Jimmy Carter

Environmental Advancements Under Threat From Scott Pruitt And Ryan Zinke At Environmental Protection Agency And Interior Department!

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Two of the most alarming appointments, of most of Donald Trump’s selections, for his top cabinet and agency personnel, are Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, an agency he wishes to destroy; and Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior, a cabinet office which is supposed to promote National Parks and conservation, but which Zinke favors industrial development, limitation of national park expansion, and the rights of hunters over wildlife.

These men are like foxes in the chicken coop, out to destroy a century of conservation and environmental advancements that occurred under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

The refusal of these two men to accept that global warming and climate change are real is also an alarm bell ringing in the night, and both these men need to be blocked, if at all possible, from taking their posts. If just a few Republican Senators on committees or on the floor of the Senate oppose these people, they can be defeated with the help of Democrats in the Senate.

It is as if Donald Trump is out to destroy the entire American past, as he is ignorant of science and nature, and has picked the absolute worst people for these two crucial posts, while other Republican Presidents had respect for the importance of the environment and science.

Joe Biden Presidential Bid In 2020?

Ronald 6 Comments

Hard to believe, but Vice President Joe Biden is actually considering the possibility of running again for President in 2020, when he would be 78 years of age.

Biden is leaving public life on January 20, after 44 years of service, close to an all time record, with 36 years as Delaware Senator and 8 years as a very active, involved, and engaged Vice President, who had a major impact on the office.

Everyone loves Joe Biden, even Republicans, who saluted him in a Senate honoring of him this week, as Biden was able, even under President Obama, to cross the aisle and gain some support, even when Republicans were reluctant to work with the President.

Since the election, the feeling has developed that Biden, the “poorest US Senator” in his past, and with working class roots, and knowing how to appeal to the white working class, would have been able to bridge the difference in votes in Pennsylvania (the state he grew up in), Michigan and Wisconsin, and pulled out victory had he been the Democratic Presidential nominee.

If Biden’s son, Beau Biden, had not died in May 2015, it is believed that Joe would have run against Hillary Clinton, and might have been able to defeat her, and even Bernie Sanders, for the nomination, something, however, we will never be sure of, but a thought that will linger.

Of course, many liberals and Democrats will argue that Joe Biden is too old to run again, and that his record in the Senate was not as liberal as Bernie Sanders, and more in line with the record of Hillary Clinton, and that he cannot please millennials and the strong Left in the Democratic Party, which wants new and more progressive leadership in the future.

It is clear that if Biden ran, his warts and shortcomings would be emphasized, including originally supporting the Iraq War, as Hillary Clinton did, and the struggle for the nomination would not be easy, and one wonders if he could actually defeat Donald Trump if Trump ran for reelection.

What is clear now is that there is no way to know the future, after seeing Presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump overcome many hurdles that few thought they could to win the Presidency, so who can say that a well loved, working class guy like Joe Biden at the age of 78, could not win the White House?

This is what makes following American politics so exciting, and also, get this, a Senate seat looks ready to open, as Democratic Senator Thomas Carper, finishing his third term in 2018, is rumored to be planning to retire, so in theory, and by some rumors, Joe Biden could run to return to the Senate and add to his six terms and 36 years in the Senate, and therefore be in elective office, at the time of a Presidential campaign in 2020!

Diplomatic Crises Arising: Praise For Pakistan And Taiwan By Donald Trump Creates Problems With India And China!

Ronald 2 Comments

Donald Trump is proving how much of a total neophyte he is in diplomacy, having had ZERO experience and knowledge of international relations.

To go ahead and communicate in positive terms with Pakistan’s government, with which the US government has many issues, is extremely damaging, and can undermine the relationship with India.

To go ahead and be so cordial and warm with Taiwan’s new government, when China sees Taiwan as a rebel province, is equally damaging, as NO American President from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama has ever, officially, dealt with Taiwan since the United States recognized mainland China’s government in 1979.

At this rate, Trump will undermine all of America’s foreign policy, cause misunderstandings and anger to rise, and we will end up in diplomatic crises and potential war, when all this could have been avoided, but Trump is a total ignoramus, who endangers any chance of a stable world, or a unified plan with other nations to fight Islamic terorrism.

The feeling is developing that Donald Trump is going to cause such chaos and anarchy in foreign policy, that his remaining in power has to be seriously compromised, as he could cause more damage than any President in modern American history, way more than George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, or Lyndon B. Johnson were able to do in their times in office.

Hillary Clinton Popular Vote Lead At Over 2 Million, As Evidence Of Voter Irregularities Rises In Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, And Even Florida!

Ronald 46 Comments

This morning, we learn that Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead over Donald Trump is over 2 million and counting, four times the popular vote lead of Al Gore over George W. Bush in 2000.

Hillary Clinton has a greater popular vote lead than John F. Kennedy in 1960, Richard Nixon in 1978 and Jimmy Carter in 1976.

And now, there is growing evidence of voter irregularities in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, as well as questions about how Hillary Clinton had such a popular vote lead in early voting, including 27 percent of Republicans, in Florida, and then, magically loses the Sunshine State. Evidence of fixing and hacking, maybe by Russian intervention, seems possible.

Was this election rigged, as Donald Trump claimed it would be, but in his favor, rather than against him?

Are we having the Presidency stolen, as many thought in 2000, by Republican led state governments, as in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida, although not so in Pennsylvania?

Will we ever know for sure, and is there any point, two weeks after the election, to contest it, and create an uproar, or should we all move on and accept the inevitable, President Elect Donald Trump?

This author is torn, but at this point, with two weeks to absorb the immensity of what has happened, it seems, somehow, pointless to pursue a law suit, as all it will do is further “poison the well”, so to speak.

This is said with a heavy heart and great sadness, but it is time to move on, it seems to me, and allow Trump whatever “honeymoon” he may have, wish him the best, and be ready to challenge him, as it is certain will happen soon, and on a regular basis, over the next four years, and hope for the best in a terrible situation.

The Moment Has Arrived: The Election Of The First Woman President Is Coming In 24 Hours!

Ronald 5 Comments

The time has finally arrived!

One day from this writing, America will have its first woman President, way behind many other nations, including Great Britain, Germany, Israel, India, Pakistan, and others.

America will have broken the glass ceiling permanently!

America will have demonstrated that it is a true democracy, successively electing an African American President, and a woman President!

Hillary Clinton will be an outstanding President, who will further fulfill the progressive agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

But also the progressive tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt as well!

The greatness of America is evident, and it will continue to be the nation that the world admires and respects!

The Closest Presidential Elections In American History

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The closest Presidential Elections in American history would be the following in chronological order since the introduction of popular vote in 1824:

Presidential Election of 1824—Andrew Jackson vs John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William Crawford

Presidential Election of 1876–Rutherford B. Hayes vs Samuel Tilden

Presidential Election of 1880–James A. Garfield vs Winfield Scott Hancock

Presidential Election of 1884–Grover Cleveland vs James G. Blaine

Presidential Election Of 1888–Benjamin Harrison vs Grover Cleveland

Presidential Election of 1892–Grover Cleveland vs Benjamin Harrison, James Weaver

Presidential Election of 1916–Woodrow Wilson vs Charles Evans Hughes

Presidential Election Of 1960–John F. Kennedy vs Richard Nixon

Presidential Election of 1976–Jimmy Carter vs Gerald Ford

Presidential Election of 2000–George W. Bush vs Al Gore, Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan

Presidential Election of 2004–George W. Bush vs John Kerry

“Policy Wonks” In The White House

Ronald 16 Comments

It is uncommon to have a President who is a “policy wonk”, a person who delves into the details of policies.

After all, that is what White House staff and cabinet officers are for.

But yet, we have had “policy wonks” that have been President, and not always for the good.

Who among our Presidents clearly qualifies as a “policy wonk”?

Well, we have Abraham Lincoln, who spent innumerable hours a day trying to keep track of every detail of the Civil War.

Theodore Roosevelt put his eyes, ears, and hands into keeping track of everything imaginable, even after he left the Presidency.

Woodrow Wilson, as a good scholar, was intimately involved in every detail of his Presidency, until he suffered a stroke in the middle of his seventh year in the Presidency.

Franklin D. Roosevelt became a great detail man on every aspect of the New Deal and on foreign policy crises.

John F. Kennedy was always on top of everything going on in his administration.

Lyndon B. Johnson kept track of Great Society programs and the casualty counts in the Vietnam War, and was obsessive-complusive.

Richard Nixon was fanatical in keeping track of everything, including details of White House dinners, and that is a major reason why he taped every Oval Office conversation.

Jimmy Carter was obsessive in being intimately involved in his administration’s policies.

Barack Obama has, certainly, been a hands on President in every sense of the word.

And finally, it is clear that Hillary Clinton is a policy wonk, a very bright and perceptive woman, who will not let anything pass her by when she is elected President.

A Real Choice For The Future: Tim Kaine Vs. Mike Pence, One Of Whom Could Be The 46th President Of The United States!

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Little attention has been paid by news media to the upcoming Vice Presidential debate, but it really does matter.

One of these two men–Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine or Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence–will be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and with their “boss” being either the second oldest or the oldest President at inauguration, that raises the possibility of succession, either by natural causes or by the hated thought of assassination, something that cannot be limited as a potential possibility in a very unsafe environment, both domestic and foreign.

And even if everything goes well, either man could be the heir apparent, and run for the Oval Office four or eight years hence.

It will be interesting to see their body language, their expressions, their knowledge level, their depth, their personality, as neither is known well by the general public.

While both can be said to be basically competent for the job they seek, a look at the public record and utterances of both makes clear that Tim Kaine is, by far, the preferable choice, as he is a mainstream Democrat, while Pence is connected to the right wing of the Republican Party, and has consorted with the Tea Party element in the party in his earlier years in the House of Representatives. Pence has come across as mean spirited, as in the case of an African American man convicted without just cause, finally gaining his freedom with a reversal of his wrongful conviction, but wanting a complete pardon so that his record is expunged, and unable to move ahead in his private life until such happens. But Pence is slow and reluctant to do anything, and one has to wonder, if the race of the individual is a factor.

Being willing to support Donald Trump, no matter what he says or does, might be understandable for a running mate, but it also indicates a lack of principle in asserting his own freedom from the most outrageous Presidential nominee in American history.

Kaine, by comparison, is a humane, decent, genuine, sincere man, who works well “across the aisle” in the Senate, and is admired and liked by many Republican Senators. He has social compassion for the poor, as when he did church work in Honduras, and learned the Spanish language. This is the kind of a man we need to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, and one can be sure he will be utilized by Hillary Clinton effectively, as has been the case with Joe Biden under Barack Obama, Al Gore under Bill Clinton, and Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter Turns 92, Time To Reconsider His Legacy, And That Of George H. W. Bush

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Happy Birthday, President Carter, who reached his 92nd birthday today, October 1!

Despite his cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2015, Jimmy Carter has reached the pinnacle of being 92 years of age, although thought to be likely to die within months of the bad news last year.

He becomes the second living President to reach 92, with George H. W. Bush achieving that on June 12 of this year.

Within the next 18 months, both Bush and Carter could surpass Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan as the two longest living Presidents, and we wish them both well on that potential achievement.

Both of these one term Presidents have been too long overlooked for their achievements, and their longevity insures that over time they will be seen as far better in office than they were seen after their defeats for reelection in 1980 and 1992.

Jimmy Carter Surpasses Record 13,000 Days In Retirement As A Former President!

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As of five days ago, August 25, 2016, former President Jimmy Carter has been in retirement for 13,000 days!

Carter passed former President Herbert Hoover on September 9, 2012, as the longest retired President.

Carter will finish 36 years in retirement by Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017.

His political career before the Presidency and in the Presidency was a total of 12 years–four as a State Senator, four as Governor of Georgia, and four as President.

Carter will be 92 on October 1, and if he lives another 18 months, he would have lived longer than any President including Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, except maybe George H. W. Bush, who is about four months older, and already 92 years of age.

Carter has had cancer in the past year, but is in remission, and seems in good shape, considering his age and cancer diagnosis.

By having lived so long, he has become a legend in many ways.

Let us wish him more years of health and contribution, as he has already set a record for accomplishment as a former President, which has been a model for Bill Clinton, and for when Barack Obama is retired in 2017!