John Kelly

Republicans For Biden Or Not Supporting Trump

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There are many Republicans, mostly not presently in public office, who have made it clear they are not supporting Donald Trump for reelection, and some going further and endorsing Joe Biden.

Among those making clear they will not back Trump are the following:

Former President George W. Bush

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton

Former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona

Retired Four Star Navy Admiral William McRaven (who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011)

Among those expressing doubt but not yet committing are the following:

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Former White House Chief of Staff and General John Kelly

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Former Congressman and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina

Former Director of National Intelligence and Senator Dan Coats of Indiana

Among those formally endorsing and supporting Joe Biden are the following:

Former Governor and Congressman John Kasich of Ohio

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman

Former California gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman of California

Former Secretary of Defense and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel

Former Secretary of Defense and Marine Corps General James Mattis

Cindy McCain, wife of former Senator John McCain

Former Presidential contender in 2016 Carly Fiorina

Former Congresswoman Susan Molinari of New York

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell

Former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor

Retiring Florida Congressman Francis Rooney

Conservative commentator George Will

Conservative commentator Bill Kristol

Republican strategist Steve Schmidt

Republican strategists Rick Wilson

Republican strategist John Weaver

Republican strategist George Conway, husband of Trump advisor KellyAnne Conway

Also, a number of Republican groups opposed to Trump are spending tens of millions on advertising to oppose Trump, including

The Lincoln Project

Republican Voters Against Trump

43 Alumni For Joe Biden PAC (referring to George W. Bush)

Republicans For The Rule Of Law

Nikki Haley Has Damaged Her Image Irreparably With Criticism Of Rex Tillerson And John Kelly Opposition To Donald Trump, And Her Laudatory Endorsement Of Trump

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Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, earlier Governor of South Carolina, always had a good reputation, including her opposition to Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2016 for the Presidency.

When she agreed, however, to be his UN Ambassador, her image was harmed, although she came across as one of a very few Trump appointees not involved in corruption nor in unseemly advocacy of horrific policies.

There is no question that Haley has political ambitions, but her decision to criticize former Trump appointees Rex Tillerson and John Kelly for trying to recruit her to undermine Trump, makes her look totally unable to see the danger that Trump represents in both domestic and foreign policy, and on the issue of separation of powers.

It seems clear that Haley is trying to undermine Vice President Mike Pence, and possibly replace him as the Vice Presidential nominee in 2020.

This shows she has no principles, decency, ethics, morals, or scruples other than her own advancement. She is totally delusional, when she says Trump was always truthful, and that she had no doubts about his capability to be President, a mind boggling assertion on her part! How could she say that Trump listened well, and that she always enjoyed working with him, when we know that Trump is on a constant rampage of anger on Twitter and in public statements?

So she has lost a lot of decent Americans who wanted to believe she was a quality figure, a rare one, but now it is clear she has no concern except her own aggrandizement. She is willing to see the destruction of the Republican Party by her constant endorsement of the worst President in American history, a denial of all GOP Presidents of the past!

So Nikki Haley is just another typical disgraceful Republican who should be repudiated for future political office, as she is willing to accept the lawless, abuse of power, and obstruction of justice of Donald Trump!

More Turnover In Trump Administration As Two Year Mark Of Term Arrives Next Month

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Yet more turnover is occurring in the Trump Administration as the half way mark of his term arrives in a month.

John Kelly is gone as White House Chief of Staff, and Trump had many people turn him down as Kelly’s replacement , and now the head of the Office Of Management and Budget, former Tea Party South Carolina Republican Congressman Mick Mulvaney, has agreed to be “Acting” head, as his insistence.  Mulvaney is actually worse than Kelly, more outrageous in his extremism, including when he headed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for awhile, with the aim of destroying this signature legislation and agency created by Elizabeth Warren and President Barack Obama in 2010.

And the despicable Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, under multiple investigations for conflicts of interest and widespread damage to the preservation of our environment and the national monuments and national parks, will be leaving by the end of the year.

This is after other cabinet members, including Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Tom Price, David Shulkin, Nikki Haley, and Scott Pruitt have left, all under a cloud except Haley. 

Additionally, Betsy DeVos, Kirstjen Nielsen, Alex Acosta, Wilbur Ross, Matthew Whitaker, Steven Mnuchin, Ben Carson, and Rick Perry have faced major criticisms and investigations over policies and utterances.

This is, without question, the most corrupt and incompetent and investigated Cabinet of any Presidency in all of American history, and two more years to come.

First Revelations From Bob Woodward Book On Donald Trump Makes For A Greater Constitutional Crisis Than Even Realized Until Now

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The new Bob Woodward book–FEAR: TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE–is not due out until Tuesday, September 11, but early revelations about the contents of the book make it clear that America and the world is in its greatest constitutional and foreign policy crisis since the infamous September 11, 2001!

The book contains evidence that the top people around Trump think of him as a moron, an idiot, a sixth grader, as someone who cannot be taught or explained anything, as an unhinged person who is dangerous and unstable. Trump is also described as a compulsive liar, and someone who is regularly furious, angry, and frustrated for long periods of time, and spending hours watching cable news and utilizing Twitter.

Those cited include John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff; James Mattis, Secretary of Defense; Rob Porter, former White House Staff Secretary to the President; Reince Preibus, former White House Chief of Staff; Gary Cohn, former Presidential Economic Adviser; and Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of State.

A lot of incendiary and insulting language is used by these people and others in quotes that Woodward gained in doing his research, This has never happened to this extent before, not even under President Richard Nixon during Watergate!

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are also described in an unflattering manner, as acting privileged and self serving.

So as much as we knew or perceived before, now we are fully in awareness of the potential disaster we are facing, and the urgency of the immediate removal of Donald Trump from the Oval Office!

The good thing is that Kelly and Mattis, both military veterans, are staying on for now, and they can help protect the nation from the maniacal behavior of Trump, including, apparently, the prevention of the signing by Trump of documents that would be destructive in domestic and foreign policy, with Trump apparently not aware that the documents he was supposed to sign had disappeared.

If and when these two military veterans are fired or choose to resign, then the danger of Trump becoming ever more dangerous to the nation and the world accelerates.

Seriously, with obvious dismay by many Trump associates, it is time for Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, Section 4, and remove Trump from the Oval Office sooner, rather than later!

The Urgent Democratic Platform For 2020: 30 Goals For The Next Decade

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What MUST be part of the Democratic Party platform in 2020, no matter who is the Democratic Presidential nominee?

In no special order, it MUST include:

Medicare for all Americans of all ages
$15 minimum wage by 2022 everywhere in America and Paid Family Leave
Free public university and college tuition for the first two years or 60 credits of higher education
Wiping out of college debt which prevents many young people from marrying, having children, buying a home, having a future
Repeal of Citizens United, which has allowed corporations to be called people, and destroy political campaigns with large donations, and instead promote public financing of campaigns
Responsible Gun Control legislation
Protection of Women’s Rights, including abortion rights
Enforcement of gay and lesbian and transgender rights
A responsible immigration reform program, reversing the damage done by Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan
Revival of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties that have been curbed by Donald Trump
Protection of the Social Safety Net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
Labor Rights promoted, including prevention of “right to work” laws
Environmental regulations revived and strengthened
Consumer Rights revived and strengthened
Investment in infrastructure across America
Condemnation of violations of human rights in other nations, including Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines and elsewhere
Revival of NATO alliance and other alliances that have been weakened in the Trump Presidency
The end of protectionist tariffs, which undermine the American economy
Strengthening of relations with Cuba, and attempts to overcome strains and tensions with Iran, and revive the Iran Nuclear Deal
Promoting total separation of church and state, with religion not being promoted by government
Reenactment of responsible corporation and Wall Street reforms
Protection of Native American lands and properties
Criminal Justice Reforms for those not involved in violent Crimes
National restoration of Voting Rights to former convicts who have paid their debt to society
Decriminalizing Drug Use and Sales, so as to overcome the Opioid Crisis, and allow Medicinal Marijuana without penalty
Promoting funding for the Arts and Culture across America
Dealing with poverty and homelessness in America
Hurricane Relief for Puerto Rico and move toward statehood as the 51st state
Tax Reform to require a fair and equitable tax system for all, not just the wealthy
Reviving respect for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press

Would all of these 30 “planks” be successfully accomplished in the term of the next Democratic President from 2021-2025? Most certainly, highly unlikely, but these must be the goals of the next Democratic administration, as we attempt to recover from the disaster and tragedy of the Donald Trump nightmare!

Donald Trump’s White House Culture Of Corruption: One Of Sleaze, Crooks, Scam Artists, Incompetence, And Pure Greed

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Donald Trump’s White House is one of sleaze, crooks, scam artists, incompetence, and pure greed!

Who among people who work around Donald Trump have faced accusations or more, fitting the descriptions above?

The list is long, with no special order, with the first list (10) being former officials.

Michael Flynn, former National Security Adviser
Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign Chairman
Steve Bannon, former Senior Counselor to the President, and former White House Chief Strategist
Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Director of Communications
Hope Hicks, former White House Director of Communications
Tom Price, former Secretary of Health and Human Services
Scott Pruitt, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency
Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of State
Sean Spicer, former White House Press Secretary
Reince Priebus, former White House Chief of Staff

The list of officials (14) who are still working for Donald Trump, and fit the title of this blog entry, include, in order of ranking in the cabinet:

Secretary of The Treasury Steven Mnuchin
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Secretary of The Interior Ryan Zinke
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
Former Secretary of Homeland Security, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen
Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mick Mulvaney
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
White House Lawyer Rudy Giuliani

These two lists and total of 24 people are only the best known and most reported upon, but there are numerous others, lower down in influence and notice, who have also added to the degradation of the Trump Presidency.

Also, there is the corruption within the Trump family, including Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner, making this President’s family the most disgraceful First Family we have ever seen.

And we cannot ignore the reality that Vice President Mike Pence seems involved in the Trump scandals, if nothing else than simply his silence, and his constant nodding like a bobble head behind Trump, as he makes outrageous accusations and personal attacks.

There are also those who either left or were forced out due to controversy over their disagreements with Trump, with Gary Cohn, former Chief Economic Adviser, and H. R. McMaster, former National Security Adviser, two of the more well known and competent people who could not survive in the Trump White House.

So again, this list above is far from complete, but it demonstrates, minus Cohn and McMaster, the disaster of the Trump Presidency, easily the most corrupt and incompetent administration, with the strong likelihood of more indictments and convictions once the Trump Presidency has been completed, than any other President, certain to surpass Richard Nixon, Warren G. Harding, and Ulysses S Grant, for the level of disgrace brought upon the White House!

There will be many volumes in the future, analyzing and dissecting all of the specific examples of corruption during the time Donald Trump will have been in office.

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!

June 19, 1953–The Beginning Of Awareness Of Public Affairs For This Author

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On this day in 1953, this author gained his first awareness of public affairs at the age of 8 and a half, an age that most people will remember as their first major memory of life outside their own family life, and learning about the outside world.

On that day, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused atomic spies, were executed, an event still debated 65 years later as to its justice.

This author was watching television, and recall the shock he experienced over the execution that took place that evening.

So that was the beginning of awareness of public affairs, and it has continued through good and evil events for the past 65 years.

And to wake up this morning and witness the US government arresting mothers and fathers for trying to escape violence and threats of death in their homelands, and wishing to seek asylum, and being treated as criminals, and their children being taken away from them, even infants who are nursing, ails his heart and soul.

It makes him wonder what has happened to this nation, the country of the Statue of Liberty and place of refuge for immigrants, that we have now demonized these desperate people who just want a better life, and are being horribly mistreated by the likes of Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen, John Kelly and other racists and nativists who pursue the evil policies of a President who hopes all of us will give in, and allow him to become the first authoritarian leader in American history.

The answer is that knowledge is power, and that the American people will continue to resist, and the news media, bless them, are part of our constant effort to expose the truth and to pursue justice, and take down and prosecute the evil leaders who are destroying all semblance of unity in this nation!

Decent people in organized religion, and lawyers, doctors, social workers, educators at all levels, and just Americans who care about more than their economic wealth, will unite to overcome this cancer in our midst.

We cannot give up the battle, as otherwise it will consume us!

Trump Cabinet Members: One Disaster After Another, From Tom Price To Ronny Jackson!

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The Trump Cabinet is one disaster after another.

Trump has dismissed many people behind him, both those in his Cabinet, and others in positions of authority, and others have come under fire, but are still there.

Rex Tillerson, Tom Price, David Shulkin are gone, along with Reince Priebus, Michael Flynn, H. R. McMaster, and Sean Spicer, and Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, Jeff Sessions, Steve Mnuhcin, Betsy DeVos, Wilbur Ross, Ben Carson, Mick Mulvaney, and now Ronny Jackson are under scrutiny. Even John Kelly, the second White House Chief of Staff, has lost his reputation serving Trump.

There has been more turnover, including the White House Chief of Staff, National Security Adviser, and White House Press Secretary, than under any President after just 15 months.

The above mentioned list of present cabinet officers, as well as Ronny Jackson, the White House Physician now nominated to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, have had issues of corruption and malfeasance, and are under a cloud that may force all of them to leave the administration over time.

Just about the only Trump advisers who are seen as “clean” are Secretary of Defense James Mattis and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Richard Nixon, Warren G. Harding, Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush all had a substantial number of people who served in their administrations forced out, or indicted, convicted, and sentenced to prison, but it looks as if Donald Trump is presiding over the most disgraceful group of advisers we have ever seen in any Presidency!

Trump’s “Congratulations” To Putin A Danger Sign To National Security Long Term, And Demonstrates How Unhinged And Dangerous He Is!

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Donald Trump was told by his National Security Adviser, H. R. Mc Master, and his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, NOT to ‘congratulate” Vladimir Putin for his phony election victory in Russia.

He ignored both of them, a clear danger to national security of the nation, and now Mc Master is out, and crazy lunatic war hawk, John Bolton, who still believes the Iraq War was justified; who was unable to become UN Ambassador under President George W. Bush, and was only a recess appointment for less than a year; and who has advocated openly on Fox News Channel the idea of “regime change” in both Iran and North Korea, has replaced him.

This is an alarming development, and it is believed Kelly is on his way out, and might not be replaced as Donald Trump may believe he does not need a Chief of Staff, that he can handle everything on his own, with the help of Bolton, who will have greater access as National Security Adviser daily than anyone else.

It is now clear that Donald Trump is more unhinged and dangerous than we ever imagined, and if the military leaders John Kelly, and maybe even Secretary of Defense James Mattis leave, there will be no control on Donald Trump’s military actions.

So war may be in the offing soon!