Richard Nixon

Unchecked Presidential Power Without Accountability!

Ronald 5 Comments

Donald Trump has, in a multitude of ways, and with the assistance of Republicans in Congress and the states, and the majority of the United States Supreme Court, gained unchecked Presidential power without accountability.

By comparison, Richard Nixon was a “choir boy”, and other Presidents who have been objectionable in different ways, such as Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and George W. Bush, pale by comparison!

Trump has horribly abused executive orders and issued outrageous pardons and commutations to law breakers, not only those from the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, but also others who have committed other kinds of criminal acts.

Trump has incited the most extreme of MAGA Republicans to threaten lives of politicians who speak out or oppose him in any way.

Trump has worked to fix the elections in 2026, by outrageous interference promoting extreme gerrymanderins.

Trump has become an abuser in foreign policy, and totally alienated foreign nations and their leaders, and is very willing to undermine Ukraine, and promote the aggression of Vladimir Putin, as well as other authoritarians all around the world.

Trump has demonstrated extreme racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, nativism, and consorted with antisemites, while supposedly working with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Every day for more than ten months, Trump has worsened and undermined the lives of Americans, and instilled fear in people who are not white Christians.

And the problem is that his followers and his Cabinet and other top figures around him are only too willing to do his evil deeds with glee!

So even when and if Trump leaves the scene, the fear is that the cancer he has introduced into American government will be pursued beyond his lifetime!

My Lai 1968, Abu Ghraib 2003-2004: Crimes Against Humanity, Now Being Promoted By Trump Administration!

Ronald 23 Comments

On March 15, 1968, Army Lieutenant William Calley led a horrendous massacre of Vietnamese civilian men, women, and children at My Lai, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, only revealed in November 1969.

Between 350 and 500 innocent villagers were murdered, with rape and mutilation and torture of women and children and the elderly, with 26 soldiers charged with the outrageous war crimes, but only Calley served a short time, eventually having his sentence commuted to house arrest by President Richard Nixon.

This massacre increased the antiwar opposition in America to the Vietnam War, which bitterly divided America.

In June 2003, the first revelations of horrendous abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq became public.

Widespread human rights abuses were occurring, with the use of torture, all types of shocking mistreatment on a grand scale, and many US troops seemingly enjoying what horrendous acts they were perpetrating on prisoners.

These actions were authorized by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, and President George W. Bush, and many other White House staff, who knew what was occurring, even if not directly involved.

News media revealed the horrors, and showed many Army personnel, including many women, were involved in actions, and with photos showing their glee at what they were doing. Only a small number of troops were held accountable and served sentences after convictions.

It led to a belated apology by President George W. Bush in May 2004, but clearly, it led to greater troubles and expansion of the war in Iraq, which continued until 2011.

International law had been violated, and clearly, war crimes of massive abuses had occurred, and there was a sense that, like with My Lai 35 years earlier, there was never adequate accountability.

So many victims of both war crimes in 1968 and 2003-04 never received any justice, and so many victims lost their lives because of out of control military forces, which were also in league with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Now in 2025, we have attacks on so called “drug boats”, supposedly linked to Venezuela, and it seems likely that soon there will be an armed invasion of that South American nation, and a new military intervention, authorized by Donald Trump!

The Greatest Criminal President Promoting “War On Crime” To Keep Support Of MAGA Base, While Undermining American Domestic Tranquility And Threatening National Security!

Ronald 66 Comments

Here we are, 250 days after the Presidential Inauguration of 2025, and we have never had any Presidency quite like the present situation.

Yes, Franklin D. Roosevelt had tremendous intervention in the Great Depression in his first eight months and beyond of his “New Deal”.

But now, Donald Trump has managed to conduct the greatest “Criminal” Presidency, way surpassing Richard Nixon by massive amounts.

He has utilized more than 200 Executive Orders in eight months, an all time record, and higher than almost all past American Presidents.

He has promoted a so called “War on Crime”, which is victimizing thousands upon thousands of immigrants, racial minories, and citizens as well, ignoring due process and establishing what could be considered a non death series of “concentration camps” to hold the victims.

But there is the horrifying possibility that an unhinged Donald Trump, in league with his corrupt Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and his corrupt Attorney General Pam Bondi, and with the support of other Cabinet officers, and other aides, including the extremely dangerous Stephen Miller, Thomas Homan, Russell Vought, and a multitude of others, could go further and decide to utilize summary justice, meaning executions!

It is not beyond the realm of possibility in the lunatic world we live in now, and undermining American economic security, our national defense, and our position in world affairs!

Kamala Harris Memoir Burns Bridges, Likely Insures End Of Political Career!

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris, by publishing a memoir with strong statements about many political leaders she has worked with, is likely burning her bridges, making it highly doubtful that she will ever again hold public office.

History records that once a Presidential nominee has lost election to the White House, the odds are extremely high that such individual will never be President.

There are only six cases of a defeated Presidential nominee going on to be elected President–three before the Civil War, once in the Gilded Age, once in the mid 20th century, and finally, Donald Trump.

Two of the cases–Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump– won the Presidency, then lost, and then returned, so unusual and special cases. In the case of Cleveland, he won in 1884, lost in 1888, and won in 1892. Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won in 2024.

The three before the Civil War were Thomas Jefferson, who lost in 1796 and won in 1800; Andrew Jackson, who lost in 1824, and won in 1828; and William Henry Harrison, who lost in 1836 and won in 1840.

Finally, Richard Nixon lost in 1960, but then won in 1968 and 1972.

So the odds of Harris coming back are very low, but additionally, by being critical of Joe and Jill Biden and the Biden Staff, and stating her reasons for not selecting Josh Shapiro or Pete Buttigieg as her Vice Presidential running mate instead of Tim Walz, has caused controversy and a sense of anger by those individuals and others.

And it is generally well known that Kamala Harris was not an easy person to work for, losing staff regularly in the Senate and the Vice Presidency.

One gets the feeling from her appearance on Rachel Maddow, and on “The View”, that she does not seem to have the “fire in the belly” to compete in another strenuous Presidential campaign.

It would have been easier for Harris to have run for California Governor, with assurance of an easy victory, and a major role in the largest state’s impact in reaction to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, just like Gavin Newsom is now waging.

So it seems clear this is the end of any serious “comeback” by Kamala Harris to national politics.

Instead, she is on a major speaking tour to promote her book, and to spread the argument of strong opposition to the horrors of Donald Trump, but not a formal national or state role in that effort.

Donald Trump Is Underming Multiple Areas Of American Progress

Ronald 66 Comments

After seven and a half months of his second term, President Donald Trump has used a “wrecking ball” that has undermined multiple areas of American progress of past Presidents and Congresses.

Trump has undermined a stable American foreign policy, upending our relationship with NATO and our Asian allies, and encouraging aggression by dictatorships worldwide.

Trump has undermined our heritage of civil rights and civil liberties progress, from the time of Lyndon B. Johnson onward.

Trump has undermined environmental and consumer protection, which has been a guidepost since the time of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Trump has undermined America’s economic progress with his crazy, mad dash toward tariffs that are already showing signs of bringing about an economic recession and make life more difficult for anyone not of the wealthy upper class.

Trump has declared war on immigrants, upending the concept of tolerance and the essential need for a work force that includes foreigners who wish to become part of the “American Dream”.

Trump has shown total lack of compassion, decency, ethics, morals and tolerance toward anyone not white male Christian, including setting back progress for nonwhites, women, gays and lesbians, and disabled people.

Trump has undermined the independence of universities, the news media, corporations, and law firms, all threatening American democracy and its institutions.

So Trump has declared war on much of the 20th and 21st century progress from Theodore Roosevelt to Joe Biden, Presidents and Congresses of both political parties!

Republican Vice Presidents Since 1969—Vance The Worst Of The Worst Since Spiro Agnew! :(

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In the past 56 years, we have had six Republican Presidents—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

In that same period, we have had eight Republican Vice Presidents—Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, George H W Bush, Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence, and JD Vance.

It is well recognized that three of these six Republican Presidents are rated higher than the other three—meaning Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, and Gerald Ford.

George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump are in the bottom third, with Trump nearly at the total bottom.

When one looks at the eight Republican Vice Presidents, only Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, and George H W Bush are seen as above average.

Ranking the remaining five is ranking as much lower and far worse in performance, with Spiro Agnew seen as the bottom, but with Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney seen as not much better, and with Mike Pence just slightly above them.

And then, there is the present Vice President, JD Vance, who in seven months has managed to cause outrage by his utterances and his actions, making one fear the thought that he might be the successor to Donald Trump.

At age 41, if Vance became President by succession before the summer of 2027, he would be the youngest President in American history, as Theodore Roosevelt was 42 years and 10 and a half months of age when he succeeded the assassinated William McKinley in September 1901.

Compared to his predecessor, Mike Pence, Vance has managed to be much more controversial, and makes one at least admire Pence for having strong convictions, including refusing to accept Donald Trump’s assertion that he should support a rejection of the Electoral College results in the Presidential Election of 2020.

This led to the threatened hanging of Mike Pence by the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrectionists, who had set up a noose outside the building.

One cannot be sure that Vance would be any improvement on Donald Trump, as he is clearly totally unprincipled and insensitive in his statements and actions, and therefore, cannot be trusted as a potential future Commander in Chief.

Vance should be promoting the preservation of American democracy, but seems more interested in supporting the authoritarianism of Donald Trump, which presents a dire threat to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

By comparison, the Democratic Party has had four Vice Presidents since 1969—Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter; Al Gore under Bill Clinton; Joe Biden under Barack Obama; and Kamala Harris under Joe Biden.

While the view of Harris is too recent to be reliable, any estimation of the significance of Mondale, Gore, and Biden makes it clear that they are the top three Vice Presidents of modern times, and arguably, of all time!

51 Years Since Richard Nixon Resignation

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Today, August 9, marks the 51st Anniversary of the resignation from the Presidency of Richard Nixon, due to the Watergate Scandal.

A half century ago, his Republican Party had true principles and convictions, and their leadership made it clear in a visit to the White House that Nixon was on the road to being easily impeached by the House, with minority Republican support, as well as the Democratic Party majority, and that he would be unable to gain 34 Republican votes to save him from conviction in the US Senate.

Sadly, today, the Republican Party is owned totally by Donald Trump, with only a very few principled Republicans who have opposed him at any time.

THe Republican Party has lost its conservative principles and its soul, and the nation is in the process of the development of a Fascist authoritarianism, which endangers the US Constitution, American Democracy and the rule of law.

Past Presidential Disputes Never Anything Like Trump With His Predecessors!

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Donald Trump’s incessant attacks on many of his predecessors in the White House is unparalleled in American history!

Trump has attacked over the years not only Barack Obama, but also Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and both Presidents Bush in vehement and outrageous ways.

In the past, there were cases of “bad blood” between Presidents, but nothing on the scale of what Trump has done.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had strong criticism of each other, as well as Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and neither Adams attended the inauguration of his successor. But later, Adams and Jefferson revived their former friendship, with extensive letter correspondence over the last 14 years of their lives.

John Tyler, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were unhappy with Abraham Lincoln’s policies during the Civil War.

Andrew Johnson had issues with his successor, Ulysses S. Grant, and refused to attend Grant’s inauguration.

Theodore Roosevelt fought bitterly against his own annointed successor, William Howard Taft, and challenged him in 1912, and both TR and Wilson were at odds very often with Woodrow Wilson.

Herbert Hoover was very bitter in his loss to Franklin D. Rooosevelt, and during the terms that FDR was in office, probably more vehement than any other situation other than Trump, and FDR never invited Hoover to visit the White House.

Harry Truman was critical of Dwight D. Eisenhower to some extent, and he and Richard Nixon were dire enemies, until Nixon brought the Truman piano in the White House to the Truman Library in 1969.

Jimmy Carter tended to be critical of other Presidents, but in the case of Gerald Ford, they became the best of friends after both had left office. Carter remained a strong critic, but in a dignified manner, of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Despite past rivalries, both Bush Presidents and Bill Clinton became good friends in later years, and the same for Barack Obama and the two Bushes.

It is extremely inappropriate for the members of the “Presidents Club” to be lambasting others in that group, and it was refreshing that Carter and Ford became friends, and that the Bushes and Clinton were cooperative, as well as Obama with the Bushes.

But then, Donald Trump has destroyed the idea of camaraderie among the small, select group who have the opportunity to be President of the United States.

Horrible Tragedy: Gutting Of So Many Federal Commitments And Agencies!

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Six months have passed since the second Trump Presidency began, and it is now perfectly clear that Donald Trump has waged total war on the federal government, both commitments of long duration, and of agencies and departments of long standing.

The Republican Party in Congress, and the Supreme Court six member majority, are complicit in these horrendous actions.

USAID (US Agency For International Development), which provided life saving aid to millions of poor people, including particularly children, around the world, has been destroyed.

PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program For Aids Relief), the major accomplishment of former President George W. Bush, which saved at least 26 million lives in Africa from the AIDS epidemic, has been gutted.

The Department of Education, created under President Jimmy Carter after being part of a combined agency under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a commitment to federal engagement in education standards and support, has been cut dramatically.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), created under President Jimmy Carter, had been on the chopping block until the recent Texas Flood Disaster, but still is in danger of being eliminated, as the federal government is moving toward leaving weather and natural disasters to the states to handle on their own.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, created under Republican President Richard Nixon, are both crucial agencies facing massive cuts in personnel and ability to do their work to protect Americans.

Public funding of NPR and PBS, one tenth of one percent of the federal budget, is being cut completely.

Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamps), both coming about under President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, are suffering massive cuts, which will affect, in particular, rural states, but overall, the disabled, the elderly, and poor children, a total travesty!

Tens of thousands of federal employees in a multitude of agencies have lost their jobs, and with it, the federal goverment loses their generations of expertise on all kinds of issues of national security, health care, environmental protections, and so many other roles the federal government has engaged in since the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society, and commitments by Presidents of both parties in the past 50 years since the 1970s.

Donald Trump Has Set Out To Destroy “The Great Society” And “The New Deal”!

Ronald 32 Comments

Clearly, Donald Trump and his “Project 2025” has set out to destroy “The Great Society” of Lyndon B. Johnson, and given time and ability, the next goal is to wipe out “The New Deal” of Franklin D. Roosevelt!

IF the Democrats do not win control of the House of Representatives in the Midterm Congressional Elections of 2026, nothing will stand in the way of further destruction of federal agencies and programs.

The ability to win the US Senate is a tall order, but Democrats must find a way to flip four seats, and not lose any of their members.

Otherwise, the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), already under attack, will be also under threat, as well as environmental reforms promoted by Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden!

The last century and more of reforms will be under danger of total destruction!