Martin Luther King Jr.

Interesting Survey Of People Honored By US Monuments, From The Washington Post

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The Washington Post has published an interesting survey of people honored by US Monuments, and there are many surprises in the survey.

Eleven Presidents are in the top 50 figures represented in memorials, with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln being the top two of the fifty listed.

Also listed at number 9 is John F. Kennedy; number 10 is Thomas Jefferson; and number 11 is Ulysses S. Grant.

Andrew Jackson is number 15, a three way tie with Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley.

Dwight D. Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt tie at 32nd.

Finally, James A. Garfield is in a four way tie at number 47 with three non Presidents.

Interestingly, NOT on the list are such Presidents as Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, or Ronald Reagan.

Some religious figures, native Americans, and African Americans (Martin Luther King (4th), Harriet Tubman (24th), Frederick Douglass (29th)) are also represented, as are a number of individuals who are not at all related to American history, including Christopher Columbus, most notably in third place with 149!

Confederate leaders are also represented, including Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson.

Other well known Americans include the following: Benjamin Franklin at number 8; Alexander Hamilton tied with two others at number 26; and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall in a six way tie at number 41.

The Ohio, Pennsylvania, And Georgia Senate Races Will Test Trump Influence

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With the conclusion of the Republican Senate nomination battle in Pennsylvania, the next five months will determine what influence Donald Trump has on the makeup of the US Senate in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), and whether the Democrats can retain the Senate and gain more seats.

In Ohio, J D Vance, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate seat of Rob Portman, retiring, against Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan.

In Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate set of Patrick Toomey, retiring, against Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.

In Georgia, former Football player Herschel Walker, who has no real signs of intellectual ability, is contesting for the Senate seat of Democratic Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, an all African American race, but one with a pastor in the tradition of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr, and like King, formerly pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

The three Republican nominees, were they elected, would join with the most horrendous Republican Senators already in the chamber, including Ted Cruz of Texas; Rand Paul of Kentucky (if he wins reelection); Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (if he wins reelection); Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Josh Hawley of Missouri; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; and Mike Lee of Utah (if he wins reelection). Of this group, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have already run for President in 2016, and Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley are also potential Presidential candidates in 2024.

March On Washington #2–1963, And Now 2021: Why Is This Necessary?

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On August 28, 1963, the March On Washington took place in Washington, DC, with the speech of Martin Luther King Jr. being the most memorable speech–“I have a dream” reverberating between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.—an appeal for civil and economic rights, and the end of racism.

At least a quarter of a million people of all backgrounds were there for that memorable event, and it was covered live on television and radio.

In the next two years, we saw the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other landmark legislation and actions, and we thought the issue was settled.

But now, half a century later, we have a right wing Supreme Court, Republicans in Congress, and many state legislatures negating all of the progress made in the 1960s and after.

So we are in a spiritual crisis where right wing Republican conservatism promoting racism and denial of civil rights has become the norm once again!

Today, there will be marches across the nation, not only in Washington, DC, that will call for the end of the loss of the right to vote, as is occurring in so many southern and western states, and the promotion of the restoration of the progress that was made six decades ago.

This is a struggle for peaceful restoration of basic human and civil rights, and the suppression of the ugliness of bigotry that has once again become endemic!

Remembering Ted Kennedy, John McCain, Lyndon B. Johnson, WEB DuBois,19th Amendment Anniversaries In Time Of Turmoil

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Late August is a time to remember the contributions of three political leaders who were true statesmen, one civil rights leader and educator, as well as the celebration of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died on August 25, 2009; Senator John McCain of Arizona died on August 25, 2018; President Lyndon B. Johnson was born on August 27, 1908; WEB DuBois died on August 27, 1963; and the 19th Amendment (Women Suffrage) was ratified and declared in effect on August 26, 1920.

These four individuals had a dramatic effect on American history, and the woman suffrage amendment has transformed American history as well.

Ted Kennedy is one of the greatest US Senators of all time, with his 47 plus years of service on all kinds of crucial issues.

John McCain is one of the heroic Senators, who also sacrificed years of torture and imprisonment in Vietnam, and was the true conscience of the Republican Party.

Lyndon B. Johnson promoted the greatest series of domestic reforms (“The Great Society”) since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, and those reforms still impact America today.

WEB Dubois was the most significant early leader of the Civil Rights Movement before Martin Luther King Jr. and impacted the concept of Black History, and holding America to a higher standard of racial advancement.

The 19th Amendment overcame the long discrimination against women participating in public life, and has had an immeasurable effect on the American promotion of democracy.

What A Wonderful Inauguration Tomorrow Of Joe Biden And Kamala Harris!

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What a wonderful inauguration takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, January 20, 2021!

A President and Vice President who have empathy, compassion, common decency, and exceptional character to lead us out of the nightmare of Donald Trump and his racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, nativist, and misogynist followers, offer recovery and advancement in the next four years!

If Donald Trump had won, our nation would be in the throes of a full scale Fascist dictatorship, and the attempted coup on January 6, thankfully, was overcome, but showed just how dangerous a situation we would be in if Trump had won, or stolen the election, as he clearly did with Russian collusion in 2016!

To deny the truth and reality is no longer going to be acceptable, and this author and blogger will not associate with anyone who tries to deny truth and reality about Donald Trump!

So tomorrow, we will have our second Catholic President of Irish ethnicity (after John F. Kennedy); our first woman and African and Asian heritage as our Vice President; and with our first Latina (Puerto Rican) Supreme Court Justice (Sonia Sotomayor) giving the oath to Kamala Harris; and with the first Second Gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish, bringing the highest level person of Jewish ethnicity into the top levels of government! We also will be bringing a true educator, Dr. Jill Biden, in as First Lady!

And also, we have our first Jewish Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer; and our first Jewish Senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff; and the first African American Senator from Georgia, the Reverend Raphael Warnock (who was pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, earlier having Martin Luther King, Jr as its pastor; and the first Latino Senator from California, Alex Padilla, with all three Senators being sworn in tomorrow when the Democrats take control of the US Senate!

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have major challenges not matched since Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and let all of us wish them the best, and knowing they have our backs!

Two Georgia Senate Seats Crucial For Joe Biden Presidency

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The future of the Joe Biden Presidency will hang in the balance, based on the runoff races for the two Georgia Senate seats, to be held on Tuesday, January 5.

Both Republican incumbents, one elected (David Perdue), and one appointed (Kelly Loeffler) have ethics violations in their stock dealings in the early days of the COVID 19 Pandemic, and both are miserable wretches, corrupt to the core, and they do not truly represent the interests of Georgia!

Instead, we have the Reverend Raphael Warnock, the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta since 2005, the former home of Martin Luther King, Jr, running against Loeffler, and having been first in the November elections, but not having a majority of all votes in that election.

And we have Jon Ossoff, who would be the youngest Senator at 33 if he were to win the seat of David Perdue, who displayed antisemitic attitudes toward Ossoff, who is Jewish, and who also made fun of Kamala Harris’s first name, seen as a racist act.

If both seats are won by the Democratic candidates, the Senate will be 50-50 and Kamala Harris would organize the Senate, and make Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader, instead of the despicable Mitch McConnell.

This will be very important for the Biden Presidency and its agenda, so lots of effort and funding is going into this massive commitment to try and win both seats!

Donald Trump Striving To Be Dictator, And Time For Action To Force Him Out Of Office!

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Donald Trump is striving to be a dictator, claiming the right to send military forces into states to deal with the mostly peaceful protests to the death of George Floyd.

He claims the Insurrection Act of 1807 allows him to do what he wants, but that is not the truth!

It is sadly true only in the District of Columbia, which is not a state, and in 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr, armed troops were deployed in a time of civil disobedience, a horrendous moment in American history, leading to thousands of arrests and ten people killed!

The only time a President can utilize that law in the states is if a state governor refuses to obey federal courts, as with Arkansas in 1957 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Mississippi in 1962 and Alabama in 1963 under President John F. Kennedy, when those states refused federal court orders to integrate.

The state governors would have to agree unanimously to allow the President to take charge throughout the nation, and they are not about to do that under any circumstances, as it is governors who control the National Guard.

A suggestion by George W. Bush to allow such intervention by order of a President was unanimously repudiated by all 50 state governors in 2006, and was dropped as an idea!

So Trump is simply claiming a right he does not have, but the time has come to force him out of the White House by mass demonstrations that will force him to leave, as he is destroying the nation in a time of a pandemic, a depression, and massive racial abuse by police authorities!

We could be on the verge of civil war the way things are going, but the Constitution and Bill of Rights must survive!