Muslims

Executive Order 9066 On Japanese American Internment 75 Years Old, As Trump Starts Massive Deportation Of Undocumented Immigrants, Mexico Wall, And Muslim Ban

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It has been 75 years. since February 19, 1942, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the arrest and detention of about 120,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps, for no reason other than their race, 74 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 11,000 German Americans, including some German Jews, and 3,000 Italian Americans were also interned.

Japanese ethnicity citizens and aliens were put into camps in seven states, losing their businesses and homes and many of their possessions, and living in communal housing in remote locations, and when a few tried to escape, they were shot dead by tower guards.

Some were killed by civilians in the two and a half months before the internment.

The young men in the group volunteered for World War II service in Europe, in the 442nd Infantry Regiment,and won more medals, honors, and awards than any other military units in World War II, while their families lived behind barbed wire.

Finally released in December 1944, and nearly three years interned, they were not given any help to readjust their lives.

Only in 1988, after 44 years, did the US Government and President Ronald Reagan apologize for the internment, and each survivor, about 50,000 out of the 120,000, were given $20,000 compensation with no tax withheld.

Now we are seeing similar treatment against people of Muslim heritage, by the executive order utilized by Trump, but temporarily under hold due to federal circuit courts intervening to stop the ban, but with a new executive order on the way victimizing Muslims, as if they are all terrorists, when none of the nations involved have sent over terrorists, and we have had lots of domestic terrorists who are white Anglos perpetrating violence.

And massive deportation of undocumented immigrants, whose only crime is entering the nation illegally, but with very small numbers of criminals, is now growing, with the possible use of the National Guard and new immigration border staff, as Sanctuary Cities refuse to cooperate.

Many of these immigrants are utilized by the farm industry, hotels, gardeners and restaurants, and other service workers, who, if they are deported, will create a shortage of labor and cause massive increase in prices.

And of course, the proposed Mexico Wall will cost tens of billions of dollars, and will not be able totally to prevent migration and even crime, and funds for it will come from increased taxes, and cutting off federal programs that should not be ended.

Trump is involved, basically, in a reign of terror, which will look horrible in the future, when we look back at the deterioration of the unity of the United States, and the end of the land of the free and of opportunity.

Donald Trump: The Bully In International Affairs, Threatening Wars, And Harming Relationships With Our Long Time Allies

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Donald Trump, in less than two weeks, has become the bully in international affairs, threatening wars with Iran, Mexico, China, and ISIL, while harming long term relationships with allies, including Germany, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia.

His foreign policy approach is totally shocking, and he is rapidly becoming the number one international menace, only being close to two “friends”, it seems, to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yes, I said Netanyanu, who has often acted like a bully in his dealings with Barack Obama, and is cozying up to Donald Trump, in a manner that insures probably collaboration in a major war against Iran, as well as the Palestinians, events which will, if they occur, undermine the image of Israel among both non Jews and Jews in America.

The Jewish community has always been divided over the right wing government of Israel, and the fact that extremist right wing evangelicals ally with the government of Israel should be seen as dangerous and a warning sign, as these extremist Christian groups believe in a holy war against 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, when the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, and are not ideologues or terrorists.

When one hears Donald Trump talk about violence and bloodshed of some religious fanatics, which is certainly true, he conveniently forgets the history and the present situation of extremist Christians, who have a very condemnatory history over two millenniums against Jews, Muslims, native Americans, and colonial populations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. One can also point out the mistreatment of women and gays by many extremist Christian religious groups.

Meanwhile, undermining our alliances with NATO and with a great ally such as Australia is a disaster in the making, which will leave us with no friends when a crisis arises.

There is only one answer—the quick, forced removal of Donald Trump from the Presidency, who could start a nuclear war on a whim!

The Positive Contributions Of The Barack Obama Presidency

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So here we are on the last full day of the Barack Obama Presidency, which I have been writing about since August 2008, and just about daily since 2010.

Barack Obama has been an historic President, and will end up in the top ten of our 44 Presidents over time, if not immediately.

Barack Obama was the most pilloried President since Richard Nixon, but for no good reason, and a lot of it was based on pure racism, sorry to say, but the truth.

But Obama brought us a dignified, classy persona to the White House, as did his wife Michelle.

He gave us the biggest expansion of our health care system, and much of it will survive the Donald Trump and Republican onslaught in the end.

He gave us the concept of limited military involvement, after decades of too many interventions overseas, and ended our involvement in Iraq, and cut back dramatically on the unwinnable war in Afghanistan.

He gave us the possibility of ending the threat of Iran as a nuclear power, and opened up a new relationship with Cuba, after 55 years of ignoring reality.

He accomplished through the use of technology and drones the elimination of thousands of terrorists worldwide, and took the gamble to bring justice to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

He started moving the focus of American foreign policy to Asia and the Pacific, and kept good relations with America’s NATO allies, and kept Russia’s Vladimir Putin on edge. about how America would react toward his aggressive stands.

He made climate change worldwide a crucial focus, and participated in international agreements, and accepted science over conspiracy theories, and made us realize global warming was a danger to American national security.

He took an economy that was the worst since the Great Depression, what is called the Great Recession, and turned it around, with the greatest job growth over eight years in American history, the greatest stock market growth, and the greatest drop in the unemployment rate that has occurred in any administration.

He accomplished in health care what Presidents since Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin D. Roosevelt to Harry Truman to John F. Kennedy to Lyndon B. Johnson to Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton to George W. Bush had been unable to do.

He brought about the revival of the American auto industry, and advanced the rights of workers to overtime pay and increased minimum wage, and the rights of consumers through the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

He advanced women’s rights, including to equal pay, and gave DREAM kids a reprieve from possible deportation, and promoted the idea of universal pre school and community college education, and worked to try to deal with the student loan crisis.

He advocated fair treatment of Muslims in America, and became the champion of gay equality in the military, gay rights in society, and gay marriage and transgender rights.

He became a great advocate of the environment, adding to our national parks and national forests and endangered sites, and continued the tradition of earlier exceptional environmental Presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton before him.

He utilized executive orders to expand the rights of the American people, and worked for legal and judicial reform, and appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

He cared about the weak, the powerless, and the forgotten groups in American society, and set a good moral basis in his own life and that of his family, becoming a model for young people as to how a President should conduct himself.

He avoided lashing out at those who promoted bigotry, and also showed emotion after his failed attempts at immigration reform and gun safety legislation. He had real tears, emotions, and sincerity in the Oval Office, which has hardly ever seen that, and hard to think of any earlier President quite like Obama.

He also faced the greatest number of threats of any President since Abraham Lincoln, as delineated in my Assassinations book, and demonstrated great courage and equanimity in waking up every day, knowing he was a target for hate mongers who wished him and his family ill will.

And finally, he had two terms of office without any hint of a personal, or otherwise, major scandal!

So Barack Obama was a FINE MAN, a different spelling of this author’s and blogger’s last name, and he will rise in the Presidential rankings to the top ten, and likely higher in the middle of the top ten at some point in the future, as he was truly a transformational President!

Goodbye, President and Mrs Obama, we will miss you, and wish you many decades of good health, prosperity, and happiness, as you continue to contribute to American betterment! God bless you both!

115th Congress To Open, On Heels Of Three Worst, Most Unproductive Congresses In Modern History Since World War II!

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Today is the opening day of the 115th Congress, on heels of the three most unproductive Congresses in modern history since World War II, and we are on the way to the most corrupt, disgraceful Congress in all of American history, including the Gilded Age years of the late 19th century.

It is as if the Republican majority in Congress is out to repeal the 20th century, going back to the 1920s Congresses that came before the Great Depression, caused by Republican policies, and rectified in great measure by Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in the 1930s.

The whole concept of a national government that was concerned about the economic status of its people, promoted by the New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, as well as the reforms brought about under later Presidents, including Barack Obama, seem about to be wiped out in great measure by the nasty, vindictive, uncaring right wing Republican Party, which is not even embarrassed about getting rid of their ethics committee, brought about by Congressional scandals a decade ago. Now the thought is, who cares what the public thinks about sex and financial scandals, as we will simply push them under the rug!

That is why the news media, particularly the major newspapers and periodicals and electronic media MUST not allow themselves to be cowed into silence, as it is only the responsible news media that will be able to inform us of the truth and preserve light in a time of darkness.

This is a time for mourning, but one can be assured that the Republicans will pay the price long term for the sins, misdeeds, and even crimes they are now about to perpetrate in harming women, children, workers, the poor, the elderly, the sick, the disabled, the environment, racial minorities, gays and lesbians, immigrants, Muslims, and all other oppressed groups who now are faced with the most right wing extremist Congress in nearly a century.

Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions: A Horrible Successor To The Position Of Attorney General

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Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions may be very cordial and pleasant to his Senate colleagues, but he is clearly a horrible successor to the position of Attorney General of the Unites States.

The only Senator given a cabinet post, Sessions is, unfortunately, the totally wrong choice to enforce civil liberties and civil rights. He is rated one of the most conservative, hard right members of the US Senate.

He was rejected for a Circuit Court Judgeship thirty years ago by a Republican controlled Senate due to his insensitive statements on race, and has no record of tolerance on immigrants, Latinos, Muslims, gays and lesbians, and women.

Sessions would present a very different image of the Justice Department, to favor the powerful and elite over the powerless and middle class and poor in legal and constitutional matters.

He voted against use of medicinal marijuana, and is opposed to stem cell research. He also was highly critical and voted against Barack Obama’s two Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Sessions is like bringing back the “Old South” image of George Wallace, Jesse Helms, and Strom Thurmond, with lack of concern about the growing number of cases of police behavior in controversial cases where people of minority status are often the victim of trigger happy cops, and end up deceased.

Will the Senate again reject one of its own, of the majority party as thirty years ago? That is the question that will be focused on next month when Sessions faces Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

Democrats Only Gain 6 House Seats, 2 Senate Seats In 2016 Elections: Can They Recover In 2018?

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The Democratic Party, which looked on the edge of becoming the dominant party in America, at least on the Presidential level, now is faced with the possibility of a long term status as the party that can win the coast lines and the majority of the popular vote for President, but still lose the Electoral College again and again, with twice in the past generation, 2000 and now 2016.

By all estimates, in the long run, whatever that means, the demographic changes in America will insure that the Democrats will eventually have a tremendous advantage, but for now, the situation is gloomy, as the Democrats only gained 6 House seats and 2 Senate seats, and the loss of Russ Feingold in Wisconsin and Evan Bayh in Indiana, when both were heavily favored, was startling.

So the job is to recruit a future generation of leadership on the state level as well as the national level, and unfortunately, the Democrats on the national level have just shot themselves in the foot, by electing once again the same old team (all in their mid 70s) of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and James Clyburn to leadership of their party in the House of Representatives.

And picking an African American and first Muslim in Congress, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, as the Democratic National Chairman, which now seems inevitable with Howard Dean withdrawing from the race, is not exactly the greatest choice either.

So can the Democrats recover in 2018? They likely would gain some seats in the House of Representatives, but not control, and the Senate will be almost impossible not to lose seats, as 25 of 33 seats up for election are Democratic seats, so the future is gloomy, as the situation now seems.

Being Black, Latino, Muslim, Jewish, Gay, Or Female In Trump America

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Since the election, there has been many reports of attacks and hate inspired reactions against African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Jews, Gays and Lesbians, and women, all in the name of representing Donald Trump’s America.

All of these groups of Americans are now living in a state of fear, a situation which is tragic and should not exist.

White Supremacists and Misogynists are encouraged by the appointment of Stephen Bannon as a key adviser to President Elect Trump, despite his past statements and actions, and his connection to the extreme Right wing Breitbart Network, and the Alt Right, which promotes antisemism, white supremacy, racism. nativism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and conspiracy theories.

Imagine the harassment and bullying going on in schools and colleges.

Imagine the danger of people of these groups being approached on public streets in an intimidating way.

Imagine the sense of insecurity for Latinos, particularly those who are undocumented, that they could be arrested and deported without any recourse, disrupting lives of people who just want to have a chance to improve their lives.

Donald Trump has made one statement on the reaction against these groups going on in America, a statement on Sixty Minutes on CBS, but it is not enough to make such a statement, and then pick a hateful extremist such as Bannon, and to be considering other hate mongers and nasty, mean spirited people, who are bullies much like Trump.

Hate Crimes And Intimidation Begin Anew: Time For Donald Trump To Speak Up And Denounce, In Order To Gain Confidence Of Entire Nation!

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Since the election, there has been a growing number of hate crimes and intimidation, particularly against Muslims and Latinos, but also threatening African Americans, gays and lesbians, and women.

Hate groups, sadly, see the Donald Trump victory as license to threaten and intimidate groups that have been disrespected and vilified by the Trump campaign and its supporters.

If we are to have a President who wishes to unite all the American people as he claims he wishes to, then Donald Trump needs to condemn the hate crimes and intimidation, and pronto, but so far, nothing has been said or done by the President-Elect.

Knowing Trump’s history, if one is expecting him to speak up, it is likely a dream, a mirage, and that portends persecution of groups and a curbing of enforcement of civil rights and civil liberties.

A nightmare seems to be in the making, and there is, at least for now, great concern about lawlessness in the name of super nationalism and hard line religion becoming the new norm!

The Clinton-Trump Debates The Most Significant Since Lincoln-Douglas Senate Debates In Illinois In 1858!

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Presidential debates have occurred since 1976, and also, originally took place in 1960, but no debate has mattered as much as the one coming up on Monday between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

No more significant debate has occurred since Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had model debates for the Senate race in Illinois in 1858.

Hillary Clinton is super qualified to be President, while Donald Trump is totally unqualified, and were he to win, American democracy and constitutional order would be endangered.

Donald Trump is a Fascist demagogue, who has no credentials, and has the diplomatic, military, intelligence, and economic experts up in arms over the threat he presents.

Much of the Republican Establishment, including the two living former Republican Presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, and much of the conservative media and intellectual class, are deplored by his candidacy.

Trump has insulted, degraded, ridiculed, belittled, and shown a lack of respect toward women, African Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, and the disabled, and has worked to divide Americans, and gained the backing of racists, nativists, misogynists, xenophobes, and all kinds of white supremacists who also are anti semites.

He has praised dictators, including Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Vladimir Putin of Russia, and talks loosely about using the nuclear button.

The man is a clear and present danger who must be prevented from winning the Presidency, and we must all root on Hillary Clinton to score a win over this demagogue on Monday night!

More Racial Incidents Involving Police, And More “Lone Wolf” Terrorist Incidents Building Support For Donald Trump, A Clear And Present Danger!

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The more that one thinks about the trend that is developing—-more racial incidents involving police shooting and killing African American men at traffic stops and in other situations—and the growing number of “lone wolf” terrorist incidents, involving young men of Muslim faith—-the more, sadly, a growing sense of fair and paranoia is turning white Americans against both African Americans, and Muslim Americans. This is fueling the rise of Donald Trump in the polls, as people somehow see Trump as the “solution” to their trepidation that the streets are not safe.

And this even includes Hispanic and Latino Americans and the issue of illegal or undocumented immigration also making many feel we need a “strong man” who can, magically, resolve all issues in a short time, which is, of course, totally preposterous and ridiculous!

Yes, we have troubles in this nation, but there is no magic wand, no magic potion, that will solve these issues.

It is terrifying to witness how many people seem to think that a character like Donald Trump, who is a reality star, can be looked upon as able to be their savior for their fears, when, if he were elected, we would be giving a mentally unstable and dangerous man the power which could undermine American democracy and constitutional order.

America is in a crisis that can now be seen as the greatest since the Watergate Scandal under Richard Nixon, when we brought a lawless President to resign. We are about to consider electing a man who will embolden White Supremacist groups, including Neo Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan!

And yet, now, we are ready to give a man much more dangerous than Richard Nixon, and far less qualified than he was, the power of the Presidency.

This is a time for prayer and common sense before we go into the abyss that will cause all kinds of grief and damage long term, if we, as a nation, do not come to our senses over the next seven weeks!