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dankusner · 3 months

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Reagan also questioned about age

He pledged to resign if he felt congnitive decline while in office

The age question for presidential candidates is more than four decades old.

President Ronald Reagan answered it with a pledge to resign if he became impaired, and later with a clever joke that reset his campaign from a stumbling debate performance to a 49-state landslide and a second term.

“I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” Reagan said to the question he knew was coming in perhaps the most famous mic-drop moment in campaign history.

“I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

The audience roared, even Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale laughed — and Reagan’s reelection was back on track.

Today, Democratic President Joe Biden, 81, is struggling for such a redemptive moment after a disastrous debate performance against Republican former president Donald Trump, 78.

Those 90 minutes last month set off alarms among Democrats hoping Biden would keep Trump from returning to the White House — and heightened concern among voters long skeptical of how either elderly man would govern a complex nation of more than 330 million people for four more years.

More than two dozen people who have spent time with the president privately described him as often sharp and focused.

But he also has moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seem jumbled and he trails off mid-sentence or seems confused, they said.

Sometimes he doesn’t grasp the finer points of policy details. He occasionally forgets people’s names, stares blankly and moves slowly around the room, they said.

Biden has vowed to stay in the race, despite signs of eroding support on Capitol Hill.

“I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said on a call Wednesday with staffers from his reelection campaign.

“I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”

How old is too old?

At its heart, the question — how old is too old to be president? — is about competence.

And Americans have never had wider personal experience with the effects of aging than they do today.

A surge of retiring baby boomers means that millions more Americans know when they see someone declining.

For many, this widespread experience made Biden’s halting performance during Thursday’s debate a familiar reality check.

Trump seemed more vigorous, even though he lied about or misstated a long list of facts.

When he challenged Biden to a cognitive test, Trump flubbed the name of the doctor who had administered his.

For now, he’s ceding the spotlight.

“Is this an episode, or is this a condition?” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 84, wondered on MSNBC, reflecting the question dominating Democratic circles this week.

“It’s legitimate — of both candidates.”

Reagan faced the same questions even before he was elected as the oldest president to that point. In 1980, at 69, he pledged to resign if he sensed serious cognitive decline while in office.

“If I were president and had any feeling at all that my capabilities had been reduced before a second term came, I would walk away,” he told The New York Times on June 10, 1980. “By the same token, I would step down also.”

That didn’t happen.

Reagan served two full terms, leaving office in 1989.

He announced in 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

He died in 2004.

Neither Trump nor Biden has made a similar pledge, and their campaigns did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Then and now

Reagan’s age — really, his fitness for a second term — was indelibly part of the 1984 race after the first debate, a striking parallel to what is happening in 2024 in the aftermath of Biden’s shaky performance.

But there are key differences.

Reagan was leading going into the first debate, while Biden and Trump were virtually tied.

Onstage, “Biden was terrible out of the gate,” said Jaroslovsky, the founder of the Online News Association.

Then, as now, Jaroslovsky said, the embattled president’s supporters provided vigorous spin.

Reagan’s operation said he had been tired.

There was sniping about the staff overpreparing him, Jaroslovsky said.

Biden’s team cited fatigue from two overseas trips that had exhausted even younger staffers.

It was a bad night, they said.

Blame flew at the president’s aides. Democrats on Capitol Hill griped that Biden’s performance had damaged their chances at the polls.

And media critics asserted that reporters had failed to hold the president and his staff to account.

By Tuesday, pressure was building on Biden to withdraw from the race and open a difficult process for Democrats to nominate someone else.

The crisis rippled across the Democratic Party just over six weeks before its convention in Chicago.

It’s not clear that Biden and Trump will debate a second time.

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ambienchronicles · 3 years

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Over the weekend, watching as the Taliban retook city after city, has filled me with a myriad of emotions I don’t think I can accurately describe.

Rage.

Sadness.

Anger.

Helplessness.

Futility.

After 9/11, American children were indoctrinated into believing in the American military war machine. Those of us who came of age post-9/11 thought that when we sold our souls to Uncle Sam, we would have an opportunity to do good, not only within our own communities, but on the world stage as well.

I, myself, enlisted when I was eighteen. I was sent to Kandahar in 2010, and I saw firsthand the plight of the Afghan people in that city. The children would run up to our convoys, hands held out for food we could not give them, for water we could not give them. The wrappers to the candy we had in our pockets could be used to create IEDs, the water bottles could house said IEDs.

The rational side of your brain thinks, “these are fucking children! They just want some candy! What the fuck?”

But we had been trained, from the word ‘go,’ that this is a country that had been at war for far longer than half the battalion had been alive. And these people wanted us gone. If that meant they would Macguyver an IED out of the random shit in your pockets, they would do it. They had the capability to do it.

We were told that we were wanted there, that we were improving the lives of people who had been oppressed by the Taliban for years. And, in some cases, that were true. But the staggering amount of white flags with words written in a language I could neither speak nor read told me so much more.

The Taliban hadn’t been beaten. They had just gone underground. They had centuries of invading forces coming in and trying to impose their way of living on the people of Afghanistan, only to pull out when everything got to be too much, as their example.

The British tried in the 1800s. The Afghan people outlasted them.

The Russians tried between 1977-1988. The Afghan people outlasted them.

We came in, screaming “America, Fuck Yeah” at the top of our lungs in 2001, intending on Freedom and Democracy-ing the Afghan people. The Afghan people outlasted us; the Taliban outlasted us.

We have essentially shot ourselves in the foot by leaving all what we did behind, like Afghanistan was just some big dumpster. Vehicles, tools, weapons. The Russians left behind approximately 30 MILLION land mines.

Every time I see that another city was taken, the government has fallen, or that the Taliban has taken Afghanistan, I have to ask myself, “why the fuck were we there?” All of the ‘good’ we supposedly did has gone the way of the dodo. Twenty years of change were undone in the span of a few weeks.

I try to keep politics out of my social media posts, as I had very much (and still) disliked Donald Trump. But I am very disappointed in Joe Biden this morning, for believing that the Taliban wouldn’t immediately be back on their bullshit the minute they reclaimed power. One must always assume that, when making a deal with the Taliban as a Westerner, it is always Opposite Day.

Seeing these people fleeing their country, the country we were supposed to have helped, kills me on the inside, and I wish there was something I could do. The Afghan people I met during my time in country were the kindest people I had ever met.

“But what about other first world nations? Why can’t they send in the cavalry?”

That’s because they did. ISAF was a joint coalition force, and some of the finest people I had ever had the pleasure of serving with. But ISAF disbanded when they thought the job was done, leaving us to hold the bag (not that I blame them—we got ourselves into this mess, we gotta get ourselves out of it).

Wars are expensive, and the money set aside in our government’s budget doesn’t go to paying our proud folks in blue (or green, or tan), or even to funding decent equipment so we don’t get dead (half of my 782 gear smelled like it had been manufactured long before my dad met my mom at a bar outside Homestead AFB). I don’t know where it goes, but it doesn’t go to helping the people we have forcibly Freedom and Democracied, nor does it go into helping our vets deal with the trauma we’ve dealt with in fighting another man’s war.

Revisiting trauma when you thought you were okay honestly feels like you’re Sisyphus, climbing that mountain every day, pushing that big ass boulder up, up, up to the tippy-top, only to have the ground give way beneath you and your boulder comes tumbling down to rest at the base of the mountain.

My proudest accomplishment in life has been a lie, and that pride was nothing more than a puff of smoke that was blown away in the slightest breeze. The humanitarian work I did while a Seabee has gone to benefit the enemy—100%.

All that’s left is a bitter, angry husk of a woman whose heart aches with fear for the women and children of Afghanistan who had hope within their grasp, and had it snatched it away.

What was it all for?

#afghanistan #veteran #personal perspective #what the fuck #futility #freedom ain’t free #what was it all for #and now I’m afraid of fucking bubble wrap #fucking hell guys

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gstqaobc · 4 years

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FROM THE MONARCHIST LEAGUE OF CANADA

As this Ecomm went to publication, we received word of the death, at the great age of 96, of Bill Silver, a significant benefactor of the League from its early days, and for many years a pillar of our Ottawa Branch. We wished to remember him here: his ebullient spirit, fierce loyalty spoken gently, innate modesty and kindness. Indeed Chaucer might have had forethought of Bill in describing one of his characters as a “very parfitt gentle knight.” May his ardent spirit rest in peace, and his memory be a blessing and example to us all. LEAGUE ISSUES NEW FLYER: THE CASE FOR THE CROWN The League thought it timely and useful to issue, offer in its advertising and distribute as widely as possible - both via the website and in printed form - a new flyer which will give you, our members, ammunition to argue logically the case for the Crown in conversation with others, and, we hope, to distribute strategically. One never knows when such an item, left on a waiting room table at the doctor or dentist’s office, affixed to a supermarket or other community bulletin board, put through neighbours’ mail slots - the possibilities are many - will do good work for our cause. We hope you will both enjoy and profit from this item, and that many thousands will be distributed across the country. See item one in the WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE CANADIAN CROWN? section of this Ecomm, below, to read online and request printed copies. And special thanks to our wonderful team of no less than seven translators, all francophones from La Belle Province, who so kindly volunteered to make the French version one that is accurate in expression and eloquent in its prose. WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE CANADIAN CROWN? Some suggestions for member activity during these times. We invite members to send additional ideas by return of email. 1. How about asking the League to send you several print copies of our new flyer: THE CASE FOR THE CROWN, or print them on your home computer: https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php/publications and give them to others who may be unaware or sceptical of the importance of Canada’s constitutional monarchy, or even hostile to it. School teachers could be encouraged to read the League’s educational booklets, also available both online and in print at the same URL, or even to request a class set. 2. When you read an editorial, opinion column or letter to the editor in a newspaper, or a tweet or Facebook post, critical of the Crown, don’t get mad - get even! In other words, use a temperate tone and logical argument to refute the writer’s attack. Keep it brief: focus on the obvious flaws in reasoning, mis-statements of fact or name-calling substituting for logic. Same goes for radio talk shows. In the long run, on all media, whatever the provocation, whatever the momentary satisfaction of ”giving them a piece of my mind” - an old adage remains true: “You catch more flies with honey.” 3. Write your elected representative at the federal level to re-state briefly the reasons you support constitutional monarchy as our system of government, and asking the MP whether not your view is shared. 4. Once pandemic restrictions ease, try to make sure that Royal events - such as the upcoming 95th birthday of our Queen, 10th Wedding Anniversary of William and Catherine or 100th birthday of Prince Philip are celebrated both in your home but also among your wider family, your friends, your colleagues at the office, your place of worship/faith community or service club. The League generally sends you some ideas to mark these celebrations. Remember, as they are incorporated into family life and public life, the Crown becomes further embedded in the heart of the nation, and truly represents The Queen’s wish that it ”reflects all that is best and most admired in the Canadian ideal.” This is especially true when you go out of your way to include in your observance the newest members of our Canadian family, who generally are eager to participate in the traditions of their new homeland, and in turn to share their own traditions with the wider community. 5. Always use a Queen stamp when you write a letter or pay a bill by mail. 6. At events of ceremony, whether a Council meeting, a graduation, a civic celebration - whatever - make sure that the Royal Anthem is sung as well as the National Anthem. To the extent you can, discourage event organizers from having a soloist “perform” them. Far more pride and learning develop from the untrained voices of loyal folk singing together. In that way, the Anthems are sung “with heart and voice” and not merely listened to. A FINAL IDEA: AN ACT OF LOVING SUPPORT & THANKS Apart from the above, we think it would be enormously comforting and supportive for every one of us to write a kind letter to The Queen, expressing your thoughts at a difficult time: her beloved husband ailing, a grand-child chiding other family members via sensational television, the drumbeat of the tabloids and the restrictions on her busy life caused by the pandemic. A selection of letters, especially those from Commonwealth Realms, are indeed seen by The Queen - and their number and tone are summarized to Her Majesty. The address is - Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA, UK Theoretically you don’t need postage to write the Sovereign; in practice, it is safer to affix the international airmail stamp available from your local Canada Post outlet. AN INTERESTING OPINION PIECE FROM TODAY’S DAILY TELEGRAPHWe thought you might be interested to see the following strongly-worded opinion piece, reflecting a good deal of the tone of recent British public opinion, rather different from much of the Canadian and US commentary. Meghan’s fake interview has real-world effects The Sussexes’ claims have undermined the monarchy and done lasting damage to the Commonwealth by Tim Stanley, March 15, 2021 Two headlines appeared on the BBC News website on the same day. At the top: “Harry and Meghan rattle monarchy’s gilded cage”. At the bottom: “The kidnapped woman who defied Boko Haram”. Well, that puts the Sussexes' problems in perspective, doesn’t it? Yet across Africa, one reads, the Duchess’s story has revived memories of colonial racism, tarnishing the UK’s reputation, and has even lent weight to the campaign in some countries to drop the Queen as head of state. The only nation that seems to think a lot of nonsense was spoken is Britain. In the wake of an interview that Joe Biden’s administration called courageous, British popular opinion of Harry and Meghan fell to an all-time low, and the American format had a lot to do with it. Oprah Winfrey is not our idea of an interviewer. She flattered, fawned and displayed utter credulity. Imagine if it had been her, not Emily Maitlis, who interviewed Prince Andrew over the Jeffrey Epstein allegations. “You were in a Pizza Express that day? Oh my God, you MUST be innocent! Tell me, in all honesty, though...did you have the dough balls?” This wasn’t an interview, it was a commercial for a brand called Sussex, a pair of eco-friendly aristo-dolls that, if you pull the string, tell their truth – which isn’t the truth, because no one can entirely know that, but truth as they perceive it. “Life is about storytelling,” explained Meghan, “about the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we’re told, what we buy into.” Meghan is a postmodernist. Just as Jean Baudrillard said the Gulf War never happened, but was choreographed by the US media, so the Royal narrative she was forced to live was fake, her public happiness was fake and, following that logic, this interview might involve an element of performance, too. People have challenged her claims, alleging contradictions and improbabilities, but one of the malign effects of wokeness is that you have got to be very careful about pointing this out. Why? Because wokery insists on treating a subjective view as objective truth, or even as superior, because it’s based upon “lived experience”. To contradict that personal perspective is perceived as cruel, elitist and, in Meghan’s case, potentially racist, so it’s best to wait a few weeks to a year before applying a fact check. In the meantime, affect sympathy. People would rather you lied to their face than tell them what they don’t want to hear. The result is profoundly dishonest, for I have never known an event over which there is such a gulf between the official reception, as endorsed by the media and politics, and the reaction of average citizens, who are wisely keeping it to themselves. Into that vacuum of silence steps not the voice of reason but bullies and showmen – like Piers Morgan, who said some brash stuff about Meghan’s honesty and, after an unseemly row on Good Morning Britain, felt obliged to resign from his job. “If you’d like to show your support for me,” he wrote afterwards, “please order a copy of my book.” Dear Lord, was this row fake, too? I can no longer be sure, though I despised Good Morning Britain before and still do: it embodies the cynical confusion of emotion and fact, a show made for clicks, where even the weatherman has an opinion. So what is real in 2021? The Commonwealth, which does a lot of good in a divided world. The monarchy, which has been at its best during the pandemic, doing the boring stuff of cutting ribbons and thanking workers that, one suspects, Meghan never grew into (can you imagine her opening a supermarket in Beccles?). It contains flawed people, but that only adds to its realness, and they can adapt faster than you might think. Prince William got the ball rolling by telling reporters, who he is trained to ignore, that his family is not racist. His wife paid her respects to the murder victim Sarah Everard, demonstrating that she is neither cold nor silenced. I’d wager Kate does her duty, day after day, no complaint, not because she is “trapped”, as Harry uncharitably put it, but because she loves her family and believes in public service. Meghan and Harry have indeed prompted the Royal family to change: not in order to endorse their criticisms, however, but to answer them.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

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taylorswiftdiscographyrate · 4 years

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#150-141

150. Welcome to New York (5.091) Highest score was 7.3; Lowest score was 1

This feels more like a tourism ad than a song. I’ve actually warmed up to it a bit over the years (by which I mean I gave it a 2 instead of a 1!), but that’s mostly because I’ve realised I love the emotion in Taylor’s voice when she sings “it’s a new soundtrack i could dance to this beat forevermore / the lights are so bright but they never blind me”. There’s also something to be said about how, for being a song about New York, it doesn’t really say much about New York, but as someone who neither lives there nor has visited I’m probably not the person to elaborate on that critique.

Highlighted comments: @leadinmeon: “there is a weird fucking production thing on this song and i hate it” @liabilitys: “our first proper gay rights reference” @yourivysgrows: “It feels as bright and busy as NYC”

149. Highway Don’t Care (5.122) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 1

To go from naming your debut single after a famous country singer to collabing with said famous country singer - what a glow up! And Aussie icon Keith Urban is there too! This is another song I have listened to exactly once; I appreciate it for what it is, but what it is isn’t really my thing.

Highlighted comments: @itspeterlosingwendy: “their voices are so complementary” @yourivysgrows: Just not my cup of tea”

148. The Outside (5.141) Highest score was 7; Lowest score was 2

Some of you didn’t cry your eyes out to this after your first day of high school because you had no friends, and it shows! Seriously, this song holds a little bit of a special place in my heart, and it hurts a bit to see it this low. Some of you need to go and relisten to “How can I ever try to be better? Nobody ever lets me in” and think about what you’ve done!

Highlighted comments: @onceintwentylifetimes: “bonus points for just being such a comfort so many times”

147. Speak Now (5.216) Highest score was 8; Lowest score was 2

Now here’s a take for you all: Speak Now is a better album title than Enchanted, and Taylor was right to change it, but Speak Now the song is a terrible title track. It’s cute I guess, but it’s all a bit saccharine for me and I just cannot vibe with it, sorry! Also I spent a long time convinced that this had a music video and I’m still shaken by the fact that my memory lied to me all those years.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “We love a good storyline” @corneliaavenue: “she is cute”

146. Only the Young (5.219) Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 1

When Miss Americana (the documentary) released, my IRL Swiftie friend watched it before me and messaged me about this song, saying how amazing Taylor’s lyricism was and her ability to set a scene with her writing - and looking at the lyrics on the verses in this song, she was right! There are some great lyrical moments in this song, but there are also some... not so great lyrical moments, and the production... let’s just blame Joel Little for that one. It’s a shame, because I think this song had a lot of potential that it just never reaches.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “the only time I liked this song was in the joe biden ad.” @onceintwentylifetimes: “Some great lyrics in there, but feels a bit unfocused. Also that chorus could've been improved...” @treacherousdemo: [after giving it a 4] “i'm sorry.” (there’s no need to apologise to me, I gave it a 1!)

145. Stay Beautiful (5.241) Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 1.5

What does “Corey’s eyes are like a jungle / He smiles, it’s like the radio” mean? The world may never know. Honestly, one of the most iconic parts of the Debut (and Fearless) era is that Taylor held nothing back when it came to name dropping the guys she liked, even when she had pretty much never spoken to them, as was the case with Corey in this song... girl was brave.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “cOrEy'S eYeS” @corneliaavenue: “one of her worst use of metaphors”

144. Stay Stay Stay (5.322) Highest score was 8; Lowest score was 1

Okay, okay, I hear you... but as a Stay Stay Stay apologist, can we have some appreciation for “you took the time to memorise me / my fears my hopes and dreams / I just like hanging out with you all the ti-i-ime / all those times that you didn’t leave / it’s been occurring to me / I’d like to hang out with you for my whole li-i-fe”? That’s all I’m asking.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “a toxic relationship set to Wii background music” @yourivysgrows: “Actually this is the only Taylor song I hate 👁👄👁”

143. Crazier (5.431) Highest score was 7.5; Lowest score was 3

As someone who was neither a Swiftie during the Fearless era days by virtue of me being an oblivious 9 year old nor a Hannah Montana fan, this song doesn’t really mean much to me. I don’t even really know what the context was for Taylor appearing as herself in the movie (I don’t even know what the movie is about full stop.) It’s a nice enough song though.

Highlighted comments: @treacherousdemo: “not the strongest song but a classic nonetheless” @onceintwentylifetimes: “13/14 year old Taylor wrote this and I think it deserves more praise. Lovely imagery, lovely vocal delivery...Just so nice and wistful” @yourivysgrows: “Best song on the HM movie soundtrack”

142. Gorgeous (5.484) Highest score was 9.5; Lowest score was 1

Lyrics that can cut glass, anybody? I went with my cousin to the rep tour, and when this song started playing she went absolutely feral to it, and yelled “this is my favourite song!”. I said nothing. And before all the Gorgeous stans get mad at me, I do think this song is fun. I just don’t think it’s particularly good.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “300 people know👀” (war flashbacks!!) @liabilitys: “i prefer the acoustic version she did in the making of videos but still a bop” @onceintwentylifetimes: “There are some days where I really do vibe with this but alas…”

141. You Need to Calm Down (5.522) Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 2.1

I think every possible critique that can be made about this song has already been made, by people who are both more qualified and more eloquent than I am. So all I will say is that despite my misgivings about this song, it’s is fun to sing along to and I do now have a habit of saying “damn... it’s 7am” whenever I have to be awake at 7am.

Highlighted comments: @liabilitys: “not one of her best songs but this mini era helped me realise i was gay so it has a special place in my heart.” @tobesolonely: “im gay” @onceintwentylifetimes: “Maybe it's just the vibe, but I feel like she could've done more with this. I don't like bubblegum pop that much.”

#results

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ceruleanempyrean · 6 years

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“My name is Joe Biden. I’m a Democrat. And I loved John McCain. I have had the dubious honor over the years of giving some eulogies for fine women and men that I’ve admired. But, Lindsey, this one’s hard. The three men who spoke before me I think captured John, different aspects of John in a way that only someone close to him could understand. But the way I look at it, the way I thought about it, was that I always thought of John as a brother. We had a hell of a lot of family fights. We go back a long way. I was a young United States Senator. I got elected when I was 29. I had the dubious distinction of being put on the formulations committee, which the next youngest person was 14 years older than me. And I spent a lot of time traveling the world because I was assigned responsibility, my colleagues in the Senate knew I was chairman of the European Affairs subcommittee, so I spent a lot of time at NATO and then the Soviet Union. Along came a guy a couple of years later, a guy I knew of, admired from afar, your husband, who had been a prisoner of war, who had endured enormous, enormous pain and suffering. And demonstrated the code, the McCain code. People don't think much about it today, but imagine having already known the pain you were likely to endure, and being offered the opportunity to go home, but saying no. As his son can tell you in the Navy, last one in, last one out. So I knew of John. and John became the Navy liaison officer in the United States Senate. There's an office, then it used to be on the basement floor, of members of the military who are assigned to senators when they travel abroad to meet with heads of state or other foreign dignitaries. And John had been recently released from the HanoI Hilton, a genuine hero, and he became the Navy liaison. For some reason we hit it off in the beginning. We were both full of dreams and ambitions and an overwhelming desire to make the time we had there worthwhile. To try to do the right thing. To think about how we could make things better for the country we loved so much. John and I ended up traveling every time I went anywhere. I took John with me or John took me with him. we were in China, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, England, Turkey, all over the world. Tens of thousands of miles. And we would sit on that plane and late into the night, when everyone else was asleep, and just talk. Getting to know one another. We'd talk about family, we'd talk about politics, we'd talk about international relations. we'd talk about promise, the promise of America. Because we were both cockeyed optimists and believe there's not a single thing, beyond the capacity of this country. I mean, for real, not a single thing. And, when you get to know another woman or man, you begin to know their hopes and their fears, you get to know their family even before you meet them, you get to know how they feel about important things. We talked about everything except captivity and the loss of my family which had just occurred, my wife and daughter, the only two things we didn't talk about. But, I found that it wasn't too long into John's duties that Jill and I got married. Jill is here with me today. Five years, I had been a single dad and no man deserves one great love, let alone two. And I met Jill. It changed my life. She fell in love with him and he with her. He'd always call her, as Lindsey would travel with her, Jilly. Matter of fact, when they got bored being with me on these trips, I remember in Greece, he said, ‘Why don't I take Jill for dinner?’ Later, I would learn they are at a cafe at the port and he has her dancing on top of a cement table drinking uzo. Not a joke. Jilly. Right, Jilly? But we got to know each other well and he loved my son Beau and my son Hunt. As a young man, he came up to my house and he came up to Wilmington and out of this grew a great friendship that transcended whatever political differences we had or later developed because, above all, above all, we understood the same thing. All politics is personal. It's all about trust. I trusted John with my life and I would and I think he would trust me with his. And as our life progressed, we learned more, there are times when life can be so cruel, pain so blinding it's hard to see anything else. The disease that took John's life took our mutual friend’s, Teddy [Kennedy]’s life, the exact same disease nine years ago, a couple days ago, and three years ago, took my beautiful son Beau's life. It's brutal. It's relentless. It's unforgiving. And it takes so much from those we love and from the families who love them that in order to survive, we have to remember how they lived, not how they died. I carry with me an image of Beau, sitting out in a little lake we live on, starting a motor on an old boat and smiling away. Not the last days. I’m sure Vickie Kennedy has her own image, looking, seeing Teddy looking so alive in a sailboat, out in the Cape. For the family, for the family, you will all find your own images, whether it's remembering his smile, his laugh or that touch in the shoulder or running his hand down your cheek. Or, just feeling like someone is looking, turn and see him just smiling at you, from a distance, just looking at you. Or when you saw the pure joy the moment he was about to take the stage on the Senate floor and start a fight. God, he loved it. so, to Cindy, the kids, Doug, Andy, Cindy, Meghan, Jack, Jimmy, Bridget, and I know she's not here, but to Mrs. McCain, we know how difficult it is to bury a child, Mrs. McCain. My heart goes out to you. And I know right now, the pain you all are feeling is so sharp and so hollowing. And John's absence is all consuming, for all of you right now. It's like being sucked into a black hole inside your chest. And it's frightening. But, I know something else, unfortunately, from experience. There's nothing anyone can say or do to ease the pain right now. But I pray, I pray you take some comfort knowing that because you shared John with all of us, your whole life, the world now shares with you in the ache of John's death. Look around this magnificent church. Look what you saw coming from the state capitol yesterday. it's hard to stand there but part of it, part of it was at least it was for me with Beau, standing in the state capitol, you knew. It was genuine. It was deep. He touched so many lives. I’ve gotten calls not just because people knew we were friends, not just from people around the country, but leaders around the world calling. Meghan, I'm getting all these sympathy letters. I mean, hundreds of them, and tweets. Character is destiny. John had character. While others will miss his leadership, passion, even his stubbornness, you are going to miss that hand on your shoulder. Family, you are going to miss the man, faithful man as he was, who you knew would literally give his life for you. And for that there's no balm but time. Time and your memories of a life lived well and lived fully. But I make you a promise. I promise you, the time will come that what's going to happen is six months will go by and everybody is going to think, well, it's passed. But you are going to ride by that field or smell that fragrance or see that flashing image. You are going to feel like you did the day you got the news. But you know you are going to make it. The image of your dad, your husband, your friend. It crosses your mind and a smile comes to your lips before a tear to your eye. That's who you know. I promise you, I give you my word, I promise you, this I know. The day will come. That day will come. You know, I’m sure if my former colleagues who worked with John, I'm sure there's people who said to you not only now, but the last ten years, ‘Explain this guy to me.’ Right? Explain this guy to me. Because, as they looked at him, in one sense they admired him, in one sense, the way things changed so much in America, they look add him as if John came from another age, lived by a different code, an ancient, antiquated courage, integrity, duty, were alive. That was obvious how John lived his life. The truth is, John's code was ageless, is ageless. When you talked earlier, Grant, you talked about values. It wasn't about politics with John. He could disagree on substance, but the underlying values that animated everything John did, everything he was, come to a different conclusion. He'd part company with you, if you lacked the basic values of decency, respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself. John's story is an American story. It's not hyperbole. it's the American story. grounded in respect and decency. basic fairness. the intolerance through the abuse of power. Many of you travel the world, look how the rest of the world looks at us. They look at us a little naive, so fair, so decent. We are the naive Americans. that's who we are. That's who John was. He could not stand the abuse of power. wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever ways. He loved basic values, fairness, honesty, dignity, respect, giving hate no safe harbor, leaving no one behind and understanding Americans were part of something much bigger than ourselves. With John, it was a value set that was neither selfish nor self-serving. John understood that America was first and foremost, an idea. Audacious and risky, organized around not tribe but ideals. Think of how he approached every issue. The ideals that Americans rallied around for 200 years, the ideals of the world has prepared you. Sounds corny. We hold these truths self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain rights. To John, those words had meaning, as they have for every great patriot who's ever served this country. We both loved the Senate. The proudest years of my life were being a United States Senator. I was honored to be Vice President, but a United States Senator. We both lamented, watching it change. During the long debates in the '80s and '90s, I would go sit next to John, next to his seat or he would come on the Democratic side and sit next to me. I'm not joking. We'd sit there and talk to each other. I came out to see John, we were reminiscing around it. It was '96, about to go to the caucus. We both went into our caucus and coincidentally, we were approached by our caucus leaders with the same thing. Foe, it doesn't look good, you sitting next to John all the time. I swear to God. same thing was said to John in your caucus. That's when things began to change for the worse in America in the Senate. That's when it changed. What happened was, at those times, it was always appropriate to challenge another Senator's judgment, but never appropriate to challenge their motive. When you challenge their motive, it's impossible to get to go. If I say you are going this because you are being paid off or you are doing it because you are not a good Christian or this, that, or the other thing, it's impossible to reach consensus. Think about in your personal lives. All we do today is attack the oppositions of both parties, their motives, not the substance of their argument. This is the mid-'90s. it began to go downhill from there. The last day John was on the Senate floor, what was he fighting to do? He was fighting to restore what you call regular order, just start to treat one another again, like we used to. The Senate was never perfect, John, you know that. we were there a long time together. I watched Teddy Kennedy and James O. Eastland fight like hell on civil rights and then go have lunch together, down in the Senate dining room. John wanted to see, “regular order” writ large. Get to know one another. You know, John and I were both amused and I think Lindsey was at one of these events where John and I received two prestigious awards where the last year I was vice president and one immediately after, for our dignity and respect we showed to one another, we received an award for civility in public life. Allegheny College puts out this award every year for bipartisanship. John and I looked at each and said, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ No, not a joke. I said to Senator Flake, that's how it's supposed to be. We get an award? I’m serious. Think about this. Getting an award for your civility. Getting an award for bipartisanship. Classic John, Allegheny College, hundreds of people, got the award and the Senate was in session. He spoke first and, as he walked off the stage and I walked on, he said, Joe, don't take it personally, but I don't want to hear what the hell you have to say, and left. One of John's major campaign people is now with the senate with the governor of Ohio, was on [TV] this morning and I happened to watch it. He said that Biden and McCain had a strange relationship, they always seemed to have each other's back. Whenever I was in trouble, John was the first guy there. I hope I was there for him. We never hesitate to give each other advice. He would call me in the middle of the campaign, he’d say, ‘What the hell did you say that for? you just screwed up, Joe.’ I'd occasionally call him. Look, I've been thinking this week about why John's death hit the country so hard. yes, he was a long-serving senator with a remarkable record. Yes, he was a two-time presidential candidate who captured the support and imagination of the American people and, yes, John was a war hero, demonstrated extraordinary courage. I think of John and my son when I think of Ingersoll’s words when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate and honor scorns to compromise with death, that is heroism. Everybody knows that about John. But I don't think it fully explains why the country has been so taken by John's passing. I think it's something more intangible. I think it's because they knew John believed so deeply and so passionately in the soul of America. He made it easier for them to have confidence and faith in America. His faith in the core values of this nation made them somehow feel it more genuinely themselves. his conviction that we, as a country, would never walk away from the sacrifice generations of Americans have made to defend liberty and freedom and dignity around the world. It made average Americans proud of themselves and their country. His belief, and it was deep, that Americans can do anything, withstand anything, achieve anything. It was unflagging and ultimately reassuring. This man believed that so strongly. His capacity that we truly are the world's last best hope, the beacon to the world. There are principles and ideals more than ourselves worth sacrificing for and if necessary, dying for. Americans saw how he lived his life that way. and they knew the truth of what he was saying. I just think he gave Americans confidence. John was a hero, his character, courage, honor, integrity. I think it is understated when they say optimism. That's what made John special. Made John a giant among all of us. In my view, John didn't believe that America's future and faith rested on heroes. we used to talk about, he understood what I hope we all remember, heroes didn't build this country. Ordinary people being given half a chance are capable of doing extraordinary things, extraordinary things. John knew ordinary Americans understood each of us has a duty to defend, integrity, dignity and birthright of every child. He carried it. Good communities are built by thousands of acts of decency that Americans, as I speak today, show each other every single day deep in the DNA of this nation's soul lies a flame that was lit over 200 years ago. Each of us carries with us and each one of us has the capacity, the responsibility and we can screw up the courage to ensure it does not extinguish. There's a thousand little things that make us different. Bottom line was, I think John believed in us. I think he believed in the American people. not just all the preambles, he believed until the American people, all 325 million of us. Even though John is no longer with us, he left us clear instructions. ‘Believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here.’ Close to the last thing John said took the whole nation, as he knew he was about to depart. That's what he wanted America to understand. not to build his legacy. he wanted America reminded, to understand. I think John's legacy is going to continue to inspire and challenge generations of leaders as they step forward and John McCain’s America is not over. it is hyperbole, it's not over. It's not close. Cindy, John owed so much of what he was to you. you were his ballast. when I was with you both, I could see how he looked at you. Jill is the one, when we were in Hawaii, we first met you there and he kept staring at you. Jill said, go up and talk to her. Doug, Andy, Sydney, Meghan, Jack, Jimmy, Bridget, you may not have had your father as long as you would like, but you got from him everything you need to pursue your own dreams. To follow the course of your own spirit. You are a living legacy, not hyperbole. You are a living legacy and proof of John McCain’s success. Now John is going to take his rightful place in a long line of extraordinary leaders in this nation's history. Who in their time and in their way stood for freedom and stood for liberty and have made the American story the most improbable and most hopeful and most enduring story on earth. I know John said he hoped he played a small part in that story. John, you did much more than that, my friend. To paraphrase Shakespeare, we shall not see his like again."

Vice President Joe Biden

#john mccain #biden 2020 #joe biden eulogy for john mccain

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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What Republicans Are Running Against Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-republicans-are-running-against-trump/

What Republicans Are Running Against Trump

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Move Forward As Trump Considers 2024 Run

Republican Bill Weld running against Trump

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Less than three months after former President Donald Trump left the White House, the race to succeed him atop the Republican Party is already beginning.

Trumps former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has launched an aggressive schedule, visiting states that will play a pivotal role in the 2024 primaries, and he has signed a contract with Fox News Channel. Mike Pence, Trumps former vice-president, has started a political advocacy group, finalized a book deal and later this month will give his first speech since leaving office in South Carolina. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been courting donors, including in Trumps backyard, with a prominent speaking slot before the former president at a GOP fundraising retreat dinner this month at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort where Trump now lives.

Trump ended his presidency with such a firm grip on Republican voters that party leaders fretted he would freeze the field of potential 2024 candidates, delaying preparations as he teased another run. Instead, many Republicans with national ambitions are openly laying the groundwork for campaigns as Trump continues to mull his own plans.

Read more: Trump vows to help Republicans take back congress in 2022

Theyre raising money, making hires and working to bolster their name recognition. The moves reflect both the fervour in the party to reclaim the White House and the reality that mounting a modern presidential campaign is a yearslong endeavour.

Who Is Trump Reaching

If the former president proves to be a kingmaker in the 2022 midterms, his allies say he may seek reelection in 2024.

The Republican Party is just a name, Steve Bannon told me last week. I had called him to ask about the influence he believes his old boss still carries inside the GOP. The bulk of it is a populist, nationalist party led by Donald Trump. As for the rest of it? The Republican Party, pre-2016, are the modern Whigs, he added, referring to the national party that collapsed in the mid-19th century over divided views on slavery.

Bannon might not be the most reliable barometer of the political moment, but some of Trumps fiercest Republican critics share his belief that the former president maintains a strong grip on his party. He sparked this , and now others are going ahead and taking the baton of batshittery, Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois and a staunch Trump critic, told me last week.

After losing badly in 2020, the GOP wants candidates who can win in 2022. But the partys biggest star seems less concerned with fellow Republicans electability than with their fealty. Trump aims to punish incumbents who voted for his impeachment and reward those who support the culture war hes stoked. Republicans want to talk about Joe Bidens liberal leanings and how inflation is making life more expensive for most Americans. Trump wants to talk about himself and his personal woes.

What will voters want to hear?

Also Check: Obama Is Republican

House Republican Who Voted To Impeach Trump Won’t Run Again

The Associated Press

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Susan Walsh/APhide caption

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Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

One of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol announced Thursday night he will not seek reelection in Ohio next year.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a former NFL player with a once-bright political future, cited his two young children for his decision and noted “the chaotic political environment that currently infects our country.” He is the first Latino to represent Ohio in Congress.

“While my desire to build a fuller family life is at the heart of my decision, it is also true that the current state of our politics, especially many of the toxic dynamics inside our own party, is a significant factor in my decisions,” Gonzalez said in his statement.

Gonzalez, 36, would have faced Max Miller in the 2022 primary. Trump has endorsed Miller, his former White House and campaign aide, as part of his bid to punish those who voted for his impeachment or blocked his efforts to overturn the results of the election. Trump rallied for Miller this summer.

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Who Are The Republicans Running Against Trump In 2020

served as a U.S. Representative for South Carolinas 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and 2013 to 2019. Sanford won the 2002 South Carolina gubernatorial election, wherein he defeated the Democratic incumbent Jim Hodges. He was re-elected in the 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, and consequently served as Governor of South Carolina from 2003 until 2011.

Former South Carolina Gov. announced Sunday that he is running for president as a Republican, becoming the latest to challenge President Trump in the GOP primaries.

In a series of tweets, Sanford explained the reasons why he was entering the 2020 race as a republican:

I am compelled to enter the Presidential Primary as a Republican for several reasons the most important of which is to further and foster a national debate on our nations debt, deficits and spending.

We have a storm coming that we are neither talking about nor preparing for given that we, as a country, are more financially vulnerable than we have ever been since our Nations start and the Civil War. We are on a collision course with financial reality. We need to act now.

As I have watched the Democrat debates I hear no discussion, or even recognition, of what is occurring. Instead I hear a laundry list of new unpaid for political promises. On the Republican side, spending is up well above President Obama.

Trump Endorsements Jolt Gop Races

While the party is focused on the November 2022 general election, Trumps gaze is fixed on the primary election season that begins next spring.

Former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena, in Erie, Pa. |

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Staten Island borough president. Michigan state Senate. Arizona secretary of state.

Donald Trump is endorsing candidates in party primary elections all the way down the ballot, a level of involvement thats virtually unheard of among recent former presidents.

Whats remarkable about Trumps picks isnt just their breadth hes endorsed close to 40 candidates so far in 23 states its their seemingly random quality. Whats even more unusual is that the political goals of the GOPs de facto leader arent necessarily in sync with his own party in some cases, they are starkly at odds.

If theres a thread running through nearly all of Trumps endorsements, it is his habit of rewarding allies and punishing enemies. So far, at the national level, hes backed primary challengers to four House GOP incumbents and one sitting senator all of whom voted for impeachment.

In Georgia, where three of the states top Republicans have incurred Trumps wrath for resisting his efforts to overturn President Joe Bidens win there, Trump has been especially active.

By ANDREW DESIDERIO and JAMES ARKIN

By CLAIRE RAFFORD

By DAVID COHEN

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Sen Josh Hawley Of Missouri

Though controversial, Hawley, 41, is a fundraising machine and hes quickly made a name for himself. The blowback Hawley faced for objecting to Bidens Electoral College win included a lost book deal and calls for him to resign from students at the law school where he previously taught. His mentor, former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, said that supporting Hawley was the biggest mistake Ive ever made in my life.

Still, he brought in more than $1.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 5, according to Axios, and fundraising appeals in his name from the National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in more cash than any other Republican except NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Just because youre toxic in Washington doesnt mean you cant build a meaningful base of support nationally.

One Republican strategist compared the possibility of Hawley 2024 to Cruz in 2016. Hes not especially well-liked by his colleagues , but hes built a national profile for himself and become a leading Republican voice opposed to big technology companies.

Hawley and his wife, Erin, have three children. He got his start in politics as Missouri attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2018. Hawley graduated from Stanford and Yale Law.

Trump Endorses Republican To Run Against Rep Liz Cheney In Wyoming

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday endorsed Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman in her expected primary challenge against Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.

I strongly endorse Republican House of Representatives Candidate Harriet Hageman from Wyoming who is running against warmonger and disloyal Republican, Liz Cheney, Trump said in a statement.

Harriet is a fourth-generation daughter of Wyoming, a very successful attorney, and has the support and respect of a truly great U.S. Senator, Wyomings own Cynthia Lummis. Harriet Hageman adores the Great State of Wyoming, is strong on Crime and Borders, powerfully supports the Second Amendment, loves our Military and our Vets, and will fight for Election Integrity and Energy Independence . Unlike RINO Liz Cheney, Harriet is all in for America First. Harriet has my Complete and Total Endorsement in replacing the Democrats number one provider of sound bites, Liz Cheney. Make America Great Again!

Trump has long opposed Cheney, one of a handful of Republicans to vote twice to impeach Trump, and Politico reports that backing Hageman will test his ability to get candidates into Congress.

The left-leaning political website also reported that as a final step before officially announcing her campaign later this week, Hageman resigned Tuesday as one of Wyomings members of the Republican National Committee.

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Republicans Who Embraced Trumps Big Lie Run To Become Election Officials

Countrywide campaigns for secretaries of state underscore new Republican focus to take control of election administration

Democrats: Texas voting bill marks dark day for democracy

Republicans who have embraced baseless claims about the 2020 election being stolen are now running to serve as the chief elections officials in several states, a move that could give them significant power over election processes.

The campaigns, first detailed by Politico last week, underscore a new focus to take control of election administration. Secretaries of state, who are elected to office in partisan contests that have long been overlooked, wield enormous power over election rules in their state, are responsible for overseeing election equipment, and are a key player in certifying making official election results.

Winning secretary of state offices across the country would give conspiracy theorists enormous power to wreak havoc in the 2024 presidential election, including potentially blocking candidates who win the most votes from taking office.

This is an indication of wanting, basically, to have a man inside who can undermine, said Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections at Common Cause, a government watchdog group. Clearly these are not people who believe in the rule of law. And people who run our government need to follow the rule of law. So it is concerning that they are running.

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Local GOP Responds To 3 Republicans Running Against President Trump

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Partys 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her states first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trumps foreign policy team.

I think that shes done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume, said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolinas department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was disgusted by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.

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Sen Tim Scott Of South Carolina

One thing Scott has going for him that other potential 2024 contenders do not is a bunch of their endorsements. Scotts up for reelection next year, and in an ad kicking off his campaign released last week, Republicans including Cruz, Pompeo, Haley and Pence all backed his candidacy. Scott is positioning himself as a Trump-friendly conservative. In his ad, he included a clip of Trump calling him a friend of mine, and at a rally for his reelection, Scott said he wanted to make sure this wasnt a centrist crowd after asking them to boo Biden louder, according to The State.

Trump Opposes Republicans Running For Ohio Senator As His Family Renames Cleveland Indians To Guardians

Former President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he did not want to win the Republican primary in Ohio to fill the retired seat of Senator Rob Portman.

Trump aimed at Ohio State University Senator Matt Doran. Matt Doran officially participated in the race earlier in the day.

Dolans family owns the Cleveland Indians and will change the name of the team to Cleveland Guardians after the end of the season.

People who change the name of the once renowned Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not run for the US Senate, Trump said.

20:02 EDT, September 20, 2021 | Has been updated: 21:24 EDT, September 20, 2021

Former president Donald Trump Announced on Monday who didnt want to see him win the Republican primary Ohio To fill retired Senator Rob Portman Senate Seat.

Ohio Senator Matt Doran officially participated in the race earlier in the day as Trump announced that the Cleveland Indians owner Dorans family would change his name to Guardian after the baseball season was over. I aimed at Doran.

People who change the name of the once renowned Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not run for the US Senate on behalf of the great people in Ohio, Trump said in a statement.

Former President Donald Trump sent a statement Monday night that he would not support Ohio Senator Matt Dorans bid to the US Senate.

Trump correctly pointed out that Matt Doran was publicly critical of his familys decision to change his name.

Also Check: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Emboldened ‘unchanged’ Trump Looks To Re

The set of advisers around Trump now is a familiar mix of his top 2020 campaign aides and others who have moved in and out of his orbit over time. They include Miller, Susie Wiles, Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, Corey Lewandowski and Brad Parscale.

While his schedule isn’t set yet, according to Trump’s camp, his coming stops are likely to include efforts to help Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller, a former White House aide looking to win a primary against Rep. Anthony Gonzales, who voted to impeach Trump this year; Jody Hice, who is trying to unseat fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger as Georgia secretary of state after Raffensperger defied Trump and validated the state’s electoral votes; and Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks, according to Trump’s camp.

Trump’s ongoing influence with Republican voters helps explain why most GOP officeholders stick so closely to him. Republicans spared him a conviction in the Senate after the House impeached him for stoking the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, House GOP leaders have made it clear that they view his engagement as essential to their hopes of retaking the chamber, and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., was deposed as Republican Conference Chair this year over her repeated rebukes of Trump.

Those numbers suggest that Trump could be in a strong position to win a Republican primary but lose the general election in 3½ years. A former Trump campaign operative made that case while discussing Trump’s ambitions.

Republicans Not Named Trump Who Could Run In 2024

A growing number of Republicans are already jockeying ahead of 2024 as they await former President TrumpDonald TrumpCapitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt says he saved lives on Jan. 6Biden presses Fox’s Doocey about Trump-Taliban dealBiden says deadly attack won’t alter US evacuation mission in AfghanistanMOREs decision on another possible White House run.

While Trump has not confirmed whether he will launch a third presidential bid, he has repeatedly teased the idea since losing the election in 2020.

I’m absolutely enthused. I look forward to doing an announcement at the right time, Trump said earlier this month. As you know, it’s very early. But I think people are going to be very, very happy when I make a certain announcement.

But that hasnt stopped speculation from building around other high-profile Republicans seen as potential heirs apparent to the former president.

Here are nine Republicans not named Trump who could run for president in 2024.

Ron DeSantisBiden’s stumble on Afghanistan shouldn’t overshadow what he’s accomplished so farMaskless dad assaulted student who confronted him, police sayTampa Bay residents asked to conserve water to conserve COVID-19 oxygen supplyMORE

DeSantis came in second place behind Trump in the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll in Orlando earlier this year.

DeSantis, who is running for reelection in 2022, also offered a preview of whats to come in his political future.

Rick Scott

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years

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Trumpocalypse Now?

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/trumpocalypse-now/

Trumpocalypse Now?

President Trump addressing supporters during an October campaign appearance in Tampa. Will there be … [] another Florida Trump rally on Inauguration Day, kicking off a 2024 run? (Photo: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

My New Year’s resolutions include this one: no longer greeting the day by seeing what’s making news on The Drudge Report – one of 2020’s more intriguing media stories being why that site went from Trump enabler to Trump disabler.

Today’s a good example of the need for a Drudge cleanse: a screaming headline about Rush Limbaugh suggesting a culture war that may lead to secession coupled with a story about America’s Republican Party “driving itself mad.”

I thought we were done with secession talk after some disgruntled Texans flirted with the idea following Barack Obama’s re-election and some spoiled-sport Californians threatened the same if Trump were to be granted a second term.

But it seems I was wrong.

A Texas state representative plans to introduce a bill that would start the ball rolling on a “Texit” voter referendum. Meanwhile, out west, a pro-independence group recently was granted permission to gather signatures to qualify a “Calexit” state ballot vote (better that than trying to sell the Golden State – in its tarnished state, fetching maybe pennies on the dollar).

File secession talk under “believe it when you see it.” Constitutional law prevents American states from leaving the union. Besides, Democratic-friendly California soon will have one of its own in the Oval Office. Then again, perhaps a Biden White House would like to bid adieu to the Lone Star State and hello to Lone Star Nation. Eliminate Texas’ estimated 41 electoral votes from the next two presidential elections and Republicans will have a hard time regaining the White House.

For now, the more salient matter is the future of the Republican Party. That consists of two questions: how do GOP hopefuls plan to campaign in 2024, and will Donald Trump be included in the mix?

Predicting the future is another item to add to the resolutions list: too many of us who traffic in politics and punditry too easily give in to the temptation to state with certainty what lies ahead when in fact we’re speculating based on trends, history, polling data and personal bias (here’s a good example from last year: a column assuring us that Joe Biden’s not electable, but Elizabeth Warren is).

Of the Republicans at this point seemingly angling for their party’s nomination, here are a few themes: Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley rails against Big Tech, “corporatists” and “war enthusiasts”; Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is no fan of China (he wants to revoke its MFN status); former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (also a former governor of early-primary South Carolina) lashes out at AOC, the House “squad” and a lack of civility in public discourse.

That’s all fine and swell – three would-be candidates coopting different parts of Trump-brand populism. But what if Trump decides to “make America great again” . . . yet again?

If certain news report are to be believed, Trump is mulling an Inaugural Day spectacular of his own – a Florida political rally opposite Biden’s moment in the sun. Furthermore, the story goes, Trump will announce a 2024 re-election bid.

And where does that leave the GOP? Pretty much where it was in 2015, with a slew of Republicans all claiming to be the party’s and heart and soul – each deciding the right blend of embracing and distancing themselves from Trump.

Could Trump win the Republican nomination? Sure, as long as the primary rules don’t change. And maybe that’s something for the Republic National Committee to consider: if it doesn’t want a third Trump November run, alter how the party allots delegates.

Let’s go back and look at how Trump became the GOP nominee in 2016, which was a combination of persistence, moving to the front of the pack early, and benefitting from a delegate-reward system that makes it difficult for those in the back of the pack to catch up to and surpass the leader.

To recap: Trump finished second in 2016’s Iowa caucuses, then surged in front after wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, followed by victories in seven of the 11 “Super Tuesday” states on the first Tuesday in March. Trump’s next surge came two weeks later, on March 15, when he finished first in Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina while losing only one big prize (Ohio). The race was effectively by the end of April, after Trump wins in New York, Pennsylvania. He wouldn’t lose any of the remaining 10 primaries.

A look at the delegate math shows the problem in trying to stop Trump’s momentum. Thanks to Republican “binding” rules, Trump’s delegate haul exceeded his popular support.

In 2016 Trump received 45% of the overall GOP primary vote, while earning 59% of the 2,472 delegates. By contrast, runner-up Ted Cruz received 25% of the overall primary vote and 22% of all delegates. The two finishers after that had more disproportionate numbers – Marco Rubio received 11% of the popular vote and 7% of delegates; John Kasich received almost 14% of the popular vote and just 6.5% of delegates.

While Trump didn’t swamp his rivals in individual contests, rarely receiving an outright majority of states’ popular votes, he kept adding his delegate haul. Trump received 44% of the vote in Florida’s primary, but ended up with all 99 delegates; in Illinois, he received 39% of the vote and 54 of 69 delegates; in Arizona, Trump received 46% of the vote and all 58 delegates; in New York and Pennsylvania, 59% and 57% of the two states’ popular vote translated to 148 of 166 delegates; in California’s anti-climactic primary (the vote coming a week after he’d clinched the nomination), Trump’s 75% performance meant all 172 delegates.

There’s an easy fix here, if the goal is to somehow derail the Trump Train in 2024: make the delegation allocation more reflective of the actual popular vote, and expand the pool of unpledged delegates (only 5% of the delegate pool in 2016).

Of course, such a “reform” comes at a price: the risk of alienating Trump supporters who’d see the change as a shot across the MAGA bow. Besides, adding more unpledged “superdelegates” would play into Trump victim messaging as it would reek of elitism and stacking the decking again the red-hat crowd.

And that’s the Republican conundrum for now – not so much a cause for convulsions as it is consternation. Unlike previous ousted incumbents, Trump is not a spent political force (this poll shows Trump as the frontrunner in a hypothetical 2024 primary field).

Past U.S. presidents, with the exception of Grover Cleveland, took their rejection in stride – exiting the political stage and staying in exile. There was no Hoover attempt at a comeback in 1936; no one sported “The Grin Will Win” buttons in 1984; George H.W. Bush, gracious man that he was, was done with partisan politics after his loss in 1992.

And therein lies the difference: Trump isn’t gracious, nor was he drubbed as were Hoover and Carter (neither incumbent clearing 41% of the popular vote; each carrying only six states).

A Trump second act? It sounds feasible.

Will anyone try to get in his way?

Follow me on Twitter: @billwhalenCA

From Policy in Perfectirishgifts

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keywestlou · 4 years

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT ELECT JOE BIDEN

Mr. President To Be: Congratulations! Seventy eight years old! God bless!

You are young in heart and mind. This is your time. America needs you.

America’s Catholic Church has a way of getting involved far more than it should. At a time when its track record the past 40 years leaves much to be desired.

The abortion issue rises again! In a very small minute area.

San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Brennan yesterday urged Catholics not to “jump on the COVID-19 vaccine bandwagon.” He cited certain concerns about the use of fetal cells in vaccine development. He said, “I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but I’m going to rain on a parade today: The vaccine parade.”

Bishop Brennan said that some researchers racing to produce a coronavirus vaccine have made use of cells derived from aborted fetuses and perhaps other “morally objectionable” materials. Apparently most companies producing vaccines use fetal cells at a stage in a vaccine’s development.

His specifics a bit unclear. The Bishop claims he was referring to fetus cells from an abortion or material cast off from the artificial insemination of a human embryo. It is the second portion that confuses me.

Respectfully, the good Bishop then sounded like Rudy Giuliani. He cited the Pfizer vaccine as involving human cell material.

Pfizer spokeswoman Jerica Pitts responded later saying, “Not a single stage has had it.”

“The Charlotte Logier Institute is an anti-abortion organization. It said that both Pfizer and Moderna were listed by them as “ethically uncontroversial.”

The coronavius vaccine is most important at this stage. The Bishop should check the facts before making a pronouncement on an issue so important.

I actually feel sorry for Giuliani. A top notch prosecutor in his day no longer in his prime or anything close to it. He embarrasses the legal profession.

Trump is taking Giuliani down with him. Trump most likely neither cares nor gives it any thought.

His legal theories embarrassing. He forgets law is required to support such theories.

Yesterday, my heart broke for him. This once great lawyer speaking at a press conference was sweating big time. He repeatedly took out his handkerchief to wipe his wet face.

The worst was yet to come. Apparently Giuliani dyes his hair. His business. However, he should make sure it is done properly. Black sweat lines on both sides of his face were running from his hairline down his cheeks to his jaw.

Would you believe there are persons dying in hospitals who deny having the virus and/or claim it dos not exist?

South Dakota has made it big time as concerns the virus. Its numbers way up. Hospitals packed. Medical personnel beat. Supplies running short.

Jodi Doering is a nurse at a South Dakota hospital. She was interviewed on TV yesterday. She is the person who brought dying patient denial of the virus to the nation’s attention.

Denial of the existence of coronavirus! Wow! The number sick and the number dying speak for themselves.

Nurse Doering says caring for patients in denial is like a “horror movie that never ends.” She has patients on 100 percent oxygen that can only breathe because of the 100 percent oxygen being provided. Some of those in denial are in this group.

Difficult to understand when 250,000 have already died from the virus.

Sounds like most must be loyal Trump followers who drank the “kool aid.”

I have been sharing some local comments about the virus and how Key West is handling it. The comments are taken directly from the Citizens’ Voice. All so far have been by locals.

Today came the first by a tourist: “We visited Key West for the weekend based on a Trip Advisor recommendation. No masks or distancing on Duval. Bars are literally a petri dish. I feel sorry for those that work there. Requirements posted all over Key West but no enforcement at all. We will not be back.”

Coronavirus surging in our tiny Keys. Monroe County registered 300 new cases in less than a week. Positivity rates for Key West all over the place. Read one that was 18 percent. Another, 11.78 percent. Not sure which is accurate. Both too high in any event.

Key West got 49 new cases on thursday. One day. Would you believe?

Key West infections total 1,412. Presently hospitalized 9.

You will recall that last week I advised the City Commission had once again capitulated to the bars and restaurants. Policies have been drawn back some what.

The City is back to work this week re restrictions. Most of those reduced last week have increased this week. The writing was on the wall. The City fathers finally saw it. I hope.

Mask wearing required full time. A few exceptions. Someone referred to the mask wearing increase as “mask gestation.”

Recognized also was that were not a sufficient number of officers out on the street handing out citations to those not wearing masks. Through yesterday, police and codes personnel were utilized. Members of the Fire Department were added.

We shall see. This is friday. The weekend is here. Tourists will arrive in huge numbers. The bars and restaurants will be full. Coronavirus will have its usual weekend feast.

Maybe, just maybe, Syracuse can win its second football game of the season tonight.

Someone screwed up because Syracuse/Louisville is being touted as the Game of the Week. Seven tonight.

Syracuse has only won 1 game this season. Louisville 2. The season is almost over.

Our 1896 beauty May Johnson was out again last night. La Brisa, of course. “Much dancing……came home 11:30, bed. DEAD TIRED”

Everest is due home this week. Wonder how things will go.

Enjoy your day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT ELECT JOE BIDEN was originally published on Key West Lou

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dipulb3 · 4 years

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Progressive activists are wary over criminal justice under a Biden-Harris administration

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/progressive-activists-are-wary-over-criminal-justice-under-a-biden-harris-administration/

Progressive activists are wary over criminal justice under a Biden-Harris administration

In a series of interviews this summer, organizers told Appradab their angst over the records of Biden, who wrote the 1994 crime bill, and Harris, a former prosecutor, along with the pair’s outwardly supportive rhetoric for law enforcement, fuels their concerns about the future. And while Biden choosing Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, was in part a nod to influential Black women who wanted to see a reflection of themselves — Black and highly qualified– in the highest office in the land, the young activists said representation alone is not enough.

After a wide open primary that showcased the diversity of the Democratic Party, it ended with the nomination of the 78-year-old Biden, a moderate whose 1994 bill is often cited as one driver of mass incarceration, in part because of the “three strikes” law that ensured mandatory life terms for defendants with at least three federal violent crime or drug convictions.

Yet Democrats of all stripes have largely set aside their misgivings about Biden to focus on ousting Trump. That focus was amplified and sharpened following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Republicans’ rush to fill her seat. It was buoyed further this week by the lack of charges brought against three officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year old woman shot in her own home while Louisville police were executing a search warrant, signaling the limits of this summer’s pressure campaign on legislative and judicial change.

View Trump and Biden head-to-head polling

Young progressive activists are reasoning that they stand a better chance of successfully pressuring Biden into taking up key elements of their cause than Trump, who has lambasted peaceful protesters and refused to condemn all but the most egregious acts of police violence.

“There are a lot of people, including myself, who aren’t excited,” Gicola Lane, a 31-year-old Black woman and criminal justice organizer from Nashville, told Appradab in an interview. “Because of what we have seen happen in courtrooms, in our own neighborhood and all over this country. And we know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have played a part in that system.”

Still, she plans to vote for the Democratic ticket in the fall.

The lack of enthusiasm for Biden and Harris points to deeper concerns over their ability to unite the party absent what many perceive as an existential threat posed by four more years of Trump. Demonstrators on the front line of a wildly invigorated social justice movement see movable objects in Biden and Harris, where the current administration looms like a stone wall blocking their push for change.

“Voting is not an expression of my moral values, it’s a decision to choose the political terrain that we fight on,” Aaron Bryant, a 28-year-old Black man from Durham, North Carolina, told Appradab.

Bryant, an organizer and electoral justice fellow with Movement for Black Lives, plans to vote for Biden and Harris, but only as a means to an end.

“Do we want to fight on a political terrain that advantages the worst among the capitalist class and the right wing? Or do we want to fight on the terrain that advantages the middle of the road centrist moderate option? I think one of those options gives us as a movement a better opportunity to strategize and move forward,” Bryant said.

A blueprint

Simran Chowla, a 20-year-old Indian woman whose parents are of Punjabi and Bengali descent, said that she’s never before seen a South Asian woman like Harris reach this level of American politics.

“It’s been pretty monumental for me as a young Indian woman,” Chowla told Appradab.

Still, despite their similar backgrounds, Chowla said she does not have full confidence that a Vice President Harris — whom she plans to vote for — would represent her interests if elected.

An organizer with March For Our Lives DC and a lobbying lead for Team ENOUGH, a pair of gun violence prevention organizations, Chowla hopes to bring up her proposals to a Biden-Harris administration. She would like to see a defunding or redistributing of funds within the police, among other initiatives.

Neither Biden nor Harris support defunding the police, contrary to Trump’s insistence otherwise. Biden has voiced support for conditioning federal aid to police based on behavior and Justice Department intervention against departments who violate civil rights standards. Harris has often said the US needs to “reimagine” public safety and how the police and the communities they serve interact but has said violent crime should stay the remit of trained officers.

Biden has also voiced support for a federal ban on police chokeholds, reestablishing a Justice Department oversight panel that investigated police practices established during the Obama administration, and other steps to increase police accountability.

Alongside New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Harris introduced the Justice in Policing Act in June, at the height of a national uprising against racism and the police killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people. The bill would create a National Police Misconduct Registry, provide incentives for local governments to conduct racial bias training for officers, and set caps on the transfer of military-grade equipment to law enforcement, among other initiatives.

And during her primary campaign, Harris released a plan that sought to end mandatory minimum sentences on the federal level, legalize marijuana, end the death penalty, and end the use of private prisons– a far cry from the policies she once enforced as California’s attorney general and the district attorney for San Francisco, positions that led to her being labeled a “cop” by young Black activists.

Among a litany of issues, she was criticized for disagreeing with a bill that would have required her AG office to appoint a special prosecutor to probe all deadly police-involved shootings in 2015, saying that the decision should be kept in the hands of local prosecutors. A year later, she pushed a law to expand the AG’s ability to appoint special prosecutors if district attorneys consented.

Some criminal justice activists say they have been heartened by the Biden campaign’s willingness to take some increasingly progressive positions on climate change — and believe that, with pressure and time, they could push a Biden-Harris administration in the same direction.

Zina Precht-Rodriguez, the deputy creative director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, highlighted Biden’s revamped climate change platform, the product of deep engagement with leading activists and progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who co-chaired a task force on the issue that brought together Biden allies and supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Biden’s climate plan is unrecognizable from the plan he entered the race with, and you could say that extends to his rhetoric and how he speaks to young people,” Precht-Rodriguez said.

But asked if the Biden-Harris ticket is doing enough, she said, “I think the short answer would be, they could always do more.”

“It sort of speaks to the point of, you know, how we will push the ticket to the left,” Precht-Rodriguez said. “Voting is only one basic part of organizing, and we won’t win the Green New Deal just by voting one President or congressperson in.”

‘I don’t have faith that they’re fighting for my revolution’

Organizers have highlighted Biden’s stance that “not all cops are bad cops” as part of their critique that the ticket has not engaged in enough “deep listening” from those who are victimized by the police. It is evidence, they say, that Biden and Harris are more concerned with pushing back on attacks from Trump and the GOP than representing their movement’s priorities.

“It’s very clear that what they’re saying is completely opposite of what the movement is saying right now,” Lane said.

She works for Free Hearts, a Tennessee organization run by formerly incarcerated women that provides support to impacted families. Lane, who supported Sanders during the primary, challenged the pair to be open to a litany of policies produced over the summer to combat the current carceral state, like the BREATHE Act, which would divest federal funds from incarceration and policing and invest in community safety. That legislation is supported by progressive Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

“I would like to see them not talk down on the movement. Instead of making it seem outrageous, actually challenge themselves to listen and adopt them on a federal level to really gain confidence of the people,” Lane said.

Rukia Lumumba, co-director of the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, credited Harris for meeting with M4BL organizers to hear about the BREATHE Act before her selection as Biden’s running mate. But neither Harris nor Biden has endorsed it.

Ty Hobson Powell, a 25-year-old Black man and founder of Concerned Citizens DC, said Democrats’ current message doesn’t give him “faith that they’re fighting for my revolution in this moment.”

Though Hobson Powell says Biden and Harris have not aligned themselves with his desired policy changes, he acknowledged that the other side is further away from his vision of reform.

“When we talk about voting for anybody, that is understanding, that I will be settling,” he said.

In response to young organizers’ criticism of the lack of policy shaping to match their needs, Harris press secretary Sabrina Singh told Appradab the campaign understands “the need to address systemic injustices facing communities of color in criminal justice, housing, health care, and other aspects of society.”

“They’ve held listening sessions and virtual meetings with activists and community leaders to listen and learn and are committed to enacting their concerns into real and meaningful systemic change to achieve racial justice,” she added.

Additionally, both Biden and Harris have visited the battleground state of Wisconsin, speaking with Jacob Blake — a 29-year-old who was shot by police seven times in the back by a Kenosha police officer — over the phone and meeting with his family. Biden held a community meeting on September 3, where he condemned Blake’s shooting, as well as the violence and damage done to the city during subsequent protests.

‘She’s shown up to address these issues’

Jeremiah Wheeler, the 22-year-old Black Student Union President at Wayne State University, asked Harris how she would resolve injustices in the Black community at a recent campaign event in Detroit.

“I’m gonna need your help,” Harris told organizers and participants at the gathering on 7 Mile Road.

Wheeler told Appradab that Harris later reiterated the need to work both inside and outside the system to create change, something that Harris has said she’s done throughout her career as a prosecutor. He credited Harris for her engagement, but said this moment is less about the candidates’ individual backgrounds than their policy vision.

Like so many others, Wheeler said he will be voting for Biden and Harris, and encouraging others to do so, but that decision was as much about ousting Trump as an endorsing the Democratic ticket.

“We need to vote,” said Wheeler, who supported Sanders in the primary. “I don’t want to offer any more reasons on why not to vote, whether I feel we’re getting the gourmet meal that we rightfully deserve or we’re getting some fast food. Participation is key.”

Chelsea Miller, a 24-year-old Black woman and co-founder of civil rights organization Freedom March NYC, applauded Harris for convening an “intimate” video conference with racial justice organizations from around the country.

“She asked questions, we asked questions. It came from a place of understanding. I think it’s commendable that [Harris] would step into that space and create this opportunity for activists and organizers,” Miller said. “She’s shown up to address these issues.”

Asked what Biden and Harris could do to prove that they are serious about delivering change, Porche Bennett, an activist, mother and small businesses owner who spoke passionately at the community meeting with Biden in Kenosha, said the nominee’s time there “changed how people view him,” and called on Biden and Harris to hit the streets to make their case.

“Get out here and go through these neighborhoods. Without cameras,” she said. “Treat us like we matter.”

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lewepstein · 5 years

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Are We Still Waiting For The Wizard?

I was watching Robert Mueller testify before congress last week when I was struck by the thought that something was terribly wrong with this picture. It was the July 24th hearing, hyped by Democrats as a seminal moment for the American people - the forum in which the corruption and moral bankruptcy of Donald Trump and his cronies would finally and fully be revealed by the man who authored the report. It was a hearing touted to be a possible kickoff to an impeachment inquiry that could spell the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. But Robert Mueller came across as particularly halting and frail. And, true to form, he politely answered every question posed, without ever reinforcing his report’s damning and powerful conclusions about the presidency that he was hired to investigate. He would remain neutral to a fault, predictably steering clear of anything that could possibly be construed as partisan, avoiding even criticism of the blatant and grievous distortion of his two year investigation by William Barr, Trump’s highly politicized attorney general.

There were no historical parallels that came to my mind during the build up to the release of the Mueller report and the extended outpouring of hope directed toward this one man and his investigation. Instead, I began thinking about The Wizard of Oz. On the surface, Victor Fleming’s 1939 film classic, based on the book by Frank Baum appears to be a child’s fantasy adventure chock full of elves, witches, a talking scarecrow, a tin man without a heart and a cowardly lion. What it also offers us is a timeless yet timely allegory with critical lessons about politics and life.

Dorothy, famously played by Judy Garland is on a magical road trip in an enchanted land, trying to find her way back to a family farm in Kansas that had been destroyed by a tornado. But near the end of the film when Dorothy finally meets up with the Wizard following some notable detours and threatening witches, he isn’t very happy to see her. He blusters on until Toto, Dorothy’s dog, pulls aside a curtain to reveal an old man pulling levers and shouting into a microphone. The shameful fraud, posing as a wizard reveals that he is also from Kansas and came to Oz on a hot air balloon. He then boards the balloon to return home, never even considering that he might also rescue Dorothy and her dog.

I wonder if there isn’t a little Dorothy in each of us. Aren’t we being a bit like her when we search for extraordinary wizards to do what we have the power to do ourselves? And why do we keep scanning for the kind, protective father, or the wise guru - becoming emotionally invested in yet another flawed leader, while projecting onto him the wish that he or she be the perfect human - the hallowed rescuer from everything that ails us?

The list of flawed and failed spiritual gurus is exhausting. The allegations continue to pile up: In the 1960’s there was the Beatle’s Maharishi along with the mediation guru, Swami Satchidinada, both accused of sexual abuse and rape. Bikram Yoga founder, Bikram Choudhury was also accused of sexual harassment and rape in 2017 while Amit Desai, founder of the much acclaimed Kripalu Center house In Massachusetts was married but admitted to having affairs with devotess in 1994 as did John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga. The latest spiritual leader bomb shell to esplode has to do with an internationally renown healer known as, “John of God,” from Brasil, who surrendered to police this past December after three hundred women accused him of sexual abuse. The list goes on and on and should probably include the multitude of Catholic priests and bishops around the world who families revered and trusted with their children’s lives and who destroyed those lives with their sexual abuse of children. We can add to these religious wizards the many respected and beloved actors and other media personalities who used their positions of authority to sexually mistreat those with less power than they.

In the world of finances and investment people seemed to have a burning need to believe in the genius of Bernie Maddoff while fortunes were lost and lives ruined in his vast, illegal ponzi scheme. And we cannot forget Elizabeth Holmes who led financiers, politicians and others of the rich and famous to invest millions in a fraudulent undertaking that was supposed to revolutionize the way blood tests were done.

In politics, Donald Trump has become a kind of wizard to the nine out of ten Republicans who are willing to gobble up the crumbs of his jingoism and “us against them” racism that he continually throws out. In their elevation of him, they must also suspend consideration of whether what he is offering is a good trade off for fair elections, the rule of law, better health care and all of the democratic norms and values that are being jeopardized while he remains in office. As a member of the opposing tribe, I also need to accept that neither Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg nor any other of the other twenty four potential Democratic candidates will become either our wizards or our saviors.

It is OK to admire someone’s talents and good works, and to appreciate his or her contribution to a field, a cause or a nation. But elevating another human to the status of “wizard” or imbuing him with god-like qualities has been shown to be extremely dangerous to our personal and political health. If we continue to worship at the altar of other humans and make them into our avatars we do this at our own risk.

The truth is that rarely does anyone ever rescue us. If change comes about either personally or politically it is generally because we did something on our own behalf. And history continues to teach us that the so-called “great leaders” were often riding the crest of popular movements and revolts that involved a multitude of motivated day to day people like you and me. The 2018 blue wave, midterm elections, the recent wave of Red State teacher’s revolts and the women I have worked with who finally left their abusive husbands should give us pause about who the real wizards are.

In the final scene of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is met by Glinda, the Good Witch. Dorothy plaintively asks, “Can you help me?” “Will You Help Me?” Glinda’s response is, “You don’t need to be helped any longer. You have always had the power to go back to Kansas.”

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fullspectrum-cbd-oil · 5 years

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Republicans Hopeful Senate Will Acquit Trump in Impeachment Trial as Early as Friday

A Democratic push to force Republicans to accept witnesses at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate appeared to be flagging on Wednesday, raising the possibility he could be acquitted as early as Friday.

As senators questioned both the Trump legal team and the Democratic managers of the trial, Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz offered an expansive defense of presidential power that provoked astonishment among Democrats.

“If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in an impeachment,” Dershowitz said, referring to the charge that Trump abused his power by using congressionally approved security aid as leverage to get a foreign power to smear his political rival, Joe Biden.

Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono told reporters: “That was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard as a response.”

Senator John Barrasso, the third-most senior Republican, said it was possible the trial could end on Friday without witnesses being called, as Democrats want.

“The momentum is clearly in the direction of moving to final judgment on Friday. That vote will be Friday. We still have a couple of members who said they want to listen to the answers to questions, but that’s where the momentum is,” Barrasso said.

Asked when the vote might take place to settle the debate over witnesses and move to either acquit or convict Trump, Barrasso said probably Friday afternoon or late that day.

Other Republican senators were predicting a similar outcome in conversations with reporters during breaks in Wednesday’s proceedings.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives approved the two articles of impeachment being heard in the Republican-controlled Senate in December. Democrats have sought to persuade at least four Republican senators to vote with them in favor of witnesses to assure a majority vote in the 100-seat chamber.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons was asked during a break if the Democrats’ fight for witnesses was lost.

“I don’t know that for sure one way or the other,” he said, but called the tone and questions of senators “not encouraging.”

Democrats were not conceding defeat, however.

“My gut tells me we’re making progress, progress, progress,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Late on Thursday, White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin was asked if Trump agreed that foreign interference in U.S. elections is illegal. “Mere information is not something that would violate the campaign finance laws,” Philbin replied.

Democrats said they were aghast that a lawyer for Trump would suggest it is OK to solicit foreign interference.

“I’m pretty stunned,” said Senator Mark Warner, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

While the Senate is expected to acquit Trump and leave him in office no matter what happens, allowing witnesses could inflict political damage on the president as he seeks re-election on Nov. 3.

One such witness is former national security adviser John Bolton, who left the White House in September after several sharp disagreements with Trump over the direction of foreign policy.

The New York Times has reported that Bolton wrote in an as-yet unpublished book that the president told him he wanted to freeze $391 million in security aid – passed by U.S. Congress to help Ukraine battle Russia-backed separatists – until Kiev pursued investigations into Democrats, including Biden and the former vice president’s son, Hunter.

CLASSIFIED

On Wednesday, the White House objected to the book’s publication. A letter from the White House National Security Council to Bolton’s attorney said that based on a preliminary review, the manuscript appeared to contain “significant amounts of classified information.”

Some material was deemed top secret and could “cause exceptionally grave harm to the national security,” according to the letter, which was dated Jan. 23. It said the manuscript could not be published without deleting the classified information.

The manuscript was submitted to the White House for pre-publication review, a process that civil libertarians have said gives the government too much power to censor speech.

Democrats believe Bolton, a Republican foreign policy hawk, could help them solidify their case against the president and want to call him and a small number of other officials to testify. Trump’s fellow Republicans in the Senate have resisted the idea.

Bolton lawyer Charles Cooper said on Wednesday that neither he nor his client believe that any information in a chapter on Ukraine “could reasonably be considered classified.” He asked for a quick determination in case Bolton was called to testify.

WORLD WAR SIX

Trump lashed out at Bolton on Twitter on Wednesday, saying Bolton “couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t get approved for anything since, ‘begged’ me for a non Senate approved job” and added that “if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now.”

Trump added that Bolton “goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this?”

Responding to a question by top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, lead House prosecutor Adam Schiff said there would be no way to have a fair trial without witnesses.

“And when you have a witness as plainly relevant as John Bolton who goes to the heart of the most serious and most egregious of the president’s misconduct, who has volunteered to come and testify – to turn him away, to look the other way, I think is deeply at odds with being an impartial juror,” Schiff said.

Trump’s legal team has argued that the evidence supporting the charges against him is based on hearsay. It also asserts Trump did not commit an impeachable offense even if the allegation is true.

Removing Trump from office would take a two-thirds majority. None of the 53 Republican senators has publicly advocated removal.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Mark Hosenball, David Morgan, Doina Chiacu, Patricia Zengerle, Susan Heavey, Susan Cornwell, Makini Brice, Karen Freifeld, Lisa Lambert and Katanga Johnson; Writing by Will Dunham and Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller, Alistair Bell and Sonya Hepinstall)

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bigmacdaddio · 6 years

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Joe Biden eulogizes John McCain - August 30, 2018.

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