(#6198) The personas of Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Obama

      The greatest presidents of my lifetime, John Kennedy and Barack Obama, with Dwight Eisenhower a close third. I am not quite old enough to have had Franklin Roosevelt as my president, but I will include him anyway because he might have been the greatest. I rate presidents by their effectiveness with ordinary citizens and the world at large. Like with Roosevelt conquering the national poverty the previous republican president Hoover left him. Not only conquering poverty and building a middle class of outstanding opportunity but then chasing down and destroying a world nemesis in the fascist nazi Hitler. He didn't do it on his own, Supreme Commander General Eisenhower was the tip of the sword, but Roosevelt masterminded the American solution with unwavering devotion to democracy.
     Every one of these presidents I admire surely were fallible but not out of some trickery or intent. They honestly strived to shepherd our American society with class and honor. Barack Obama gave us grace and dignity under a cloud of racism spawned by the republican party yet he held his head high and fought for the American working middle poor class, while also destroying the leader of the 9/11 attack. John Kennedy although flawed somewhat in his personal life never transitioned that into his public life. "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!" Kennedy spoke these words 65 years ago yesterday. And even in that inspiring charge he led all of us to the eventuality of landing on the moon before the 1960's decade ended.
     Although I said little about Eisenhower, he is much admired by me for creating our national highway system and taxing the wealthy with fair proportionality. Even though Dwight was a republican he did what was best for all Americans not just the wealthy. These four men all had a persevering ambition to make America into more than what they knew. They didn't throw around slogans that had little to do with their behavior, they created realities where only dreams existed before them. These four had one thing in common that is most admired by me. They never were in it for themselves. The nobility of honor and sacrifice was their protocol and that is why my own life is better because of them.
     

(#6197) No sitting on the fence!

      Either you are for trump and his design to end democracy or you are defending democracy against him! There is no middle ground here. No turning away and hiding behind ignorance. Every one of us has to decide which side we are on. Now you may laugh at me and say fuck you I will do whatever I want. Okay, then do that! However, doing nothing is actually aligning with trump. Being neutral is allowing the status quo to continue. Just know that if you choose to ignore this moment in time you are actually part of the problem on the wrong side! So again, we each need to decide which side we are on! Democracy? Or the end of it!
     This isn't some game or false alarm. This is the real deal and the future will depend on what each of us does right now going forward. Will America be the bastion of liberty, freedom and justice or will we succumb to a conman and his vision of tyranny? For me the choice is simple. I am of the Nathan Hale school of fighting to my last breath to save for our children the beautiful foundation of a nation with human rights evolving into a more perfect union. I already know what tyranny looks like. It is a subservience to others who have no master. Being like property is a scourge and tyranny is all about others being like property.
     We Americans have proved that we are fallible. Twice we have elected/appointed a person as our leader who is not a leader but a taker. Not only does he take but he demands that no one contradict him. His mind is not of a uniter, his mind is of a divider. He thrives in chaos and havoc. He creates messes in our society and in the world and then proclaims that he is the only one who can clean them up. His proclamations fall short of cleaning up the messes he created and they stay unfixed. The evidence is everywhere and anywhere an honest person would look. So just know that all of us are accountable and no one gets to sit this one out without being labeled as one side or the other.

(#6196) Breaking the republican narrative

      The trump gambit to destroy democracy in America has a cost attached to it. If trump fails in his nefarious ambition the truth of the republican party is exposed. Even more so even his attempt is exposing the truth about republicanism. It is a harsh wasteland with few democratic principles surviving. The American electorate is getting an eyeful of the harm trump is injecting onto our society. There is no subtlety nor nuance to hide behind. The only ones who cannot admit to the reality of things are the stubborn, stuck in a cognitive dissonant loop, where the truth cannot be accepted regardless of logical discomfort!
     We are well into that paradigm and the electorate is opening it's eyes. Given the results of the special elections all over the country we see a shift from the republican narrative from tepid trust to outright disgruntlement. We democrats are haphazardly fighting back but we don't have a clear leader to guide our potential. Some are emerging and that is good as long as trump does not succeed in creating the havoc and chaos he needs to martial  grave force against we the people. As it is now trump and the republican narrative is fueled by falsehoods and lies coming from the White House along with an army of bots commenting favorably on news posts toward anything trumpism. We the people are recognizing the bots as propaganda but they are relentless.
     What we the people are able to do is coalesce around each other, while at the moment lacking a formidable vibrant caring leader. The grassroots momentum we the people have built doesn't necessarily need a great leader to succeed but it would provide clarity where not all is absolutely clear. That is the truth of where we are. We democrats are strongly united and are building a massive independent party unity. Even dissatisfied republicans are joining us to the tune of a real detriment to republicanism. The reason for the massive opposition to trump and republicans is that they are not able to hide their hatred narrative for democratic principles and that my friends is a bridge too far even for many in their own base!

(#6195) Why does trump protect pedophiles?

     According to marjorie taylor green trump told her on a phone call that a lot of his friends would get hurt if he released the epstein files. Okay, take that for what it is worth but in reality it is trump himself that likely would get hurt by the release of the files. Let us presume that trump himself is not in the epstein files. I know, that is almost illogical to presume but let's do it anyway. Why would trump knowingly put himself at risk of being one to obstruct crimes by others? Does that make sense to anyone? He is all about himself so for him to suddenly want to defend pedophiles seems other worldly. 
     So I stick with my assumption that trump is definitely in the epstein files. He is protecting himself which in reality is the most likely outcome. There have been numerous declarations by women who were girls at the time about trump and his controlling lascivious behavior. Yet these declarations seem to fall on deaf ears when it comes to republicans and their oversight duties within Congress. So not only is trump protecting the release of the epstein files which he told green would harm his friends but the republican majority in Congress is protecting trump by not investigating the claims of several American citizens who have claimed they had been harmed by trump.
     If you don't get why this is being as it is just know that the power the republican party now controls will go away if trump is legally exposed as a pedophile and or pedophile protector. The republican power brokers will not let that happen as long as they can get away with it. As criminally filthy this subject is the strategy of trump and his bootlicking allies is to create chaos in other sectors of our democracy. Creating international incidents and state conflicts to move our attention away from the filth of pedophilia and it's coverup. It was the coverup that got republican nixon and likely will be what gets trump as well. We must not stop trying to get the truth out about what is in the epstein files!

(#6194) Now trump says he was just joking about cancelling the midterms. I don't believe him!

      I have had to see his persona for the last ten years and cannot I recall him joking. He is a joke for sure but for him to make a joke is not something he does. Apparently he got immediate negative feedback from too many after floating the idea of an election cancellation that he had to come up with something that would somehow justify his unamusing threat. First of all a sitting president shouldn't be "joking" about our constitutional rights at the bone marrow level. Our vote is all that stands between us and anarchy. With me the idea of him joking is ludicrous. He was testing the waters for reactions. He didn't like the result so immediately tried to cover up his intent.
     From what I have learned from him over the years is that he is disjointedly focused on his own ambitions. He may occasionally offer some wanted outcome for we the people but it is only an illusion. He plays at the carrot and stick game well. Although the thought of it being a game to him invokes an anger within me because his thoughts and desires constantly turn into harm for others. He hits us hard with the stick to follow his demands and then once in a while he offers us some natural right we deserve anyway and then forgets about it. He has become seasoned in his con on we the people and although it was shocking to realize it is proving even more difficult to escape from.
     As each day draws closer to the midterm elections on November 3rd, the more desperate trump becomes. He doesn't want to lose his majority in Congress albeit slim as it is. So what are his alternatives? He can chance that the mood in the nation will change toward him. He can somehow try to rig state elections. Or he can create havoc and chaos in the states in order to implement some sort of martial law where he remains in control and there are no elections for him to worry about. It does seem like he has chosen the martial law gambit. As he has already started in Minnesota. As the weeks turn into months and his approval numbers grow worse that actually signifies to me that he is planning a coup like option similar in intent to January 6, 2021.

(#6193) If no midterms, no representation!

      That trump floated out loud a cancellation of the midterm elections proves that he is trying to overthrow our democracy. Our nation is not at war nor are we under some catastrophic event. The only purpose trump could have for trying to cancel the midterms is for him to retain control of Congress. He knows that he will lose partial control of Congress, possibly lose full control of Congress. So his plan to keep Congress under republican control is to thwart our democratic process of electing our representatives. If we are not allowed to elect our representatives then we are forced to live under authoritarian rule.
     I for one will not accept the loss of our democracy without a fight. No one person like the nefarious trump will take from me and mine the freedoms, liberties, and justice our foreparents fought to the death to give us. I am no coward when it comes to laying it all on the line when our democracy is being taken. I will join with like minded American democracy loving patriots to repel and remove any obstacle to our precious system of government. There will be many who will not live up to our heritage and that is regrettable but one of them will not be me. No one has the right to take 250 years of our blood, treasure, and sacrifice and throw it away on their own desire to be a king.
     I have said this for years and it is still true. If trump cannot be the king of America then he will burn America down. Now all of us must accept what we will do when that moment arrives. Stay in an illusion of safety by bending a knee to a sick fuck or fight back against him regardless of cost. There will be no other choice. I had hoped he would have been defeated in 2024 so that this choice never came into being but nothing to do about it now except to face our reality. Nothing in our current reality is safe so thinking there is a way to ride this out without committing to one side or the other is delusional. Prepare now for your choice then accept your outcome as a hero to democracy or a coward to a degenerate bully, It is that simple!

(#6192) Decent folks from every political party are rallying against trump!

     Let me get this out of the way right now! We many democrats warned everyone else for years that trump was in politics specifically to usurp our democracy from us. He is of the demented mindset that we Americans are just childish with too much allowance and he wants to stop that. His idea is to make all of us worse off so we appreciate the little he will give us.. His hard core, not love but contempt, is his guiding light. Which explains why he is harming not only those who voted against him but those who he tricked into voting for him. He truly believes he is better than anyone else and should therefore rule over everyone else.
     Which is why now there are those who supported him and rallied to elect him are now backing off supporting him. Many are even coming out against him but there is a cost for that. That trump is a bully and does not hesitate from bullying, those who do speak against him will incur his painful wrath as a rule. Our society is such that our civility is baked into our behavior so no one will stand up to him in a way that threatens his actual being. So how do we exist in this environment where his word is more powerful than our response to it? We stop what we are doing and face him. Regardless of the outcome we the people are the only defense to his continuing onslaught to destroy our democracy!
     The outside world is watching how we Americans handle our own mess and although our mess affects them they are mostly waiting for us to clean it up. Just like we mostly wait for them to clean up their messes. The problem we have here in America is that the folks in the republican party who are the current majority power are not good folks as to honor and principle. They cower more than stand up for respect, fairness, or dignity. So many of them are dependent upon trump for their livelihoods as well. They sold their souls early on and are now paying the price for their ignoble dealings. Those who didn't sell their souls but are dependent upon trump for their jobs are hitting a critical juncture where they either keep moving forward with trump or finally cut their losses and join the civilized world and help remove him now through available means.

(#6191) The vast majority of we Americans are standing up to trump

      Through bullying and threats, trump thought he could get his way once back into our presidency. For the most part in the first months of his reign he did actually but now he is finding out that his ability to coerce is failing. More and more the American electorate is not having his demands we act and behave as he sees fit. Nor do we accept his demands that we tear at each other. What he is finding out is that he is the brunt of our focus and not in a happy way. What he is trying to do by weaponizing ICE is a complete backfire. his goons have killed an American woman for trying to leave a confrontation his goons initiated.
     That one moment is as large as the George Floyd murder in trump's first term. The Renee Good killing has sparked a massive backlash against trump that not only serves to put life to our shock of her insidious murder but also serves as an outlet for the many other despicable acts trump has allowed in his name. So instead of trump being heralded as some kind of savior by preying on our prejudices, biases, and fears, he has awakened our better natures. Many of us have been calling on our electorate to remember our duty to democracy and the principles that are it's foundation. This call is being heard and the many of us are now engaged in rebuffing the trump agenda to divide us from each other.
     Our constitution does not allow us to depose of such a cad as trump. We are basically stuck with him unless his base in the republican party start to turn on him. That isn't where we are at least yet, but many in his base want him gone. What we the people are left with is the next election generally called the midterms. Those elections are not until next November 3rd so the building up of our resolve to hamper trump by retaking Congress from his bootlickers is our charge. We are well on our way with that as the special elections sprinkled along up until this November have been large swings to democrats. There is no doubt a major backlash to trump is coming and that is what we must make sure takes place!

(#6190) Think of America as your favorite sports team

      I hope this helps those who are oblivious to what is happening to our team America. With trump as the team captain of our American team, he is in cahoots with putin, the team captain of Russia. What trump is doing is behind the scenes colluding with putin to throw the game. We team America used to sit atop the world standings as an undisputed leader. With democracy as our strategy, we dominated most every game we played. We didn't always win every contest but we didn't let an occasional bump in the road stop our dominance. No other country has a record like ours so when it comes to odds for winning we are always the favorite.
     Thus the hook trump is trying to hide from us. We see his deception however because those of us who pay attention to the day to day workings of our democracy are not fooled by his slow but steady dismantling of our treasured form of government. Many do not see what is happening which is why I am writing in this analogous way. Our team is being hampered and hamstrung by the trump cabal to weaken our resolve to maintain our dominance. No longer are we the prized trophy in the display case. Our democracy is shifting before our eyes into an authoritarian state where thugs under the questionable veil of color of law, are harming and detaining our citizens at will.
     All the while in Ukraine we Americans are abandoning the fight for democracy there. Instead trump is immorally shirking our promises to Ukraine that we would protect them from Russian invasion. From broken promises to dismantling democratic institutions within America, trump is fixing the contest so that his preferred outcome is more likely than not. What he gains from fixing the fight with Russia is still uncertain, but let there be no doubt, it won't be good for team America. When my favorite team is taking a fall the only solution is to wholesale remove all those involved. Which is where we are now with the trump cabal!
     

(#6189) Our younger democrats are our future now!

      The republican party has gone batshit crazy and that is where we are now. Our democratic party has not allowed our brightest stars to emerge from the shadows of some of our older leaders. That is holding us back. Our older leaders are past due in many cases and are not thinking about how best to hold and expand our democracy. The old ways of nuance to create laws is dysfunctional, working to build consensus by watering down policies is a compromise too far! We need leaders who are bold and clever and we democrats have many of those who are not in position to implement their strategies.
     Our older democrats are not full of the zeal and vigor required to force strong ideas into being. We need people like Mamdani. Cortez, Beshear, Buttigieg, among many more who are young and talented enough to bring not only democrats out to vote but all those fence sitting independents that make up the largest voting block, 45% of our electorate. Those independents are largely made up of our younger voters. We need to let them define what our democracy will look like going forward as our older generation is not able to give them the fighting chance to realize their pursuit of happiness.
     What we older folks who have been fighting for what we could achieve with democracy, need to understand is that our younger generation is a brilliant collection of better intentions with the energy to make them come true. We the older need to let them run while being available to assist in any way they need. Not what we need but what the younger generations need. It is time for us who are not young anymore to get out of the way of our prodigies and let them master the difficult with the knowledge we have passed onto them and with their own insightful power to breathe life back into our democracy!

(#6188) We the people must force trumps hand!

      We the people need to take whatever action we can allow ourselves to confront and block trump from his nefarious agenda. The recent video showing the killing of a woman in her car through the way it was done is galvanizing previously uncommitted voters against trump's regime. His regime is sticking to alternative explanations concocted despite what we see with our own eyes. That is how tyranny develops by telling us not to trust what we see and only trust what the tyrannical tell us. The many of us are not having it. With protests springing up in every corner of America the bait and switch by trumps is being ignored.
     The No Kings march last year was revealing and now the protests against the strongarm tactics of trump's gestapo like ice is adding even more determined emotion to the protests. Even some of the bootlickers in the republican party are hesitating to promote trump's unbelievable narrative. It isn't just the ice demonstrations here at home that are attracting some lackeys in the republican party to see trump's nonsense but it is in the foreign affairs arena where trump's constant barrage about conquering other nations is getting a confounding head scratch from them. I am hoping that the republican party is about to get on board with putting an end to trump and his henchmen before all of us are embroiled in so much danger that none of us will ever be safe again.
     I have been saying for many months that we need a day of work stoppage where we all come out and protest in every city and town in America. A full blast of our grievances against all that trump and his regime have taken from us. Where no media in the world can disguise our intent. We the people are the true power here in America and we need to own it now! The longer we go down the path of least resistance the closer we get to trump actually becoming a dictator instead of him just trying to be one. It is up to we the people to stop trump and his agenda of taking our freedom, liberty, and justice our nation is still proud to call our democracy!

(#6187) All my posts lately have been a string of tirades against trump!

      I am not sure it is healthy for me to be using my brain cells defining the unnatural creature trump. Yet words need to be expressed in order for our national conscious to be clear. I find it most distressing that we allowed the criminal in chief to reign over our national government once again but here we are. I would rather be talking about how Ukraine is getting our best and Europe's best support to drive putin out of Ukraine. I would rather be talking about how jobs are growing every month by the hundreds of thousands. I would rather be talking about how health care and child care are being expanded despite republican attempts to destroy them.
     I would like to be talking about sports teams and our rivalries and surprises in their play. I would rather be feeling satisfied that democracy was winning the world over to freedom. There are so many things I would be satisfied about, equality, opportunity, advancing understanding in the great field of nuclear fusion. Climate change initiatives that could be prospering right now instead of being dismantled. I would be talking about how we are moving toward ending poverty everywhere we are allowed to try. I would be well satisfied that women would be in charge of their bodies and not some republican politicians because they demand the lessening of human rights for our women.
     If our democrat had been elected the worst days we would have had would have been caused by problems with our climate but even then our national FEMA directors would be on the spot to help rebuild from natural disasters. Otherwise a booming economy and a generally agreeable mood would be settled over our nation. There would be no nazi like ice out in our communities harassing and harming our citizens. Criminals would be brought to justice instead of lording over our government and streets. How we escape this dystopian existence and herald back toward a utopian one is our charge. That way I and others won't be under such a relentless brain cell barrage that continues to destroy our happiness.

(#6186) The longer this goes on the more emboldened trump gets

      This is all on the republican party. They are trying to squeeze every bit of their unpopular agenda out of trump before he gets uncontrollable. Well I have a message for republicans, trump is already uncontrollable. The only thing left to do now is for republicans in Congress and on the Supreme Court to put an end to this charade of trump acting out being king of America. The damage he is causing here at home and in the world at large is greater than any benefit left republicans may hope to get. He is unpredictable and dangerous. He is above the law so there are no guardrails on his decisions.
     He flaunts his power as if it were ordained by a god. He has no measure of fear because he thinks he is immortal. He has tested the waters of constraint and found them wanting. He knows he can do as he pleases and no one will force him to stop. It won't be long before he decides that no one is safe from his power and starts proving it. He has no inclination to be a good guy, just a guy who can take as he wants and discard it as he uses it up. He grew up in privilege and has only grown more accustomed every advantage under the sun. The republican party has allowed him to prosper on our dime and they are the ones who must make him pay.
     We democrats are fighting alone against him and it has been a slog. With the republicans protecting trump the worst we can do is temporarily block and delay his fantasies. The republicans must come join we democrats like yesterday in Congressional votes that began a bipartisan attempt to derail trump. As more republicans find their courage the rest of them may be inspired as well. It will take both democrats and republicans to bring down the greatest threat to humankind since atomic power. Removing trump from office as quickly as possible would be a saving grace for all who seek to live a life pursuing happiness.

(#6185) Will we Americans, frog, jump out of the rising heat of trump, pot?

      The parable of the frog and the heating pot is appropriate here. We Americans are being subjected to increasing pressures from the trump administration that has the effect of disarming us because of the constant turmoil. The chaotic provocations are coming one after another. Almost like it is a strategy to knock us off our footings concerning the issues we are working to expose about trump. His denial to release the full epstein files is given a pass because he is ramping up his atrocious agenda. His attack on Venezuela is now mostly ignored by the media since his Ice inspired murder in Minnesota.
     The denial of ACA subsidies have also had to take a back seat but the persistent democrats in Congress are at least working to forge through the trump obstruction. What trump is doing is hitting us with all kinds of malfeasance cloaked as necessary. His plan is simple to me. Hit us relentlessly with shocking maneuvers to jolt us from our clarity. The constant barrage of incredulous behavior turned into action is messing with our ability to keep it all straight. Our messaging is late when the next abomination comes into play. As he strings us along he gets further into his plan of keeping us chasing after yesterdays news. It is working for him as justice is a grind and trump, even though slow, is slithering along faster.
     I don't mind using/mixing metaphors when trying to grasp ahold of an emotional concept and this is one of those times. trump is the head of the deadly snake and without him the snake is nothing more than a Garter. The snake idiom for trump is appropriate as it is a cold blooded serpentine creature who only has deceit and ungratefulness as motives for its actions. Removing the head of the snake is the solution but how is the problem! All I know for sure is that we frogs in the heating pot are in real danger so the problem needs to be solved post haste! Another tragedy is just around the corner and if we don't find our courage and plan for implementing it then the snake will soon have its cooked meal!
     
     

(#6184) trump removes the joy from life

      Every time I go on social media I see some dastardly announcement about how the trump cabal is making life harder for everyone in the working middle poor class. From my own experience, it isn't just the hit to our socioeconomic struggles but it is a psychotic hit to our better natures. The feeling is deflating to the point of numbness. Gone is the happiness I used to feel upon waking when the day could have all kinds of opportunities for laughter. Gone are the days when I see other human beings and they brought out their smiles first. What I see now is a despondency that overshadows any attempt at good will.
     We humans are at our best when we live in and about our better natures. We find the joy in life because it is available. We seek it out in order to share moments that otherwise would be less so. I would say like now but now is even worse than just the absence of joy. Now is the heavy curtain of a darker time that instead of bring out our better natures brings out the doom of failure all around. How we let this creature trump have control of our society is beyond me to explain. A lot of us saw the dangerousness of him and tried to warn others but we were not believed.
     So now here we are in an existence that has a pall of apprehension and demoralization. The likelihood of it remaining this way is high so what can be done to change the eventuality of it? A break in the rule of trump is all I can think. Because trump himself will not change as we have seen everyday of his rule. Before a change in our society can occur a change in leadership must happen. How that comes about is the problem needing to be solved. It is a mighty problem, let there be no doubt. We cannot wait for nature to solve our dilemma, we need a plan that has all the logic of possibility with the action of a determined mind. A solution that does not infringe on the joy we hope to bring back about. Good luck to us, all of us!

(#6183) The ends don't justify the means!

      Breaking national and international law is not justification for getting results. Otherwise everyone would be doing it to reach their goals if needed. The do as I say and not as I do hypocrisy does not work under a democracy! Personally I wanted maduro removed like I want other tyrants around the world removed but not through extrajudicial means. If we start to recede from civilized behavior the wild west paradigm will be our reality. I know that the republican party would love that for America but they are not the ones who expect to be harmed by it. They want the rest of us to bear the brunt of pain and suffering as some kind of mentally sick satisfaction.
     I do blame republicans for all of this division in our nation. Instead of embracing diversity and being tolerant to real life turmoil, they choose to turn away from it and focus on their own desires. We here in America have ample opportunities to better ourselves and help others along the way. But not if we keep electing public officials who only want to create division and some kind of class distinctions. Instead of progress in areas that afflict all of us they wish to maintain the status quo and/or revert back to troubled times where the fear of dying is always present. Instead of helping humankind become an existence worthy of living they make existence a drudgery of failure and despondency.
     Never in my lifetime have I experienced such a chasm between two main political parties as we have today. The republicans are haughty and oblivious to harm. We democrats want to reduce harm. The distinction is as clear as ever! Yet the worst of what humanity can produce seems to be unclear to too many Americans. When the people in the republican party disregard the rule of law and the foundation of society to achieve any goal they think they deserve, the rest of us and the world as well suffer from their ideal of any means justifies an end. If that doesn't stop immediately then the consequences will be graver than just arguments.

(#6182) Every democracy loving billionaire needs to roll their sleeves up and help save our democracy

      I don't care who you are or if your wealth is a bit dicey. What I do care about is saving our democracy. So all who would rather live in a democracy and are not engaged in a most prioritized way then get there now. So everyone with wealth needs to put some of it aside to support every democratic candidate everywhere. The time for just sitting out the coming election is long past doing. Every American who has wealth needs to spend it wisely this coming election on whatever democrats need to do to secure our democracy. The republican party wealthy donors are not hesitant to spend at will for their demigod democracy ending trump and his lackeys. 
     This is the moment that is staring us all in the face. No one will be able to slide away from a decision. So get out in front of it and do your damnedest to win this election for every democrat who is up against any and all vulnerable or even safe republicans. Our democratic wealthy will lose much more than democracy if we don't succeed. The republican party has become a party of locusts. devouring everything in their sight and desire. Resources will flow to them and especially away from anyone not licking their boots. This is a moment of survival so the wealthy who do support democracy had all be keen on making sure democracy survives. Because as we already see, it won't under trump!
     The republican ideology of crushing everyone not a particular type and kind of republican is real. So either accept being subjugated with loss of human rights and discrimination based upon subjective criteria or strengthen your resolve and do whatever it takes to support we fighting democrats and our mission to save 250 years of American democracy. Our work is cut out for us but with our wealthy doing all they can the rest of us are able to mobilize and motivate our national constitutional loving base and new converts to the voting booth. Much needs to be done and with all of us doing what we can do best, then the outcome is better in our favor.

(#6181) trump justifies committing a coup in Venezuela like his buddy putin does with Ukraine

      How eerily similar it is that trump wants Venezuela like putin wants Ukraine. They are going about it slightly differently but the genesis of it is the same. Russia claims Ukraine is theirs because of some previous arrangement they had in Ukraine, much like trump sees Venezuela as American because of previous American companies ties to Venezuelan oil. It is an imperialism that has been on the wane for more than a century brought back to life by two tyrannical figures. The geopolitics of what is going on suggests that putin and trump have a hidden agenda to help each other even though they seem to be at odds with each other.
     If I can see through their ruse then it won't be long before it becomes obvious. I am not saying it is fact but that the idea isn't unthinkable when put into a more panoramic overview. The US through trump has been holding back on supporting Ukraine as trumps part of the deal while Russia will only use words to declare their unhappiness at trump's invasion of Venezuela who is an ally of putin. Funny also how the vice president of Venezuela is currently in Russia as trump went in to kidnap maduro and now declares that the vice president is the leader of Venezuela instead of the true democratically elected president, Maria Corina Machado.
     The wild card in all of this is China. They get 80% of Venezuela's oil exports and had a delegation in Venezuela during the coup. It is also unclear whether the Chinese delegation is safe. If putin and trump can justify taking a sovereign nation at will then China will have the green light as well to take what they claim as theirs. The current murkiness of all of this foretells a period of uncertainty that may well lead to a further destabilized world. How all this plays out will be unknown for some amount of time but in the meantime the civilized of us need to break the will of the tyrannical imperialists or we will all be subject to their emboldened whims!

(#6180) We the civilized need to keep our focus!

      In exactly 11 months we are going to have an election here in America. As the polling stands now the republican party is facing a wipeout in the voting booth. Not only are they not going to take away vulnerable democratic seats but they are most likely going to lose somewhat safe republican seats. Such is the angry sentiment from the American voting base. Well several hours ago trump began his republican reclamation project. Instead of the American public focused on trump's vile pedophile proclivities and a worsening national economy trump is trying to change the narrative by illegally flexing our military might.
     This is no surprise to me since whenever republicans get into trouble with their domestic failures they like to distract with military conflicts. Same old same old. The unfortunate victim this time is Venezuela. Even though a war criminal like maduro is removed from power, the way trump did this was wholly unconstitutional. Congress alone has the power to declare war. With trump initiating a coup in Venezuela he has bypassed Congress to act on his own direction. He is not a dictator. The presidency is a co-equal branch of government. By leaving Congress out of his decision he has overridden our constitution and installed himself as the sole decision maker as to war.
     Many republicans will crow about trump and his illegal coup because a tyrant like maduro has been removed. Yet Venezuela is a sovereign country not some wild west scenario where all can come to claim. For whatever good may happen much more harm will occur. There is now the realization by Congress that truly they are neutered and silenced by trump. If that is their desire, then they have sold out democracy and should all be removed themselves through the voting booth. It is early in all of this but this much I know. There was and is no good intent by trump for this coup and he will hope we forget about how badly our economy is functioning while distracting our anger at the multiple allegations of his pedophilia.
     

(#6179) I am concerned about muskrat!

      Whatever musk did to help trump overcome a massive popularity disparity before election day in 2024 is my concern. I am not sure what he did either illegally or deceptive, it worked. So the same now is the case with trump and his massive unpopularity. What will musk do to guarantee a republican hold of the House and Senate and many state races? My best guess is some kind of electronic malfeasance. I don't know but I have a gut feeling. Anyway, the numbers are against republicans now as we have seen over the last many special elections. Even where democrats lost they only lost by small amounts when in the past we have lost by much larger numbers.
     I know that trump has seen what id going on and will have musk back into the fold doing whatever mischief of illegality he can hide from the public. There is no check on trump/musk since republicans control all three branches of government. I do not hesitate to believe republicans would do anything within their power and outside their power to hold onto power. For them holding power by any means is a cost they are more than willing to gamble. Given the stakes all I can think about is how we the people combat the coming manipulations that are in my mind no doubt to be done. I do not trust the voting machines unless we get a copy of our ballot from them that we can keep.
     When I send in my mail ballot I always take a picture of the votes I cast and the ballot number. Short of that how will we know how our votes are counted? I do trust my state of California for the most part to be free and fair in the counting. But other states that are beholden to trump are not a given to be fair, so we must have a plan to prove our votes. Which means each of us must vote early so that there is little time between us voting and the election office obtaining our votes. Then getting a copy of your ballot's identification number is key or taking a pic of it with your phone. Just so we the people do not doubt our votes were counted properly. That is where I think musk can have an influence by rigging the machines in a way that is not detectable. I don't trust republicans one bit to count our votes properly when it comes to trump and his puppet musk!

(#6178) 2026, the year in which we know what to expect!

      Let me just say happy new year to all who read this blog. 2025 was a tough year to live through if you have a decent bone in your body. If you don't have a decent bone in your body then last year was as good as it got for you. However, the vast majority of us are good folks deep down and although we were knocked down a couple of times we got back up and continued fighting. If you were like me you didn't celebrate the new year in any traditional way because of the disheartened feeling most of us carry around since the last presidential election. Those that did celebrate with vigor in my neighborhood were the ones who are oblivious to the feeling of losing our democracy the rest of us have or are uncaring in ways that speaks to their own personal human deficiencies.
     I am not saying it is wrong to celebrate the new year, I am just saying that if anything it should have been a subdued one. Because most of us are still in the gut punch mode. Regardless though we are now into the new year and the gut punch phase of what happened in 2024 is receding. What is coming into its voided place is a growth of optimism about what is going to happen in November when the midterms take place. We know the momentum has shifted away from republicans in a dramatic way. We know that many federal courts are still hindering trump and his bootlickers in important ways. What we also know is that we the people are not frivolous in our feelings about reversing the damage republicans have done. We are furious and that is not going to stop!
     What we also know is that trump is going to lie and cheat everywhere he can and that we know is fact. That isn't a question any more after all we have been through in 2025. We know that we are done with him and nothing he does going forward will ever change our minds. All of us must remain vigilant to the cheating that is surely coming like with mail in ballots not being postmarked upon the day of mailing but when it is actually looked at in the post offices. Why would anyone change that distinction if they weren't trying to deny some mail in ballots? We know about it though so mail in your ballots way early or deliver them to your county drop boxes or public election offices. We the people must stay on our toes so that this coming election is the true protection of our democracy!