The first presidential debate of 2020 may very well be the last debate. Donald Trump’s strategy from the very first moment was to ignore the rules and interrupt every word spoken by Joe Biden. It became obvious to me within the first five minutes.
Moderator, Chris Wallace did nothing to enforce any kind of order. Joe Biden quickly concluded that Trump would be trying to talk over him for the entire event. Biden simply smiled, remained calm and without looking at Trump and addressed the viewers.
My conclusions are Trump was the bully we all know and Wallace should never be asked to moderate another debate. Wallace was a failure.
Dana Bash on CNN apologetically called the debate a ‘Sh*t show’ and she was correct. Others on CNN were shocked and clearly shaken. Jake Tapper wondered if there would be any more debates this year.
Indeed, why would Joe Biden participate in any additional debates when Donald Trump won’t follow the agreed upon rules? I, who loves political theater, am not interested in watching a replay of tonight’s disaster.
Posted in Politics | Tags: Biden versus Trump debate
If I was alone in these thoughts you could ignore this post. But I’m not!
Look at how everything has changed. President Obama in his 2004 Democratic Party convention speech said “…there is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
Obama’s speech was meant to unify this nation. Today we have a president who is doing his very best to tear us apart. He is doing a darn good job.
In an article on September 18, 2020 in the Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman wrote “After Trump’s 2016 victory, a poll found that 1 in 3 Californians supported what is known as “Calexit.” As if to encourage the idea the Golden State is alien territory, Trump has attacked it at every opportunity. He conducts himself as though he were the president only of the red states.”
In his new book, “Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union,” leftist journalist Richard Kreitner expresses doubt that the country can hold together, or should. As he notes, English colonists came here to separate themselves from their rulers. Our revolution amounted to the colonies’ secession from the British Empire.
You don’t have to be a leftist to demand the rights for all citizens and insistence that the law applies equally to everyone.
In my previous posting, September 26, 2020, I suggested that there is a possibility that the SCOTUS could declare Donald Trump the winner of the November 3 election, no matter what the election results are, and could permit him to run for third term as president. We are about to have three justices on the court who were appointed by Trump make decisions about his re-election. Clearly they are beholden to him for obtaining a seat on the court. Are they likely to rule against him?
If Chapman is correct that California is alien territory in Trump’s eyes, why would this state remain in the union?
Google “if trump wins should the west coast secede” and you will find at least five web sites, excluding the Chicago Tribune, that are discussing the issue.
The nymag.com Intelligencer says “Divided We Stand. The Country is Hopelessly Split. So why make it official and breakup?” In part it says “In California, officials who regularly boast of overseeing the world’s fifth-largest economy have begun to talk of advancing their own foreign policy.”
In a Medium.com article are these thoughts
Consider this scenario, that could play out in the not too distant future:
1. Trump orders opening of the whole nation (incorrectly and overly early).
2. The Western Pact states say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” and stay closed.
3. Trump is angry, and drops all government funding to these states (he clearly believes he has all authority anyways).
4. These states assert their authority, and instead of bowing to his power move, they block all transport of food out of these states to the rest of the nation.
The economy of California is the largest in the United States, boasting a $3.2 trillion gross state product as of 2019. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world’s fifth largest economy, ahead of India and behind Germany. California is the nation’s leading technology state in addition is the primary source for fruits and vegetables for the nation. Add Oregon and Washington and the number is staggeringly large.
Other nations have split apart or left a union without a war. Some countries have decided not to split apart based on election results.
Quebec almost split from Canada and Scotland almost split from the UK. There was never talk of war.
Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until its split into Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
Following a UK-wide referendum in June 2016, in which 52% voted in favour of leaving the EU and 48% voted to remain a member, the UK Government, which was then led by Theresa May formally notified the EU of the country’s intention to withdraw on 29 March 2017, beginning the Brexit process.
On September 24, 2020 the New York Times “President Trump argued this week that the death toll from the coronavirus was actually not so bad. All you had to do was not count states that voted for Democrats.”
“If you take the blue states out,” Trump said, “we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at. We’re really at a very low level.”
“The statement was as jarring as it was revealing, indicative of a leader who has long seemed to view himself more as the president of Red America rather than the United States of America.”
What more do you need to know that Trump really wants to be rid of the Blue States. So maybe we should make him happy. Perhaps we will all be happier.
Posted in Domestic Affairs, Government, Happiness, Politics | Tags: Time for California to secede from the Union
Mike Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, is the moderator of the September 29 presidential debate. the Commission on Presidential Debate gives the moderator the choice of debate topics. Wallace has chosen to focus on:
Because Wallace is a conservative the choice of these topics is a win for Donald Trump.
1. The records of the candidates. Biden will have to defend a 47 year history. He has made many mistakes and many successes. Trump defends only four years. Trump will attack Biden for saying nothing as his son Hunter Biden took a job at a Ukraine gas company that gave him a salary of $80,000 a month. How can Biden defend his silence? The answer is by saying “this debate is not about my family.”
Biden should start by mocking Trump saying “I’m here to tell the American people what I will do as president and I will say more than that in more than two sentences.”
2. The Supreme Court. Trump will correctly say that he alone has the power to nominate judges to SCOTUS. There are no time limits or dates when a nomination is prohibited.
The question to both should be: Should selections to the Supreme Court be delayed in the year of a presidential election so that the winner selects the nominee?
Biden’s only counter argument is using the words of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell who said four years ago,
“Given that we are in the midst of the presidential election process, we believe that the American people should seize the opportunity to weigh in on whom they trust to nominate the next person for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. It is today the American people, rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election, who should be afforded the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia.”
3. COVID-19. This is the one topic where Joe Biden can shine. Most poll results say that the federal government has failed to protect the American population. The Bob Woodward interviews with Trump confirm that Trump intentionally mislead the American people.
Biden’s questions to Trump should be:
1. When you told Woodward that covid-19 is worse than the flu and then told the public the opposite, isn’t that lying?
2. If you knew it was so dangerous and transmitted by air, why did you keep holding rallies, mock people for wearing masks and nag governors to reopen businesses?
4. The economy. Who is to blame for the current economy is the question? Of course the current situation is a consequence of COVID-19. Trump will argue that once the virus is conquered the economy will quickly recover. Biden will likely argue that the economy before the virus only helped the wealthy.
5. Race and violence in our cities. Trump will be talking about “law and order must be maintained.” Biden will likely say that there is racial discrimination and everyone has the right to protest. Biden will point out that violence is rare and cannot be condoned.
6. The integrity of the election. Trump will repeat what he has already said many times that mail-in ballots are subject to fraud. Biden will say there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim. Trump will likely say that he will take his case to the Supreme Court. The question that Trump cannot answer is will a conservative SCOTUS award the presidency to Donald Trump?
Posted in Politics | Tags: Biden versus Trump, September 29 Presidential Debate
It was January 20, 2025 and Donald Trump was inaugurated for a third term as president of the United States. The ceremony was conducted in the Rose Garden at the White House. Only Trump’s closest advisers and his cabinet were present for the ceremony. Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett conducted the swearing in.
How did this happen?
Donald Trump claimed the election of November 3, 2020 was fraudulent due to the prominent use of mail-in ballots. The Supreme Court declared him the winner by a 5 to 4 vote. The those making him president were Associate Justices, ▸ Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett.
There were protests across the country even as the inauguration ceremony was being conducted. Trump declared martial law immediately after the ceremony. Using the Insurrection Act as the bases for his decision.
With the departure of Stephen Breyer from the Supreme Court in 2023 at the age of 84 there were now three moderate or liberal justices. Trump declared his intention to run for a third term due to the fact that the country was under martial law. The court agreed by a 6 to 3 vote.
On this January 25, 2025 Trump has just declared the constitution null and void.
A message to Mission Control from Apollo 13 were these famous words “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
President Trump refused to promise Thursday that he’ll accept the results of November’s election despite bipartisan outrage over his declining a day earlier to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Joe Biden wins.
Congressional leaders from both parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), swiftly pushed back Thursday after President Trump declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Gerald Ford was defeated by Jimmy Carter and was denied a second term.
Jimmy Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan Clinton and was denied a second term.
George H. W. Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton and was denied a second term.
In all of those instances there was a peaceful transition of power.
No one questioned the legitimacy of the election process.
Donald Trump has half joked, half spoke seriously and said he would like to serve two or three more terms in office. The constitution’s twentieth amendment clearly states “The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.”
The twenty second amendment says “The No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.”
Today this craft called the United States has a problem. Since Donald Trump thinks he can ignore the constitution we really do have a problem. What will happen if Trump refuses to relinquish his position to Joe Biden? Apparently there is no precise steps that would be taken by the government.
Originally posted August 19, 2020 
DEAR RED STATES… WE’VE DECIDED WE’RE LEAVING.
Dear Red States… We’ve decided we’re leaving.
We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren’t aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Washington D.C.
We also get Costco and Boeing
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss.
We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share. Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they’re apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their children’s caskets coming home.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country’s fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation’s fresh fruit, 95 percent of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy League and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties. By the way, we’re taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Oh, and you can have all the new Coronavirus cases since you’re too dumb and self-centered to wear a mask.
Peace out, we are the people, Blue States.
Thank you.
Author unknown
Posted in Domestic Affairs, Politics, Social Behavior | Tags: Red States - Blue States
The wile politician never sustains his positions very long. He says what is necessary to keep his constituents happy for the next election. After all it is his job that provides pay and perks that are outstanding. No one really knows his positions on issues.
That is my best description of Joe Biden. He is the empathetic politician who plays his part well enough to win an Oscar.
The contradictions in his life are publicly known.
Starting with his religion. He is a Catholic who attends services frequently. The Roman Catholic Church – opposes abortion in all circumstances. So how can he support abortion rights?
This summary of his position on school busing in the New York Times is worth your consideration.
In 1974 Mr. Biden, who was then a senator for Delaware, voted two times to protect court-ordered busing to achieve desegregation, including the decisive vote on an amendment that would have effectively done away with it.
But months after an angry crowd in a school auditorium criticized him for that vote, Mr. Biden said in a speech on the Senate floor that he had become “more and more disenchanted with busing as a remedy.”
In a television interview in 1975, Mr. Biden called busing an “asinine concept” and said he had “gotten to the point where I think our only recourse to eliminate busing may be a constitutional amendment.”
Mr. Biden is a supporter of Free Trade agreements despite his denials. In the Senate, Biden voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement and permanent normal trade relations with China. As then-President Barack Obama’s No. 2, he supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But today he says he is opposed to those agreements.
The controversial 1994 crime law that Joe Biden helped write is explained at this site, Vox. The summary:
The 1994 crime law passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, which was meant to reverse decades of rising crime, was one of the key contributors to mass incarceration in the 1990s. They say it led to more prison sentences, more prison cells, and more aggressive policing — especially hurting black and brown Americans, who are disproportionately likely to be incarcerated.
The law imposed tougher prison sentences at the federal level and encouraged states to do the same. It provided funds for states to build more prisons, aimed to fund 100,000 more cops, and backed grant programs that encouraged police officers to carry out more drug-related arrests — an escalation of the war on drugs.
From the Detroit News. To be fair to Biden, he was an exceptionally incompetent and indecisive chairman (of the Senate Judiciary Committee), easily cowed and unable to control the hearings. After promising to support Bork, he switched his vote. After promising to afford Thomas some semblance of due process, he presided over what the future justice famously called a “high-tech lynching.”
Biden now claims to regret that he “couldn’t come up with a way” to give Hill “the kind of hearing she deserved.” What does Biden think Hill deserved? Without any supporting evidence, the Senate gave her the opportunity to make her case. She was given enormous coverage by the media when her allegations emerged — leaked to the press, most likely by Democrats — despite the obvious problems with her story from the start. No one ever stopped Hill from telling that story. Hill still tells her story. Hill wrote a book telling her story. There are hagiographic movies and documentaries about her story. Even today, journalists interview her without a hint of journalistic skepticism.
The Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52 to 48 on Oct. 15, 1991.
From a Doyle McManus column in the Los Angeles Times: Richard A. Harpootlian, a South Carolina state senator who’s long been a Biden supporter, “You can’t judge people by what they did 50 years ago,” Harpootlian argued. “To measure what they said then by today’s standards is just wrong.”
I am not a politician but I have held the same views on critical issues all of my life. Why can’t politicians? I answered that question in the second sentence of this posting.
Posted in Politics, Social Behavior | Tags: joe biden, Joe Biden the Hypocrite
Posted in Politics, Social Behavior | Tags: Trump's America
On the eve of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) A sad day for America. Leading the Supreme Court’s liberal bloc, Ginsburg was a legal pioneer who backed affirmative action and defended abortion rights. Her notable rulings and dissents advanced feminist themes, including the groundbreaking 1996 decision ordering the Virginia Military Institute to allow women to enroll.
The battle for who will take her place on the Supreme Court will be brutal.
