12 years ago... (#4383)

      This time 12 years ago I began my first daily blog post. I didn't know it would be my first daily blog post but after the second day my somewhat impulsive nature kicked in. After forgetting to post on my third day it hit me that posting daily was what I was going to do for the rest of my life if possible. I have missed 3 other days of posting but on all 4 I blogged 2 posts on the very next day. but overall it has been a daily routine like brushing my teeth in the morning or having a cup of coffee to start my day. I don't even think about doing it anymore it is just part of how I live. I don't always or probably rarely have anything of great importance to say but I do say whatever it is on my mind at that moment.
     Even this morning I was bouncing around a few topics to write about but nothing really came to the front of my mind. Then I realized the date today and like a lightbulb coming on I realized that 12 years ago today I started writing. I do love to write and as well let my mind flow out in real time about a variety of topics. Albeit politics has taken up much of my discussion. With the appointment of trump, politics had become an imperative for me as his cruel and brutish nature needed to be exposed everywhere. Well we are done for now with his disloyal antics and the time for just enjoying the fruits of life now instead of being worried trump would poison those fruits is upon us.
     This blog was about my perception that we are by nature a good and evolving species tying compassion and curiosity as our underlying motivations. Yet we have witnessed of late what the denial of those two magnificent traits within our species' behavior looks like and it stinks of rot and putrification. The philosophical and political nature of my premise about humanity relegates me to speak out when the worst of what we can become when we deny our true natures. But in contrast I also seek to speak out when the better and best of who we are is on display and that path is beginning to unfold. A new day in the life of our species is beginning and it is devoid of the devastation that we were able to rid ourselves of back in November.

Legislative reconciliation it is (#4382)

      The honeymoon is over. The Biden administration gave republicans the olive branch of regular order and republicans only threw it on the ground and spit on it. Well there you go. So with our majorities we have a way to get legislation through without any input and ultimate obstruction from republicans in either chamber of Congress. Legislative reconciliation is the method of passing budget related items with a simple majority but it can only be used sparingly, how sparingly is still unknown by me but it is at least available for the Covid-19 relief package. The crying from republicans notwithstanding, legislation will be getting to the floors of Congress for votes very soon.
     What is possible is for republicans to also vote for the American rescue plan when it does come up for a vote. They are not limited to just voting no on it. Especially since their constituents are in real need of help as well. The idea that we have to hold ourselves hostage to republican approval is insane especially since republicans are irresponsible and wholeheartedly against the working middle poor class. We don't hold ourselves hostage to anyone anymore even though in the past the olive branch offered was similarly dismissed. The hardening of our hearts when it comes to republicans is the best solution to making them get out of the way or change.
     We democrats are a powerful force that is not to be undone by republican threats. they have shown their lack of authenticity so no threat they make is of any worry. What will happen going forward is a slew of democratic policies that will start to level the playing field between all Americans and begin to relieve the wealthy of their built in privileges and advantages. Equity is a strong principle to abide by and we democrats are determined with a laser focus to making equity applicable to all paradigms in American society. The dawning of a new day is here and nothing but sunshine is forecast in our future but we have to seize it if we are to enjoy its effect!

Our blue wave is still needed to keep ending republican rule (#4381)

     As you have no doubt been made aware of the republican party is still showing it's vile agenda of ending democratic rule. The difference in how we are trying to end their rule is that we democrats are doing it within the bounds of political and legal means. The republicans have no such constraint. So unless our nation is going to keep a rule of law approach we must end the republican attempts to crush democracy. As we have seen with senate and house republicans still unable to end their abusive relationship with trump, the concept of a unified Congress is not currently possible.
     Surely, attempts are still being made to bring republicans into the process of providing legislation to deal with Covid-19 related needs but so far little effort from republicans to join in is the reality. What the Georgia senate runoff election did for us democrats though is give us control of the senate while along with control of the house we have ways forward to pass legislation without any republican input. Although when we do put our bills up for vote on the floors of the house and senate, republicans will vote for them which tells us that they are not as unwilling to accept the legislation that they are trying to complain about. Their constant hypocrisy is indicative of their unnecessary need to be in power.
     I have regained my strength from the longest 4 year battle to end the trump and mcconnell regime which is good because the fight is not over. The republican party is going to throw everything onto the road to prevent our march forward so the sooner we get to sweeping them and their idiocy away the sooner we will be able to march forward into a future that is expected from the greatest nation on Earth. Our best interests are achieved when we activate ourselves against our mutual enemies and in all the world our greatest enemy right now is the republican party and those within it who have sold their souls to defeat our great democracy.

The republican party does not want to negotiate (#4380)

      If you do not get this yet then you have some work to do. The all out war that republicans are fighting to keep power has no interest in collaborating with their enemy. I get that Joe Biden is looking for unity and he likely will find it with republicans who are becoming aware of their party's true intentions. However, those republicans in power do not want to do anything that helps the American working middle poor class because that would help democratic politicians. Right now republicans in control of state legislatures and governorships are readying bills to turn into law that will obstruct voting.
     That is the republican party I have known my entire life and they are not going to stop being themselves when they do not want anything good for all of us. Their only hope to keep power and retain it is to cheat Americans out of their voting rights. President Joe Biden is trying to get a more inclusive American society but the only way we are going to get there is to force republicans to the sidelines on creating and passing laws that reflect our democratic party platform. The republican party is not going to sign onto anything that doesn't hurt and harm the democratic party. Nothing new here since they have been doing just that for decades upon decades.
     We, the American electorate gave our national democratic leaders the majority in all legislative matters. Now it is up to them to fulfill our destiny and use every bit of our advantage to finally correct the wrongs in our society. Trying to bring republicans along is noble but a fool's errand in this moment of time. We democrats have our edge to get what the American people need and waiting to see if republicans will join us is not productive and actually hurts our cause. There are a handful of republicans who will prove themselves worthy but not enough to even put a dent in the opposition by the rest of them. Let us democrats go forward and focus on the future, not on some illogical attempt to placate the opposition, to a better life for all of us.

Winter storm just in time for us here in California (#4379)

      It has been several years since we have had a good rain drenching from a winter storm. The climate here in the Sacramento valley and many other regions of California has been unseasonably warm without our usual rainfall totals for the year. But not this year. We are starting off in January with plenty of rain to fill our groundwater levels and build up our snowpack. Although it is stormy with gusty winds that could easily cause property damage, it is well welcome by me. With a new start to our nation's politics that are favorable to preventative actions to slow or stop climate change and a steady rainfall to get our state drenched from a long pasty thirst it is a good moment in time for us.
     I didn't think I would be writing a post about rainy weather this early morning but here I am with only water coming down from the sky as my laser focus. One silver lining of the Covid-19 virus is that industries had to go into stoppages for a time which did clear our skies and help reduce green house gasses for at least a bit. Our transition into the green energy field at the same time couldn't have been timed better as well. So by necessity we are helping the planet by being forced to protect ourselves from this viral attack. One could reasonably assume that mother nature forced us to stop polluting her with our madness of toxins by forcing us to stop the toxins of this virus within us.
     However it has come about our state here in California is one of a wet one over the next few days and that is as welcome an occurrence as any possibility. California can be a mighty breadbasket when our conditions are favorable and hopefully coming out of this pandemic later in the year will also give us a booming agricultural advantage. Many good things happen when we are good stewards of our planet and getting us back into more natural rotations of consistent favorable weather patterns should be the coming mindset with the Biden administration. I know I am looking forward to more rain and the sooner it comes during the rainy season the better we are going to be in the years ahead.

The Senate organizing obstruction by mcconnell is over (#4378)

      Last evening the obstruction by mcconnell was ended. He decided that he needed to stop obstructing on how the senate was to organize without giving a statement as to why. Which is fine with the rest of us as long as he stopped being an obstacle to progress. I however will venture a reason why. He knew his effort to stall our senate from performing it's constitutional duty was about to end anyway and as I have been saying here the last few days, the more he obstructed the more we united. If we had to go a few more days with his tedious obstruction it may well have encouraged our more moderate members to back ending the legislative filibuster which is what he was trying to prevent with his stunt.
     That didn't end well for a guy who has all this mystique about being a wise man when it comes to manipulating democrats into giving him things for free. Instead he hardened our democratic resolve into knowing just how far republicans will go to obstruct the agenda for we Americans during a time of national emergency on several fronts. This one little failed stunt has now set the tone for the rest of Joe Biden's administration when dealing with republicans over important issues. I assume Joe already knew this but needed the republican party to show the rest of us just how depraved they are to wanting power and not wanting to help the American electorate.
     Mission accomplished and Joe and Kamala have only been in power for 6 days. Going forward the rest of Joe's cabinet will get their confirmations and the legislation that is itching to get voted on in both houses is now ready to begin. The Impeachment trial will also begin in about 2 weeks giving us democrats plenty of time to get settled and moving forward with our agenda. This last little gambit by mcconnell is over and now nothing is standing in our way to fight the challenges that face us with a toolbox of solutions at our ready. If our more moderate democratic members needed an example of how low republicans will go to thwart the will of the American people, mcconnell just satisfied their need for justification needed to tackle the legislative filibuster in whatever form appropriate.

End the senate legislative filibuster (#4377)

      The truth of it is that the republican party is not going to unite to help America. They are already showing it by not agreeing to an organizing resolution to give democrats their hard earned senate chairmanships. When the simplest of actions required in the senate by republicans to perform is being halted by themselves, the idea that they would help us democrats give our nation the tools to recover from the virus and our failing economy is a fool's errand. Giving the republican party rope in which to hang itself seems to be working but it also gums up the progress we could be making had we just accepted initially that they were never going to be faithful partners in legislation.
     Bernie Sanders is already telling the world that he is ready to use the Budget Reconciliation Act to pass Joe Biden's "American Rescue Plan", https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/. The republican party used the same Budget Reconciliation Act to pass their massive tax cut for the wealthy and was used for the unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. So republicans crying about the imminent usage of the same act to pass much needed relief to the working middle poor class rings hollow and hypocritical. The new minority leader mcconnell has forced this option upon us and for that I am grateful for his arrogant strategy.
     What mcconnell has done, through his obstructing a senate organizing plan, is unite our democratic party to the point where even our much more moderate members see the need to now end the legislative filibuster. The republican party is going down in flames and they are the ones who lit the fuse and refuse to put out the fire. What I can say about that is woohoo! The crackling of their embers as they disappear as just a wisp of vile smoke is pure pleasure to behold. My whole life has been about ending the republican party because they have always been the greatest threat to truth and facts in keeping our mighty nation from fulfilling it's manifest destiny of bringing the world to a principled democracy!

The republican party is what it is (#4376)

      I know that Joe Biden is hopeful that republicans will come back to being at least moderate in their acknowledgement of our current reality and the booting of trump out of our politics. But let me say here that a raging alcoholic is not going to stop drinking because he is broke or has lost all of his soul. No, he will find a way to get some hooch whether he has to lie, cheat, or steal. The same can be said about republicanism. They will not change with the seasons nor the evolution of reality. It is in their DNA to protect the wealthy and squeeze the working middle poor class of it's last coin. There will be no unity as to economics and I suspect social progress as well.
     So what must happen is to let them join in where they are so inclined but to make our own legislation and then pass it into law. There are paths we can do this by and our focus is to conform to those pathways with a laser focus. We will hear the howls and complaints from the minority but that is what the minority does when they are not the majority so nothing new there. Like taking a belligerent alcoholic and putting him into a dry program where he can get used to a new reality of not drinking booze, republicans must as well be put into a place where they are not allowed to be part of obstructing common sense and needed solutions. Their input as a method to destroy legislation is much like an alcoholic wanting the key to the liquor cabinet, it cannot be allowed!
     So using budget reconciliation and or a varying filibuster or destroying the filibuster altogether, the options we democrats have are still available and will be needed to move forward. These are not hard choices to make when the problems of our nation are the greater need. As for the unity Joe Biden wants he won't get it from a petulant republican party that has never been able to pull itself from the worst of what it has become. Like the alcoholic, they will not change until we force them to and then too much of the time they refuse. We who are the sober party are aware of the problems of state and we alone in this moment are the only ones who are willing to try to solve them.

The test of wills (#4375)

      We will see who passes the test of wills in the senate. The republicans are not allowing the democrats to take their rightful place as committee heads in hopes of blackmailing democrats into giving up tools they now hold as the majority party in the senate. I have tried to find a link as to how the scenarios of this play out and have yet to learn of one. I don't like guessing as to how procedure is to play out so I won't do that here but it seems that the status quo is not changing. I hope that I am wrong because I can see how moscow mitch would let this go on indefinitely if he could.
     The changing of the guard at the helm of the senate committees is crucial in how we democrats can pass legislation if the filibuster is to be removed. We know that mcconnell knows this which is why he wanted the filibuster to remain and now is halting the power structure of the senate to form. Yet by his organizational obstruction, he is proving to be the best example to those democrats, who are hesitant to remove the filibuster, as to why they should actually remove it. The obstruction that will come from mcconnell is not some aberrational thought, it has been his modus operandi, metaphorically, since before time began!
     So the test of wills here is going to be paramount as to who blinks first. If mcconnell does not allow for democrats to take their chairmanships it will be on him and his party when no legislation is allowed to move along. He is the one who is in the wrong and this time around no one but him and his republican colleagues will be found to blame. How far he is willing to take this pile of crap he is loading over the top of his head is unsure but the crap will keep getting more voluminous with each passing day. I hope and expect that senate leader Schumer will hold steady and rightfully call out republicans in the senate for not upholding the values of our elections and our constitutional practices that govern them.

The great battle taking place now is in the senate (#4374)

      The republicans are playing a bad game of chicken. They are refusing to let democrats, who control the senate to take committee chairs. Due to the existing rules of the senate we democrats can't change them until the republicans agree. So what can be done to unjam the logjam that republicans have built? Eliminating the legislative filibuster. Dems should file a bill to end the legislative filibuster and force a vote. I know there are a couple of Dems who don't want to end the legislative filibuster but when faces with obstruction of even organizing the senate by the majority republicans how can they reasonably expect republicans to negotiate in good faith on needed legislation?
     The short answer is that cannot. So despite their opinion to keep the legislative filibuster democrats need to end it as it is a relic of slave owning states to protect their human property. The correct thing to do when there is no hope of unity from mcconnell and his toady republican caucus. So Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, should be able to reconcile that and vote for ending the legislative filibuster. I do believe all other of the 50 total democrats and independents will have no problem moving forward in a senate that decides legislation on a 50 plus one, Vice President Kamala Harris, threshold. The time now for real relief and organized action to combat the virus and bolster the economy of our struggling citizenry, with other long overdue legislation is now!
     These next few days should bring about the solution of ending the legislative filibuster which would then free up the sticking point that republicans have been leaning on to keep the senate in disarray even though they lost the majority in the senate fair and square. We have seen the obstruction of mcconnell over the years so this latest gambit of his is no exception it is the rule of his agenda. We cannot let him have his way as the one forcing the narrative as the minority leader. We democrats are the majority and we fought long and hard to get it so giving it away for the likes of a power hungry mcconnell is not only ridiculous it would be shameful!

The new normal (#4373)

      I slept well last night. Actually I slept heavy if you know what I mean. Abnormally I had been sleeping lightly for many years because of the uneasiness of having concerns for our nation's safety. but last night I slept like a bear halfway through his hibernation. When I awoke I was groggy and a bit disorientated which is a good thing. A heavy deep sleep that was more than 4 years due. My first thought this morning wasn't if trump had retired or expired, it was a relishing of the fact of Joe and Kamala being inaugurated. The whole day yesterday of the inauguration and the ceremonies attached was gratifying and healing.
     Yet as this day starts out there is so much that has to be done going forward but so far I have no complaints about how our future is beginning. The republican party is on the run from their gamble on trump and even their wicked wizard mcconnell is unable to cast any spells on we the victors. We know what they did because we lived it for 4 years so any attempt by them to change the narrative from the truth will be held in contempt. Their only path forward is to sincerely apologize and ask for forgiveness after accepting a punishment that is commensurate with their fraud and treasonous actions.
     None of them is clean from the trump stain, not romney, nor recent supreme court justices. They all played a part with trump that put a dagger in the hearts of the working middle poor class. Some have tried to clean their slates of late by siding against trump and his spiral to hell but being only somewhat wrong still makes them wrong. The unity Joe is looking for requires that republicans admit their guilt, show remorse, accept a reasonable punishment and then ask for forgiveness. Otherwise we are going to once again let them off with impunity even in the face of insurrection. This cannot be allowed to happen so either accept their fate or we will mow them down as we march toward justice, equality and opportunity.

7 hours left of trump (#4372)

      I am up early this morning because it is a sweet day for me and all my friends. The 81 million of us who voted for Joe and Kamala were ready and excited for this day to come around on the calendar. When the end of trump was just as much a thrill as the beginning of Biden. Just after midnight I awoke as I usually do and then it hit me that the hours left for trump were few and the pomp and circumstance of the Biden inauguration, albeit reserved due to Covid-19 protocols, is about to begin. If any day this year can be called a must be attuned to, this is that one day.
     The pardons aside, which of course are all about trump and his desperations, the focus is clearly on the swearing in and the first acts on executive orders of our new president to be. Knowing also that trump will not have the national stage to spew his hatred and treasonous vitriol is a salve for all of us who have always believed the old adage that we Americans are the true melting pot of the world. No matter what republicans think or say about us being a white nationalist nation, their calculus is based upon desperation and not on the facts of our actual citizenry makeup.
     There are 7 hours left of the worst decision a minority of Americans made in 2016, as trump lost the popular vote by 2.9 million votes, yet claimed the electoral college presidential appointment so today we get to officially rectify that abhorrent outcome. The electoral college must go as less than 45,000 votes in 3 states, had they gone for trump in 2020, Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin in a specific way, would have given trump the electoral college victory by a margin of 271-269. Even though nationally Joe had 7 million more votes. Nothing speaks paternalism like the role that the electoral college plays in our politics. It is time for it to be dismantled and allow for our citizenry, in our democratic society, a true voice in how we are governed.

1 day left of trump (#4371)

      I will not jinx this last full day of trump with any early celebrating. Instead I will remain on alert for his last gasps at letting go of our presidency. One more full day of keeping our fingers and toes crossed for good luck so that he doesn't blow us all up. Because he is the kind of guy who out of his petty jealousies would sacrifice all of us in order to satisfy some illness he holds dear in his diseased mind. For those who voted for this monstrous apparition cloaked in human skin you are a problem that has yet to be reckoned with. How your own sense of humanity could have been overridden by the rhetoric and hate of trump is a serious violation of human decency.
     But let that be as it may for now. We have less than 25 hours left of the trump appointed presidency and that has to be my focus. He is reported to be pardoning around or more than 100 criminals on his last day and hopefully that is the worst of his actions on this day. It is bad enough that he has found every nerve in our bodies to grate and if that grating is done in 35 hours then we will survive it. I know that Joe and Kamala have been working tirelessly to be ready to hit the ground running when tomorrow comes and them continuing to do that before the inauguration will be a high priority. The rest of us can keep our eyes on the heaping pile that has yet to leave our White House.
     I know that sleep will be difficult to get over these next 25 hours. Which is fine once in a while especially since the next 25 hours are so critical to what our future holds. There are senate hearings today to get to confirming Joe and Kamala's cabinet picks and that is, although late, good. The republican party has not been as helpful as it could be for a political party that is begging for unity while still not all accepting Joe Biden as our next president. If I understand Joe though he will still try to work with them in an honest way but no doubt warily. There is no more taking a republican at his/her word anymore as they have shown they will break any oath even the greatest one to our country.

2 days left of trump (#4370)

      In just about 54 hours from this moment trump will no longer be the appointed president. I want to clarify something here about how I describe trump's presidency. He was appointed by the electoral college, not elected by we the general election voters. It is a technicality but he did lose by over 2.9 million votes to Hillary Clinton and in a democracy the votes should count not the racist/misogynist archaic paternalism of the electoral college. However, that distinction will soon be moot as our incoming president not only beat trump by over 7 million votes but he also beat trump in the electoral votes. With time running out and down to a mere handful of hours we who are of a logical and progressive mind are overjoyed at that near eventuality.
     Yet we are cautioned by the display of animosity and denial coming from the defeated appointed president. The rancor and chaos he is sowing before being forced from office is unprecedented and precarious. The storming of our federal Capitol building where Congress holds sway a week and a half ago is just another example in a long line to reference. What is going to happen over these last 54 hours is surely going to be abrasive and likely deadly even in the middle of the Covid-19 viral attack. All 50 state capitols are on some kind of alert, some higher alerted than others but nonetheless alert. The followers of trump are like a cult in that all he has to do is infer a desire and they are willing to create it.
     Our civilized behavior is being tested when trump's followers are acting barbaric. A tempered response to their barbarism must include force to stop their lawlessness. It is inevitable that a hard hand will be meted out if the unruly keep advancing their hatred. I want peace for all of us but if I were in charge I would not accept appeasement with ill informed thugs who have no other concept but victory at all costs. I would meet them at the red line of all costs, and if they refuse to stop, make them pay with a final cost. It is harsh but necessary if the fruits of democracy are to flourish and thrive.

3 days left of trump (#4369)

      These last 3 days are going to be the longest three days we have had to endure so far with trump. He is going to go but at what cost to us going forward? We know he will use the presidential pardon power to release untold scores of rightly convicted criminals as long as he can extort money from them. But even if he doesn't extort them his anger at losing his appointed presidency may just trigger his revenge trait to dominate his limited thinking. Nothing like having a bunch of criminals running around on the streets because trump is a crybaby! Well we will deal with whatever he does in not only the pardon arena but in any other arena he still holds sway to power.
     His days are about over as someone who can command attention and then the days of us demanding his attention in the courthouses of America will begin. If he doesn't do a runner to a non extradition country I will be surprised and shocked. I also expect him now to pardon himself and all his children before he leaves office because I do believe that he doesn't trust pence to actually pardon him if he does resign early. His hatred for pence is a gleeful feeling for me because I want him to pardon himself so that we can go to court and have that overturned. Which then would leave him vulnerable to all the federal charges we can muster against him.
     Even though the Supreme Court is conservatively dominant, it is a bridge too far for me to expect them to put the executive branch of government above the law, trump or no trump! I want to see trump punished with suffering and all as his cruel brutish mean style should be revisited upon his own head. As for his children they will likely escape all federal charges and that is a shame since they are just as bad in committing offences as he is/was. But again the states will have a good crack at them so that will have to mollify me in my pursuit of the whole of the trump clan to be mercilessly hounded and convicted to the extreme. As to trump followers they can go back to sucking eggs in a closet!

4 days left of trump (#4368)

      So, after the 2020 election we democrats won the presidency and control of the senate. It was close on election night but after counting all the votes Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had over 7 million more votes than trump while winning the electoral college by a margin of 306 to 232. The senate was much closer a victory and wasn't decided until a special runoff election in Georgia on January 5, 2021 and that wasn't clear until well into the next morning on January 6th. All told we democrats held the house, gained the senate and presidency. A full sweep although the margins in congress are tight. This is where we are today although Georgia is still verifying the vote totals for our senate gains in Georgia and won't be ready for certification for another day or so.
     So for the next 4 days trump is still the appointed president. The senate likely will still be in republican control for at least 4 days, probably 6 days. All this to say is that the time for the republican era of trump is coming to an end very soon. Then we democrats will have our opportunity to reverse most every executive order trump has issued over the last 4 years. We can legislate policies in a friendlier environment that portend tremendous help for our working middle poor class. Yes, even the wealthy will benefit from we the vast majority of Americans able to do better in our lives. Our increased participation in the economy will spell bonanzas for the wealthy because they have greater opportunities to capitalize off of our increased demand for goods and services.
     A normalizing effect that will come from competent leadership and care is about to become an era of unity and prosperity. It will take a bit of time and in that bit of time window dispensing with the Covid-19 threat and adjudicating the criminality of the trump era will help us focus on the cause and effect of the last 4 years. Yet segueing from that relatively short window of time to a new ambitious modernization and green friendly economy will quickly follow. Rebuilding and replacing our nations infrastructure will help galvanize our citizenry while continuing to reach out to the stars will fuel our imaginations.

5 days left of trump (#4367)

      The moving van is out front of the White House and things are going into it. As well a cleaning crew is lining up to clean the White House of all of the cooties trump leaves behind as well as scrub for Covid-19 traces. The transition is happening and for that we are finally getting some relief! 5 days left for Joe and Kamala to begin their difficult task of correcting all the purposeful and unintentional mistakes from the last 4 years. Everyone makes mistakes because as hard as we try we still can't always factor in all the premises for a proper best conclusion. We are fallible as humans but we do try. But the intentional mistakes are not part of the better and best human condition. They are a construct of human failure and of those abstract behaviors, trump has many more than most.
     Regardless though of intentionality, we democrats are determined to bring about the ship of state to a course that is worthy of our national constitution. It all begins in 5 days. Yes, even on inauguration day the turnaround begins. Because there is not one second to delay doing the correct thing when so many lives are still in danger from Covid-19 and the current economic disaster afflicting our country and the world. Joe and Kamala laid out a stimulus plan yesterday that deals with not only the Covid-19 abatement implementation protocols but addresses past and current economic needs. That is day one stuff and it cannot come soon enough. The spending must continue with job creation and getting back into world treaties aimed at securing our planet but also saving lives.
     Reversing the hundreds of executive orders that trump has viciously applied to our federal government will only take Joe and his pen to execute. But legislative matters will take a few days more to bring into fruition but with majority control of the House and Senate the path is there for the taking. In 5 days all of this begins and the horrible memory of trump in our White House will begin to fade. Not that trump and his comeuppance is going away but at least his power to change our society from a legal/political point of view will be over. His reckoning as well will begin to come due and that is another matter for the benefit/cost paradigm to demand! 5 days my friends and we will have our brighter future.

6 days left of trump (#4366)

     With his second impeachment charge within the last 13 months, trump has become a pariah to those who hold law and order as a duty. To those who don't hold law and order as a duty he is still their champion. As it generally breaks down, the democrats are for law and order while most of republicans are not. Why do I say this? Well because given the obviousness of the evidence for both impeachments the conclusion that laws and order have been broken is reality. Accepting the illogical conclusion that laws and order were not broken is beyond the bounds of normalcy and far into denial and illusion. Which in my opinion is the difference in the two political parties.
     Of course this is a general statement of opinion and does not hold a universal charge. Yet when the bulk of it is true it therefore is generally correct. If you have followed my blog posts over these last many years you see that I give the republican party no quarter nor safe space. They have found themselves where they are through policies that hit hard at the working middle poor class. They choose their route through the inevitability of brutish and cruel policies. Their disdain for all who are not wealthy is real and for them to not get that or to brush it off like lint on their shoulder is indicative of their inculcation into class politics.
     We here in America are of one class, not subsets. We all have the dream of life unlimited by human constraints that deny the best of who we are as a species. We believe in equality, in fairness, and justice, with the opportunity to begin in equity, not shackled by those who have privilege and advantage paving their way. Again, the differences between the political parties is exposed. We democrats fight for all to share in democracy while republicans fight to keep all from sharing in democracy. Democracy is all the good that can be so why would anyone fight to keep all from sharing in it? Why indeed! 6 days left for trump to do his worst and surely that will be but when these last 144 hours are up so is he!

7 days left of trump (#4365)

      Okay, one week to go if trump doesn't retire or expire before then. Either is well fine with me as long as his dangerous appointed era is over. Today is the day that our House of Representatives votes for the second time to impeach trump. Setting a new record for impeachments by a sitting president. The Senate is in a pro forma session and would require all senators to agree to come back early if we wanted to get trump tried in the Senate for a conviction. I think there are too many who still lick trump's boots and would object to coming back before January 19, 2021. So the likelihood of trump being impeached before President Biden is inaugurated is slim.
     So the best option after that is to hold onto the impeachment charge in the House until we get Joe and Kamala off and running in their early days of addressing our other outstanding problems. The fact that the House passed a resolution yesterday asking vp pence to file the 25th amendment of our constitution against trump is out there for his consideration. Yet pence is not going to file the diminished capacity option as he is still tied too closely to trump and his supporters. The ineptitude of the republican party to be an honorable and respected party continues on its downward spiral. Yet there are a few republicans who will vote today in the House to impeach trump. There are also some republicans in the Senate who would vote to indict trump if the Senate was in session.
     It may all seem a bridge too far to a casual observer when there is only 7 days left in the trump appointed presidency but nothing could be further from the truth. The last 168 hours of the trump reign is more than enough time for him to foment more insurrection and accompanying death. His desperation keeps growing as his final days are here so the necessity to end his cruel and brutish reign as early as possible is no less our greatest current priority. If the hope of the better and best of us is to survive going forward we need to do everything we can to assure that hopeful future by stopping the trump regime dead in it's tracks.

8 days left of trump (#4364)

      It now appears that trump will run out the clock on his appointed presidency. He has 8 days left to hang on and since there is no indication otherwise that he will resign we can expect him to stay and then either at the last minute resign and then let pence pardon him or my favorite, pardon himself and his children. His children will be within norms of the pardon clause but trump himself may well find that he has screwed himself legally. Certainly it is not legally appropriate to be able to pardon oneself. However it works out over these last few days of trump it is still the last few days of trump.
     The House tomorrow will impeach trump again for the second time and whether the impeachment count goes to the senate right away or later on after a couple of months is still being debated as to the most efficacy for the impeachment charge. I lean toward holding off and getting a chance to examine the insurrection incident and all the new information that will come about due to President Biden having access to all the trump paper trail on this and other connections. Taking a bit of time to get a clearer picture sounds like the correct path to me anyway. Otherwise going to a mcconnell led senate is just a dead end. However that works out though trump will be in a lot of trouble going forward from many different jurisdictions and that is soothing to we who have a law and order agenda for the criminality of the trump administration.
     Despite the deadly agenda of trump over these last few days it is a real victory for our democracy that not only did trump get defeated for a second term but the senate losses in the Georgia special runoff elections have changed the majority to we democrats. A real time satisfying result that does make us feel like we are getting out of this nightmare of trump. 8 days is just 192 hours and when those hours are up we will have a new day here in America. Getting back on the worlds stage and making the American people the highest priority again is about to come to fruition. What a glorious new chapter that is about to be written in the history of our nation!
     

9 days left of trump (#4363)

      The nuclear codes are being kept from trump and that is a good safeguard considering his erratic nature. What he can do to us now over the last 9 days of his appointed presidency has been greatly reduced after his coup attempt on January 6th. Having to be somewhat happy about what he can't do to us should explain to all why we despise and are disgusted by him. He does nothing to help us nor does he care to. The only thing he cares about is staying in power because he thinks that he is a chosen one without any of the religious cause or need.
     He is a dictator at heart and that is his goal. But in 9 days his fantasy will end and he will learn then that there is a price to pay for his deathly delusional actions. Like I said yesterday, if he doesn't resign and then let pence pardon him for federal crimes he has no other way of avoiding federal charges. He cannot pardon himself and will be shown that by the supreme court when they are called in to question the validity of him doing so. Which is what I hope he does because then he will be subject to all the criminal code with no other defense other than his imagination.
     He, trump, has been given so many opportunities to protect himself from his deathly behavior and still he does not take it. For that I can withstand him being in power for 9 more days because it means we will have all options on the table when it comes to his future. I know there are some in the democratic party who think we should forgive and forget but that is enabling behavior. I am tired of being the nice guy to criminals who are not remorseful nor ashamed of their criminal behavior. The rule of law demands in a democratic society that all are subject to the same benefits and penalties. This is no exception and in fact it is more important to get right than any other decision made on criminal behavior. The head of the snake must be treated with a greater duty or responsibility than the parts of the snake that just follow after it.

10 days left of trump (#4362)

      While the republican party keeps their heads buried in the sand we democrats are trying like crazy to keep trump from killing more in his last 10 days. We have tried to get chicken little pence to declare the 25th Amendment against the out of control wannabe dictator and so far he had said no, then he says maybe, but still no action. His, trumps, cabinet choices have resigned instead of upsetting him regardless of how many deaths their cowardice affords. We democrats are trying to impeach him, again, so that he will lose much more than just being ousted but the republican chickenshit in the senate, mcconnell who has said he won't take up a house passed bill to impeach until after these 10 days are up. He is acting like we all will survive these 10 days without a concern!  
     I will admit here that although reluctantly there are a few republicans who are calling for him to resign, along with every known democrat on the planet, but so far no response from trump. Taking away his multi media platforms like a child put on restriction from contacting his followers has helped but still no response from the angry crybaby trump. We democrats have actually been in contact with the chief general on the staff of chiefs to see what we can do about preventing trump from activating the nuclear codes. This is a real time life ending scenario for many yet the republican party has spent more time trying to wipe their fingerprints off it instead of trying to prevent a major catastrophe!
     With a planned rally at the US Capitol and every state Capitol scheduled for January 17th 2021, the idea that trump will just wither away and do nothing these last 10 days is naive and cowardly. I have long despised the republican party for their bald faced lying and suppression of democratic values but this right here, the inaction on their created monster is the where the line is drawn. I have no doubt that all 50 states and DC will be prepared for insurrection and as long as trump is still in power the worst of it won't be prevented. Everything that goes wrong in our nation over the next few months is on the heads of the republican party but you would have to dig a hole deeper than where their heads are now if you were to put it one them!

11 days left until trump is history (#4361)

      Impeachment proceedings, the 25th Amendment disqualifying constitutional provision, and an outright plea from many political quarters for trump to resign are all leading the national news as necessary. One of them may succeed or somehow trump could expire. All possibilities, some greater than others in getting him out of office immediately. The threat of impeachment has the best chance because if he is impeached he will be unable to run for national elected office again while losing his presidential retirement benefits. He may deem it wiser to get out now so that he can try to get back in over the next 4 years. Plus he could have pence pardon him before his appointed term ends.
     The other options don't appear as likely as pence has so far refused to say he will sign a letter stating trump is unfit for office as per required by the 25th Amendment. As for his own party, along with most every democrat and independent, turning on him en masse and forcing him to resign seems less likely as well. I don't expect the last option of him just keeling over from some deathly physical malady to happen either but one does never know. So the impeachment option may well be the best option as of now. If it does have the effect of forcing him to resign then all will be easier for him going forward as he is due to leave office in 11 days anyway. Saving his own skin has always been his credo so this option will serve him best.
     If he does choose to avoid impeachment it will likely occur within the next 48 hours. Proceedings will begin in the House on Monday sometime so his window of opportunity to avoid that is definite. His naked ambition to keep power at all costs is the only wild card here and he may well choose instead one more blackmailing threat aimed at us with a cost of unimaginable consequence. I would hope that avenues to him causing catastrophic disaster have been imagined and defended against but this is trump and his gambits are, if anything, outside the box. He is running out of advisors and his chances for pulling off some late stage miracle is becoming increasingly clear to the rest of us as impossible. If he doesn't take the resignation route now then we all will most likely be going down with the ship with the crazy man trump at the helm.

12 days of hell left of trump (#4360)

      There are 12 left before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are inaugurated to the presidency/vice presidency of our nation. Yet as short a time as that seems it will be hard for many of us to live through it. We are unable to relax and enjoy the transition of power because trump does not want to leave the presidency that he was appointed to. He lost the popular vote in 2016 by nearly 3 million votes and this time in 2020 lost by more than 7 million votes but he cannot accept that having less votes and less electoral college votes in 2020 is possible. He screams that there is fraud but none is exposed. He beats the drum of incitement to riot because he cannot prove his claims of fraud.
     His mental imbalance in this moment is clear to many of us but still the powers within his own party are still cowed by his glare. The cowardice of the republican party is even more evident as of yesterday as many of his cabinet members are retiring instead of voting to commit him as unfit. Their own personal benefits are more important to them than any duty they swore to uphold to our constitution. What I have seen over and over again with republican politicians is that swearing an oath is not a promise to them to hold dear, instead it is just an inconvenience to be ignored once they are in power.
     The anxiety that is felt by many until trump is gone is thick and real. There is no salve for it either as the cowardly republican party will not come together with we democrats to remove trump before he spirals further into a scary hellscape while dragging all the rest of us down with him. I expect this of trump because he has never had a life that is well within the bounds of normalcy. But the republican party is showing itself to also having no boundaries to honor nor noble intent as they keep finding ways to enable his craven diseased mind. The republican party will be end of us over these last dozen days or we will survive and if so should make our goal in life to end all republican control over our sacred democracy!

A treacherous day yesterday (#4359)

     Coming down from the end of a four year effort to remove trump and moscow mitch mcconnell from leadership positions I was ready to enjoy the hangover of success yesterday. The 2 Georgia senate runoff seats turned blue through a herculean effort from so many of us and the culmination of the electoral college vote count and certification process by Congress of Joe and Kamala's victory. Yet instead what I had to endure yesterday was a coup attempt to overthrow our democratic processes by the sitting appointed president. He, with intent, had this planned weeks ago to try to upend our political transition process because his ego would not let him accept that he lost convincingly in the presidential election.
     This man/child trump is a mentally unstable person who through an incredible path of fortune became our 45th president. That in itself shows us that the way we get to electing our leaders is flawed and skewed toward the wealthy who can hide their human deficiencies while pretending to be good stewards. Despite that problem that will need to be addressed through future legislation, we must somehow survive the last 13 days of trump. Anyone was sitting on the fence not wanting to get involved in politics should have learned yesterday that hiding heads in the sand will only bring about terrible results. All things are political in life, which requires us Americans to either be courageous in our lives about the good in life or cowards in life, afraid to fight for what is better and best about our democracy.
     No doubt the attack on our national congressional capitol has forced the many of us to accept that we live in real time with real threats to our safe and secure lives. Learning now how our government works should be our next step in understanding why our lives are now under threat. Why our government does little in the face of much turmoil. The reasons can be summed up in how our political parties reason their existence. With republicans it is for the wealthy at the expense of the working middle poor class, while the democrats are for the working middle poor class at the expense of the wealthy. Both see the need for both the wealthy and working middle poor class; but republicans would subject the working middle poor class to the whims of the wealthy while the democrats want the working middle poor class to have a real fair and just partnership with the wealthy. Which is why I will always be a democrat!

The remarkable day after (#4358)

      Well the confirmation of 2 senate seats becoming democratic is obvious to many of us despite only one of them being called by the traditional national media. Both democratic candidates have leads that are insurmountable with anyone who has a logical mind and why the traditional national media is being hesitant speaks more to their fears than actual reality. However, the concept that a favorable senate to Joe Biden is sinking in and giving some of us a reprieve from the hurtful reality immediately following the general election where it looked like we democrats didn't retake the senate. Thanks to Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock keeping their opponents below the 50% threshold in the general election to force the Georgia special election senate runoffs.
     The flipping of Georgia to a now officially more blue state than red state is incredible. The destiny of the flip was coming but when it arrived it hit at a perfect time. The next 2 years will be much more complimentary to the manifest destiny laid at the feet of we democrats. Hopefully we can get a lot of moderate and progressive legislation passed into law so that the rebirth of our nation back to the melting pot for all the world to join. The world was watching last night because they, like us, appreciate the need to make our future a positive one. Returning to the leadership of world organizations whose aim is to make life safe and productive on our planet is the mandate that was just cemented with the 2 Georgia democratic senate wins.
     Today is such a wonderful day now that the changing of the guards, who were cruel and brutish, to the guards who are more compassionate and helpful will be complete once Ossoff's obvious election is called. I said yesterday in my blog that we were going to win these 2 senate seats and it seems that even I can get something correct in the waning era of trump. He has 2 weeks left to fill out his appointed term and it will be a lonely one for him as everyone he comes into contact with will be stained by the association. I am happy but tired this morning but what a happy tired it is. 2 weeks to go and the trump appointed era will end. Happy day indeed!

Today is the day of the Georgia US Senate runoffs (#4357)

      This is it today. No more waiting to see the finale of the 2020 general election. When our two democratic senate candidates become US senators today it will be a culmination of hard work and tireless effort. Because it was both, needed and wanted. I am going to predict that today Georgia will elect two democrats as it's national senate representatives. Who in their right mind could have foreseen this turn of events? But regardless of seeing it, being it is sweet and comforting. We are not there yet but it is now all dependent on our electorate in Georgia to show up today and vote for Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
     It is my assumption that the lines will be long and full of democratic voters. With president elect Biden coming out yesterday and letting Georgia voters know that a vote for the democrats will put stimulus money in their pockets will likely see many republicans voting for our democrats. Because all people of our nation, yes Georgians too, are hurting financially because of the deathly mishandled pandemic. It isn't the fault of our people that republicans could have cared less about our health while a pandemic raged. So stimulus is needed to keep us from further harm. I am so happy that our incoming president made this clear in Atlanta yesterday.
     Today will be a celebration of the good guys overcoming the bad guys and especially sweet is relegating moscow mitch mcconnell to irrelevancy. The republican party has had a good ass whopping coming for some time and today, along with the just completed general election will make it a reality! The lives of all of us will become so much better when this election is done and Joe Biden becomes president and vice president Kamala Harris is the tie breaker in the senate. With Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi majority leaders in Congress, Joe will have the process to be able to enact real life legislation that will ensure that the working middle poor class will have equal opportunity with the wealthy in the pursuit of our happiness.

1 day left until the Georgia US Senate runoffs (#4356)

      The last ditch efforts by both democratic and republican campaigns will hit hard and heavy today with all the big guns of both parties campaigning in Georgia for these two senate seats. However the republican big guns are looking mighty rusty with all the turmoil being created by trump. Which is fine by we democrats if republicans want to show Georgia just how despicable they are in this crucial moment. My best guess is that the republican turnout will be less than the general election turnout because of the divisiveness over trump's false claims of Georgia state voter fraud. When the head of the party in the person of trump tells his supporters that the election was rigged against him, illegal, and invalid one can expect some republicans not to vote in this runoff election.
     For our part most all the messaging coming out of the democratic campaigns have been positive and straightforward. While exposing the falsities of the claims from the republican candidates. The republican candidates on the other hand have been treading lightly about their own policies while making wild accusations about our democrats. In a world where logic and common sense were the deciding factors in choosing the best candidates, we democrats would be routing the republicans. However this is not that paradigm. What we are facing is an electorate that still votes republican despite the harm or good to society on whole. Where prejudices and biases are more prevalent in how one votes as a rule not an exception.
     Yet we democrats were able to make inroads in Georgia just this past November enough to actually win the popular vote for our presidential candidate. But this is a runoff election where the enthusiasm to vote is not as high as it was last month. Even though it is as crucial a state election that has been held in my 65 years on the planet. But I don't get to vote only Georgians do. So we will see if our recent gains in Georgia can sustain just one more election that will decide the fate of the policies going forward over the next 2 years. Today is the last day before election day tomorrow and what we hope outside Georgia is for all those democratic Georgians who haven't yet to get to the polls and get their vote counted.

2 days left until the Georgia US Senate runoffs (#4355)

      The calm before the storm begins today although these last two days will not be calm. One republican, perdue, has been sidelined with Covid-19 protocols and the other republican is ramping up such lies that it is hard to believe this is a serious national race and not some junior high school popularity contest. 38.8% of eligible Georgia voters have been accounted for so far with what should be several of thousands still returning their mail in ballots. 57.3% of eligible Georgia voters cast their ballots last month and if we are to see equal numbers to that then the voting day in all counties in all precincts will have to be record breaking.
     It can be done but the likelihood of it being done is not a great bet. Yet, I wouldn't be surprised if at least a million and a half votes were cast on January 5th. That is optimistic but with all the attention this race is getting it wouldn't be close to impossible. All I know for sure is that we democrats and like minded others need to get our votes cast on January 5th if we haven't done so yet. The only thing we have control over is our determination to vote. We control that, each of us, and we should never let the rigmarole of the day leave us short of doing the most important thing we have to do in this time frame. Nothing is more important than getting our vote tabulated, nothing!
     By choice I am a political scientist who takes the defining of how our democracy works as priority number one. I have held many jobs in my life but those were to keep money in my pockets. My passion is politics and the defending of democratic values. I do not suffer idiots nor those who would upheave our egalitarian form of government. If republicans had the will to fight for the working middle poor class I would support them but they are not doing that. Instead they continue to support the wealthy class and promote dismantling our democracy. To me they are traitors to our way of government and also as bad for the working middle poor class as any political party in history!

3 days left until the Georgia US Senate runoffs (#4354)

      It is official, as of yesterday more than 3 million have voted already in the early voting with about 400 thousand possible mail in ballots yet to be returned. 3.6 million voted in the just concluded general election so although we are not at that level we are not showing signs of much disinterest either. I could say that the difference in the totals from the general election to now is skeptical republicans who have decided to sit this one out. Now that would be the best case scenario for we democrats but just as likely both parties have some disinterested voters not voting. So with the final day of voting on January 5th rapidly approaching, all stops to get out all our voters is in play.
     Jon Ossoff, one of our democratic candidates, has hired a couple of thousand young voters to search their counties for any who could be available to vote and has not yet done so. The margins in these runoffs have all been prognosticated as being too close to call so each and every vote may well matter in the final total to determine the winners. The stakes here in Georgia are critical to our democracy. Joe Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes so his mandate is quite clear. But legislatively, if we don't win control of the senate that mandate will become moot as to enacting purposeful and needed legislation. We have to win these two Georgia runoff elections to ensure a more harmonious life for all of us.
     So if you can donate to the democratic candidates now then please do so. The momentum is on our side but sustaining that momentum is the need to finance ventures such as the hiring of the 2 thousand activists to get out the vote in the 159 Georgia counties. We cannot leave this race to indifference. We have to fight with all we can fight with to bolster just another vote from someone who wouldn't normally have bothered to vote. This always brings me back to the carrot and stick concept as it relates to voting. Make all eligible voters a deal. If they vote they get some tax benefit or subsidy of no inconsequential amount or if they don't they are hit with some type of monetary penalty that would be a more than just a nuisance.

4 days left until the Georgia US Senate runoffs (#4353)

      Well all the early in person voting is done for the Georgia US Senate runoffs. Now it is just collecting eligible vote by mail ballots and January 5th election day. More than 2.8 million voters have already cast ballots which is 36.4% of eligible voters in Georgia. That percentage will increase a bit with the last numbers for early voting released later today. A good start by all accounts. I had hoped that we would match the early voting totals from the just completed general election but that was about 4 million. Still though the enthusiasm from our democratic voters is palpable so if there is a drop off of any significance it will likely be among republican voters.
     Yet on the actual election day this coming Tuesday the consensus is that republicans will have more voters engaged to vote than we democrats. How much more is going to decide who wins these elections. My heart and soul are with our side on this and that does count for something as logic and historical pattern may be with republicans. With all the bad karma and negative vibes swirling around the republican effort to deny stimulus cash you would think that the turnout for republicans would be subdued. Yes, even republican voters need help right now and how they could be enthusiastic about voting for republicans right now is difficult to conclude.
     Yet this is the current era we are living in and nothing about doing the correct thing is easy even though it well should be. Our whole nation is counting on the wisdom of the Georgia runoff voter to turn key senate races into a mandate for Joe Biden to be able to effectively improve the lives of all of us without the cruel and dastardly efforts of moscow mitch mcconnell thwarting them for his own pleasure. I am hopeful that the tide of ignorant allegiance and fealty to a republican party that cannot deliver for most Americans will be put down along with their rhetoric of divisiveness and hate. An awakening is needed in America and if these last elections have shown us anything, an awakening is about to become reality.