Tag: 2020 Presidential Election

Opinion

The Hits Keep Coming

Anyone who is interested in the truth about the Trump administration can find it; those who want lies can find plenty of those too. America’s enemies must be drinking champagne and doing back flips as they watch our continued division over an ignorant clown named Trump. Some Americans hold up the corrupt clown as some sort of hero while the world sees a conman taking advantage of our many fools fueled by ignorance, racism, and ego-centrism. The January 6th commission has revealed the attempted coup that was assisted by many Republicans during and after the fact. The Trump Attorney General and his daughter both said they believed he had lost the election as did most of his professional campaign staff; will this make any difference to Republicans who want to believe the lie? Probably not. Whether a heavily armed America will wind up in a civil war is anyone’s guess. The hardest part of our current events is how quickly we have turned on each other at the behest of an obvious evil clown named Trump. The January 6th committee is just getting started; it is already too much information about an attack on our country that should have been dealt with in a bipartisan fashion already. We are a weak democracy, and it could get worse.

Opinion

Democracy versus Thugocracy

NATO countries are confronting Russia in Ukraine after years of rampage against Democracy by Putin and his oligarchs. Putin seems driven to undermine democratic governments wherever he can based on his track record. Attacks using dark money, social media, and cyber have been breakthrough tools weaponized by the Putin syndicate. Putin has subdued Russia over the last decade plus, and moved on to external targets including the United States. Ukrainians have rightly claimed that their fight is the fight of all freedom-loving people and history proves them correct. Murders in Europe to intimidate dissidents, sneaky invasions to add territory to Russia, Propaganda, Racism, and support for criminal/far-right politicians (Assad in Syria, Orban in Hungary, Trump in the US, for example). America dodged a bullet when we elected Joe Biden and defeated Trump who wanted to walk in Putin’s authoritarian footsteps. Trump and his January 6 conspirators must still be held accountable before we can move on to strengthen our Republic; but Ukrainians are in the same fight. The fight against lying thugs who want to create a world in their own image and a hell for decent people.

Opinion

The American coup failed, but the Russian coup should succeed

On January 6th Donald Trump urged people to go to the Capitol as part of his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election; he failed. I hope that the Russian people rise up to remove a homicidal megalomaniac Putin from destroying thousands of lives in his drive for Russian empire and self-aggrandizement. It is pathetic that people are roped into supporting lies and idiots; but it has happened here in the USA and now Russia. We have been blessed that ego-centric clowns have been revealed and dismissed here in the United States. I hope the good people of Russia can see the way to rejecting idiocy and advancing the cause of human decency and righteousness. I do not support the destruction of human life, but I would rather see a few people removed from power by whatever means, than see the deaths of thousands. The people of Ukraine have shown amazing courage and fortitude while the rest of us watch and hope for the best. We must all do more than hope; every politician should be pushed to pursue righteousness instead of power. Here in America we have evil Republican politicians who must be held accountable after there attempt to overthrow democracy to grow their own power through Trump. As citizens of the world we must move to halt the Climate Crisis while supporting democracy and rejecting the evil of fascism. Putin has used racism and fascism to enhance his own power and influence. We are in days that challenge us to choose between being rats, or human beings striving to be the best version of ourselves.

Opinion

Are Republicans the fascist party?

Questions are being asked about whether one of the two major political parties is dedicated to America’s democratic experiment. Here are some of the reasons that Republicans are considered to be an anti-democratic force right now: 1) Republicans have adopted the big lie sold by Donald Trump that the 2020 election was fixed, or hacked, or stolen; with no evidence. 2) Republicans have not rebuked Donald Trump for his assault on the 2020 election or his encouragement of the January 6th insurrection. 3) Republicans do not want to investigate what took place at the US Capitol on January 6th or the events leading up to the assault. 4) Republicans are implicated in spreading the Big Lie before the assault on the Capitol and have politicized it to make voting more difficult for US citizens. 5) Republicans are gerrymandering voting districts to create imbalance in legislative bodies at the state and federal levels; removing representation from US citizens. 6) Republicans will not identify policies that they are in favor of as a party for the second time after the 2020 elections when they also had no party platform. The idea seems to be selling whatever fear works for the weeks during elections without a direction or theme. There are more reasons that today’s Republican Party represents a threat to democracy. Research and act to protect your rights as a citizen. Authoritarians and oligarchs reward those who sell themselves for status and power, but they have no interest in the common good. Voting against the current Republicans until they rebuild themselves as responsible leaders with new principled candidates committed to government that represents the American people.

Opinion

Dysfunctional Democracy

America today is a dysfunctional democracy. One party is under the control of Donald Trump, a person who tried to overthrow the will of the American people in 2020. Trump maintains his control of the Republican party through fear, so it is hard to claim the elected persons in that party are leaders. The Republican Party is full of cowardly followers and opportunistic charlatans who will say and do anything to advance their personal careers. The dysfunction of the Republicans has been a long journey fueled and bolstered by racism, misogyny, and fascism. Ridiculous lies and criminal actions by Republicans have become meaningless because their supporters seem not to care. We may be drifting towards a crisis where the usual loudmouths threaten and harass the republic; the real explosion will come when the silent democracy-loving majority responds in the streets. Republicans will use voter suppression, gerrymandering, harassment, lies, and propaganda to win or appear to win elections. We all should do everything that we can to avoid Republican political victory due to apathy or confusion. Research and act to preserve peace and hope in America.

Opinion

Evidence to vote Democrat and save the Republic

Examples of Republican weakness in the face of an attempted fascist takeover byTrump and his followers continues to grow. Many Republican officeholders appear to have participated in a conspiracy to overthrow a democratic election in 2020; but former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich threatens Democrats with imprisonment if they keep investigating. The saying that power corrupts absolutely is played out daily in front of the American people by Republicans who offer racism and victimization of the other as a rationale to vote for obviously corrupt liars. We can no longer pretend that both sides do it when one party has made an effort to overthrow the will of the people and is planning to block access to the ballot after manipulating voting districts. Tribalism is a powerful force but so is love of the truth and freedom. America is at a crossroads where one road leads to a land of lying politicians whose only goal is power as they increase their control of reality through media propaganda outlets. When you see or hear stories about how terrible Biden and the Democrats are think of Trump and the weak twisted liars running the Republican Party.

Opinion

Time to focus

The great NFL wide receiver Michael Irvin is quoted as saying “Pressure makes the good fold, and the great focus.” Americans who believe in democracy and the rule of law need to focus right now to maintain and improve what we have as a country. What we must defend is our constitutional republic. Freedom loving people cannot turn away from the hot mess that is America. Donald Trump and Republicans want to create a country where they have overwhelming power and no accountability. The reality of Republican overreach does not mean that Democrats can do no wrong, but it does mean that we must factor in the threat posed by Republicans and their media echo chamber when voting or participating in civic life. Right now Republican lying and coverup for crimes and attempted coups are the major threat to the American way of life. Research and act to protect the future of decency and democracy.

Opinion

Increase the pressure

Democrats in the congress and executive branch need to increase the urgency of getting the facts behind the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election. Criminals who openly defy congress (some after receiving pardons from Trump) should not be allowed to continue plotting with, and inspiring others to overthrow our republic. People like Steve Bannon should be compelled to tell the truth and accept accountability for their attack on the will of American citizens. When we vote for our leaders we convey the authority and power of our nation on them; not to convicts, conmen, and thugs who think they can impose their will through threats. Research, act, and vote to protect democracy and decency. Vote and act against Republicans until they support democracy.

Opinion

Those who would rather shatter it than share it

Poet Amanda Gorman spoke of people who would rather shatter our republic than share it. The description sounds completely appropriate in light of the MAGA crowd and Republicans threatening the vote for 2020 and beyond. Republican legislators around the country are working to make voting harder, in a country that already has low percentages of the eligible population participating. The United States increasingly seems a country where a percentage of the population views the rest as targets for submission, not fellow citizens. The main tools in the conflict to control America are lies, threats, gerrymandering, and terrorism from Republicans; Democrats counter with demographic trends leading to political dominance because the other side offers nothing for working people. The Republican issue is failing to believe in conservative theory leading to policies and solutions the majority of Americans will vote for; so they lie. Our politics can be fixed if we can get Republicans to get back to practical solutions to problems rather than just knee-jerk anti-spending and anti-socialism. Capitalism is the engine of our society, but is not the best solution for every problem. Do you want police officers paid by the number of tickets they issue? America and Republicans can easily do better by rejecting Reagan’s idea that government is the problem. Real life is more complex than zero-sum thinking allows for. Sharing is far better than a broken country for all of us.

Opinion

The Fear of God

Republicans like Ted Cruz continuously lie with impunity about the Paris Climate Agreement and other issues. Cruz implied that Joe Biden cared more about what the citizens of Paris cared about than the citizens of Pittsburg (borrowing a line from Trump). The idiocy of the line could not be resisted and a Democratic representative asked if the Geneva Conventions were about what the citizens of Geneva cared about. Republicans like Cruz and Hawley do not care about the truth because they do not respect the voters in a system where the conservative media supports lies to support an evil agenda. Evolutionary Biologists say that when events occur that are ruthless and amoral they are not an accident. The events are attempts to maintain an advantage for future generations and the perpetrators. There is no consequence for Republicans lying because there is less fear of God than the prime motivation of maintaining an advantage. The old saying is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Trying to create advantages for progeny is as old as humanity, but it easily turns into evil (we used to have royalty that claimed their inherited advantages came from God). Every respectable American must be focused on their soul and character before party. Too many Republicans have sold our in the pursuit of power and the rot threatens to destroy the country. More information about the degeneracy and corruption of the Trump administration will be coming out. Make sure that you hold the line and ask your representatives to do the same and not allow the truth to be a casualty of the pursuit of power. Stand up for the truth and the soul of our nation. Make sure that criminality does not go unpunished, or worse rewarded and invited to return in the name of white power.