the accomplishments under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and the advancements under Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

As Donald Trump Is About To Give His State Of The Union Address, His Public Opinion Ratings Are Lowest Except For His First Term!

As Donald Trump gets ready for his State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, his public opinion ratings (Gallup Presidential Job Approval polls) are the lowest of any President since 1945, except for his first term first month!

From Harry Truman to Trump, below are the ratings, in order of high to low!

Harry Truman 87
Lyndon B. Johnson 78
John F. Kennedy 72
Gerald Ford 71
Dwight D. Eisenhower 68
Barack Obama 67
Jimmy Carter 66
Richard Nixon 59
Bill Clinton 58
George W Bush 57
Joe Biden 57
Ronald Reagan 51
George H W Bush 51
Donald Trump 45 (2025)
Donald Trump 44 (2017)

So Donald Trump is not gaining approval for his radical, anarchistic, and disruptive domestic and foreign policies, with a majority of Americans uneasy about the direction of the nation!

Federal Involvement In Education Since 1953 Under Threat Of Termination!

The United States federal government never came around to realizing the significance of a federal engagement in promotion of education to all of our children and adults alike, until the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961).

The creation of the Department and cabinet post of Health, Education, and Welfare took place in the first year of the Eisenhower Presidency, even with a Republican controlled Congress.

Long overdue in all three areas of the cabinet position, after 26 years, it was recognized that the HEW Department was much too massive, so in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, the HEW Department was divided into Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education.

Almost from that event, many Republicans and conservatives declared war on the Education Department, arguing for a return to state control of all Education initiatives, despite the reality that many states, particularly in the South and Great Plains were clearly inferior in their commitment to education.

Unable to bring about the demise of the Education Department, even with Republican contenders for the Republican Presidential nomination over many election cycles advocating its destruction, the new gambit was to promote “”Charter Schools” and “Home Schooling’.

This was designed to take away funding from public schools, and then along came Donald Trump, and his “war’ on public education, starting in his first term, and now actively working with Elon Musk and Project 2025 activists to destroy completely the Department of Education by closing down its offices, and limiting its funding, deapite it being funded by Congress.

So now there is a full scale destruction in process, but to get rid of the Department of Education, a cabinet agency, would require action of Congress, not the outrageous, and unconstitutional removal of funds and staff by Trump, Musk, and other right wing extremists who wish to destroy an essential agency.

So the question is whether the survival of the Department of Education can be accomplished in the present disastrous situation!

Donald Trump And Elon Musk Attack On Federal Regulatory Agencies

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared war on many federal regulatory agencies, creating a “clear and present danger” in so many areas of government policy.

These include the US Agency For International Development (USAID); the US Department of Education, which is a Cabinet post; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

These agencies were created by John F. Kennedy in 1961; Jimmy Carter in 1979 for the second and third listed agencies; and the latter by Barack Obama in 2010, after vigorous advocacy by Elizabeth Warren, before she won election to the US Senate in 2012.

Additionally, there has been discussion of weakening or eliminating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all created in the early 1970s under Richard Nixon.

This is pure madness, but at this point, Trump and Musk are like “Bulls in a China Shop”, abusing their power and no clearcut response from Democrats, state governments, and the courts, although cases are being brought to the courts, and Democrats are up in arms!

Trump Tariffs On Canada And Mexico Will Backfire!

Donald Trump is committing economic suicide by imposing 25 percent tariffs on our two neighbors, Canada and Mexico.

It is guaranteed to backfire, and cause a major inflationary spiral, and shortages of all kinds of good, with corporations passing on the cost increases to American consumers.

It is tragic that America is geting involved in a trade war with our neighbor to the North, who has been the best possible ally in peace and wartime, with our border being stable for two centuries.

It is also tragic that we have a President ready to take military action against Mexico or other nations in Latin America, to impose his will not only on trade, but also his desire to retake control of the Panama Canal, breaking the international treaty under President Jimmy Carter that was ratified by a bipartisan group of Senators in 1978.

We are in a major constitutional crisis, as Donald Trump is a “clear and present danger” to international cooperation and peaceful diplomacy.

When will Congress reasert itself, and stop the mad dash of Donald Trump to create international chaos with democratic nations, while cozying up to authoritarian leaders in nations that wish America harm?