Slavery Issue

Shocking, Stunning NYC Mayoral Democratic Primary!

Ronald 12 Comments

New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a mostly obscure politician with only brief experience in government at age 33, born in Uganda of Indian parents, with his father Muslim and his mother Hindu, with him professing to be a Muslim who is pro Palestinian in his views, has stunned the Democratic political establishment in New York City and nationwide, with his shocking, stunning, seismic first round victory in the NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary, over highly favored former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo!

Mamdani, seemingly, came out of “nowhere” and has a seven point lead on Cuomo, with ranked choice voting system adopted by NYC having to wait until July 1 or later, before having a final victory in the primary, but with a solid seven point leader for Mamdani likely to hold up in the end.

The ultimate Democratic nominee for Mayor will be a heavy favorite to win in a city strongly loyal to that party. But present Mayor Eric Adams, under a cloud of corruption, will be on the ballot as an Independent, and Cuomo had previously planned to run on an Indepedent line along with what he hoped would be the Democratic nomination. So if Cuomo does that, it will be a”wild and wooly” campaign, with Mamdani, despite his strong left wing views, likely to win, but no certainty at the result in November.

At age 33, which would make Mamdani the youngest Mayor since John Purroy Mitchel (1914-1917), he would with his Muslim heritage have to combat both Jewish groups that in most cases would be against him; African Americans, who would favor Adams; Establishment figures who would favor Cuomo; and with the likelihood of great conflict in the future between a potential Mayor Mamdani and the Trump Administration.

Ranked Choice Voting is only used widely in three states–Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii, along with a number of states in local elections, and some cities, including Washington DC; New York City; Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; and Oakland and San Francisco, California.

Mamdani, with his Democratic “Socialist” ideas, would be, likely, the most leftist Mayor of New York in modern times, and possibly, of any major city, and with his backing and endorsement by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, makes “fireworks” likely in NYC politics by the various opposing groups in the city and in the national government.

It reminds one of Mayor Fernando Wood, who served two rounds as NYC Mayor (1855-1858) and (1860-1861), becoming a leading critic of Abraham Lincoln, and a supporter of the Confederacy in the first year of the Civil War as a “Copperhead”, northern supporter of the South against the Union. He even proposed NYC secede from the Union!

Wood also served in the US House of Representatives from 1863-1865, as well as later terms, and promoted continuing opposition to Lincoln and the Civil War, and opposed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, ending slavery. He was also married three times, including his third marriage at age 48 to a 16 year old!

Most certainly, Mamdani will shake up American politics if he becomes Mayor of NYC, with its 8 plus million people, larger than all but 12 of the 50 states in America!

The Republican Party Heritage And Principles Are In Death Spiral after 167 Years

Ronald 6 Comments

The Republican Party was founded in March 1854 as a reform party, with the major principle at its founding being opposition to the expansion of slavery, and including abolitionists within its midst.

It was a Northern party which fought the Civil War and ended slavery, and for a generation, it was a party that inspired the majority of Americans.

Then, in the Gilded Age, it became corrupted by the power and influence of industrial capitalism, and conservatism reigned.

But then, Theodore Roosevelt and others who carried the name “progressive” with pride, promoted reform of the capitalistic system, but after TR’s death, while progressivism still existed in the party, it was taken over by conservatives, and the Great Depression undermined the national power of the party, as the Democrats became the majority party in the 1930s.

The battle for the future of the party was waged in the next half century liberal to moderate Republicans on one side, and hardline conservatives as their opponents, and Ronald Reagan ushered in a hard right conservatism, which became more extreme due to Newt Gingrich and other extreme conservatives since the mid 1990s.

And now we have come to a party that is in a death spiral, as we have conspiracy theorists who are taking over the party, and promoting hate, in the form of racism, nativism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and having wacky members who are advocating assassination of opposition Democrats.

So the Republican Party is now the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley,and many other right wing Fascists, but at the leadership is Donald Trump, and the party represents now:

Family Values gone, with the caging of immigrant children.

Deficit Hawks gone, with added massive deficits of tax cuts to the wealthy.

Free Trade gone, with massive taxes on foreign goods and bailouts of farmers as a result, adding to the national debt and consumer prices.

Limited Federal Government gone, with claims that what state governments report as election results should be ignored by the Congress.

Limiting the Imperial Presidency gone, with obedience by right wing members of both houses of Congress to the whims and desires of Donald Trump, even continuing as this author and blogger writes.