There are so many reasons why “we the people” should be doing whatever is necessary to vote individual 1 into the history books this November it’s hard to keep up with them all. I’m an old man but I’m going to do a little activity which is good for us old folks – and, that is to test my memory. Like in what are some of the reasons individual 1 needs to “go” – and, I might as well start with the obvious: He’s truly shown his fascist nature by not only calling for American troops to “dominate” American citizens as his way to quell the protests over the injustice African Americans have finally had “enough” of but, in the process, he’s used tactics of the Nazi’s – as explained to “we the people” by none other than James Mattis our former Secretary of Defense. The tactic? “Divide and Conquer.” And, I’ve been saying since day 1 of individual 1’s administration another “tactic” used is “The Big Lie Theory” coming straight out of the Nazi propaganda “playbook.”

Americans don’t like anyone to even reference Hitler or the Nazi’s in any way other than to be condemning the Holocaust as they rightfully should. (And, “Oh by the way” many of the white nationalists in individual 1’s base are Holocaust deniers) Their (individual 1 and his republican sycophants) use of the “Big Lie Theory” is obvious to virtually everyone (what isn’t obvious is their use of a Nazi propaganda strategy) – in the sense everyone I know or watch or listen to are constantly commenting on the LYING which has permeated individual 1’s messaging and virtually EVERY republican – and, at least with the republicans – the LYING is calculated, organized, and pre-planned right down to using the same key terms. With individual 1 it appears to simply be pathological LYING – which should surprise no one who’s either known about him or read about his history. The reason they do it is because it works when your ideology wouldn’t otherwise work – they’ve developed a cult following who actually believe what they’re saying is true. I have a friend who is an individual 1 supporter who has actually said to me he believes our IMPEACHED so-called president “tells the truth.” Yikes!!!

All that, in itself, would have been enough to defeat any democrat – because democrats don’t operate as a cult. But, of course, there’s a lot more. While individual 1 has been calling for American troops to attack American citizens the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage and, in fact, it has been increasing in intensity since the Memorial Day weekend when there were multiple gatherings of people at vacation resorts around the country where “social distancing” was NOT apparent. And, of course, these demonstrations are full of people who consider expressing their anger toward our nation’s continued failure to treat “Black and Brown” people with “equal justice under the law” as more important to them than their concern for the virus. Many are wearing masks, but I’m guessing the numbers of people infected with the virus are going to be on the upswing for the next month or so – based on what I’ve learned about the disease caused by the virus so far.

That means once these protests calm down the focus of “we the people’s” attention, I’m guessing, will be back on the virus and there’s no way individual 1 can run away from the FACT his incompetence was fully exposed in the first couple of months when Covid-19 was spreading across America. At this point in time it’s clear, with discipline and a coordinated national plan, the effect of the virus could have been significantly mitigated. We are now at the point where our IMPEACHED so-called president has “thrown in the towel” and is simply saying let the virus do what the virus is going to do which means, if the scientists know what they’re talking about, the next six months are going to be really bad. The bottom line in all this for individual 1; it just further exposes his inability to handle the job he’s been given.

I read a post today in the Daily Kos where individual 1 was characterized as a parasite who, throughout his career, has attached himself to various entities and “sucked the lifeblood” from them subsequently abandoning them after they’ve been, essentially, destroyed. I instantaneously was able to picture in my mind that’s exactly what he’s doing to our government. He’s placed cronies and “lap dogs” at the head of the various departments of our government and the result will be, once he’s gone, that these departments will be like the children’s Sunday School at the church in front of which he chose to brandish someone’s Bible (probably not his, but….) upside down for a “photo op” designed to send a “dog whistle” to his evangelical “base” – and, that is gutted. Public Servants who are experts at their jobs have been purged from our government unless they’re willing to pledge “loyalty” – as we learned from James Comey (who’s largely responsible for individual 1 being in the “White House” in the first place).

I just can’t bring myself to believe MOST Americans want a president (especially an IMPEACHED so-called one) to be dismantling the very government he takes an oath to defend and uphold. For example, destroying the Agriculture department seems antithetical to the job, in my view. Just imagine republicans had Obama done that? What about gutting the State Department of career diplomats who are apolitical public servants and experts at doing the fundamental work necessary to carrying out diplomacy around the world – and then, say, putting Kim Jong un on a world wide “pedestal” and then claiming they were ‘in love” with an “agreement” written on a napkin? Again, just picture republicans had Obama done such a thing!?

Standing in front of the world’s press along side Vladimir Putin at a summit in Helsinki and “throwing our intelligence community under the bus,” saying Putin “was very strong in his denial” and that he believed Putin. When asked directly if he believed the Russians interfered in the election to help him – as reported by every member of our intelligence community – he said, “I don’t see why they would.” This did create a response of outrage EVEN from some republicans so the next day he tried to LIE his way out of the “crisis” (what else is new – he’s LIED almost 20,000 times as of this writing) by claiming he meant to say “wouldn’t” instead of “would.” I have no idea why that seemed to calm the outrage – but, again, how would republicans have responded to President Obama “kowtowing” to Putin like that? That fiasco followed a two hour meeting between individual 1 and Putin with no one else present – at least from the U.S. To me: disqualifying by itself.

Individual 1 has virtually destroyed America’s relationship with our European allies with the possible exception of Great Britain who have chosen Boris Johnson, an individual 1 devotee, as their prime minister. Our relationships with our traditional allies around the world, including Canada for heaven’s sake, are teetering on disaster. Should “we the people” somehow give individual 1 a second term our nation will very possibly NEVER recover from the DAMAGE inflicted and our “friends” around the world will likely STOP wondering “What the hell has happened to America? And move on to “we’re on our own.” I believe we’ll have our so-called “Black and Brown” community to thank for saving us from becoming a fascist state come November. And, if you believe that’s hyperbole i would respectfully suggest you’re not paying close enough attention. I believe the name George Floyd will obscure individual 1’s for – well- FOREVER!

The list goes on: Picture if President Obama had chosen an Attorney General like William Barr who appears to be nothing more than a lap dog who is willing to destroy the reputation of the Justice Department at the whim of our IMPEACHED so-called president. Of course, both individual 1 and republicans will suggest Eric Holder was there to “protect Obama” which is absurd on its face. For one thing, President Obama didn’t do ONE thing which would require “protection” – despite 8 years of harassment coming from republicans.

Individual 1 has been busy encouraging the Justice Department to “go after” his political opponents who he considers his “enemies” and he’s willing to use the power of government to attack them. How many false accusations against Obama, for example, have come from the “White House?” Obama didn’t wire tap our IMPEACHED so-called president, he didn’t illegally “unmask” Michael Flynn, etc. etc. Everyone of these false accusations are spurious on their face and simply more of the deflection “strategy” coming from the “White House.” Picture, again, republicans had Obama been doing such “nasty” stuff.

Sadly, at our Southern border there are still children in cages from what I can tell. This issue has pretty much slipped into the “darkness” due to all the other crises “we the people” are dealing with. But, for me, this is a nation of immigrants – our diversity is what makes us a strong country and the idea people fleeing poverty and violence in South and Central America should be turned away at our Southern border is EXTREMELY offensive to me. I had the privilege to teach NUMEROUS students, during my career, who came from various countries in our Southern Hemisphere, and I still “light up” when I hear one of them call out my name as I’m walking through a local business where they’re now working. Amazing young people, some who began learning to speak English as they were “thrown” into the classroom, who were/are hard working brilliant young people. The thought of them in cages just causes me to feel a sense of disgust toward anyone who would think that’s OK.

I’m not sure I can accurately characterize the republican anti-immigration policy when the FACT we’re a nation of immigrants is undeniable. In fact, I believe this animosity is the root behind protests which are happening right now. As a white person it disgusts me to realize there’s so many Americans in the “white nationalist” movement who don’t understand they are the ones with the privilege – they’re NOT the victims. Historically, African Americans have been in this country for over 400 years and, I’m guessing, many of the young African Americans feeling the brunt of police billy clubs this past couple of weeks have a heritage connected to America which dates much farther back than that of the “cop” wielding the billy club. And, Native Americans? For heaven’s sake, to suggest they haven’t been oppressed is absurd on its face.

Clearly, you can’t place all the blame of what people of the “Black and Brown” communities have endured on individual 1 but the FACT he’s an overt racist and has been encouraging police to “get tough” when they’re arresting “criminals” is, well, a provable fact. I’ve heard him make suggestions as to how police should arrest people which made me cringe. He exposed himself in his response to the protests at Charlottesville when he called neo-Nazi’s “very fine people” and when he was encouraging white nationalist groups to “LIBERATE” states which were experiencing surges of Covid-19 – one day after he provided a “plan” to re-open the states which, obviously, they hadn’t yet met. This is incompetence in plain sight! Redundantly I’ll say, what would republicans have done had President Obama called on masked and armed Black men to converge on a state capitol building during a pandemic and spitting in the faces of the capitol police? What’s the saying? “Come on man!”

The ONLY “success” of individual 1’s ENTIRE term, legislatively, would have to be the tax SCAM which put something like $2 TRILLION into the bank accounts of the wealthiest Americans who were already so flush with $$$ that they had over a TRILLION just, essentially, “sitting there,” money added to the deficit. (meaning not being re-invested in their companies) Yes, that gave the rising economy he inherited from Obama a temporary and superficial “boost” (Which, of course, is “long gone”) but, the reality of individual 1’s term in office has been the silence coming from all the deficit hawk republicans who were “squawking” on a daily basis at Obama as President Obama worked the deficit down about 70% from what he inherited – after “inheriting” the “Great Recession.” Obama’s administration pulled “we the people” out of that recession with virtually NO help from republicans – similar to what happened with Bill Clinton and likely what is going to happen with Joe Biden – expressly why it’s so important to vote out as many republican Senators as possible – because, it’s guaranteed whoever remains in the Senate will stand in the way of any progressive legislation in the next legislature.

I can only try to imagine where the national debt will be after individual 1 leaves office and what republicans will be saying. I’m already hearing “peeps” the deficit hawks are re-awakening after the “jobs report” suggested our unemployment rate is “ONLY” 13.3%. (Although the Department of Labor Statistics later reported there was a mistake and the number should be about 3% higher) So, republicans will very possibly “balk” at agreeing to the HEROES Act which is proposing $1 TRILLION for the State and Local governments who are going to be in big financial trouble from this pandemic possibly leading to massive layoffs of police, firefighters, teachers, and others who are paid via state payrolls. Wouldn’t that just be republicans being “smart” right before an election? Honestly, these republican deficit hawks are really annoying because they “hibernate” until it starts looking like a democrat is going to be in office. You see how it works, right? They create HUGE deficits and then blame it on the democrats who are voted in to “clean up the mess.” We all thought the “mess” left behind by Bush/Cheney was historic, but it will be “small potatoes” compared to the “mess” left behind by individual 1.

Virtually ALL the gains made in this country over the past 200 years have been the result of “liberals/progressives” and this time will be no different. While “we the people” are all focused on the numerous reasons listed above why any other so-called president would be voted out of office this next reason should maybe be at the top of the list instead of “flying under the radar.” While all this “stuff” is going on – especially the Covid-19 crisis which is likely getting worse as I’m typing these letters – individual 1 is in COURT attempting to get rid of the Affordable Care Act once and for all. Should he succeed the ripple affect would be like someone shooting off a cannon and would be disastrous for well over 20 MILLION Americans who would lose their health insurance and then another close to 100 MILLION who have “pre-existing conditions” which would no longer be protected against health insurers discrimination. We’re hearing virtually nothing about this but just the FACT our IMPEACHED so-called president is doing this, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is unconscionable – but, with him, not surprising.

There’s more, but I’ll end this one here – I just wanted to point out our IMPEACHED so-called president keeps the scandals coming at a rate which we just can’t keep up. However, the reasons he SHOULD be voted into the history books (and the courtroom once he’s no longer protected by that OLC memo) go well beyond what is in today’s news “cycle.” He’s been committing disqualifying acts since he took the oath of office. I didn’t even get into the Mueller stuff because I could do another full post on that or the ILLEGAL payoffs to the two women. He’s acting like a mafia boss and likely is/was a pseudo mafia boss in his businesses – it’s certainly been documented he was doing a lot of business with members of various mafia organizations (Russian, Italian) – it’s time for the authorities to fully investigate what he’s done as our IMPEACHED so-called president and what he was doing prior to becoming our IMPEACHED so-called president.

Final Thought: Joe Biden was not my choice to be the democratic nominee, but I’ve always felt if people get out and vote they come up with the right person for the time and there were record numbers of voters in the democratic primaries prior to the pandemic – so, I believe Biden is the right person – even though he’s closing in on being 77 years young. The critical choice, for him, is his running mate, if for no other reason his age. I can’t see him running for re-election and young people and progressives MUST realize the “change” they want will take a massive participation in the process. That will include winning again in 2024 (I might still be around) and Biden’s VP candidate very well could be the nominee should things improve over the next four years. (At that point we’ll be wondering if America’s voters have amnesia toward the DAMAGE of the republican party circa individual 1) Should he choose Amy Klobachar I believe his chances in November would go way down. As I’ve said here I believe it should be a woman of color (we know it will be a woman) and, if not, to me, the ONLY other choice would be Elizabeth Warren. Whoever it is, they are going to face the nastiest campaign we’ve ever seen in America I’m sad to say. It should be interesting!

I have to add: I’m certainly no public health expert but I listen to them these days ad often as I can and what is happening in America is rather alarming. I’m with everyone else who wants to be “open” but I’m alarmed at the number of people I’m seeing who seem to have forgotten we are STILL in the middle of a world wide pandemic. And, I live in a state where the “numbers” have been going down (although, there is a “trouble part” of our state – Washington). I regularly mention the Kinsa thermometer I purchased which is connected via bluetooth to a lab at Oregon State University which creates a “temperature map” that gives a “head’s up” on areas of the country where they’re seeing “atypical” increases in temperatures among “we the people.” Just the other day I was showing the map to my son and pointing out Florida, Arizona, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and many other states were suggesting another “spike” was on the horizon. Well, it’s happening just as the Kinsa “thermometer weather map” was suggesting it would happen.

With an IMPEACHED so-called president who has decided to “move on” from this crisis “we the people” are looking at a situation – which is already the WORST in the world – that may be bringing even more comparisons to the “flu” outbreak of 1919. Individual 1 is now planning to cram as many of his supporters into facilities willing to allow it – likely where masks will not be allowed – so he can have his rallies again. The concern, from me, isn’t for those who choose to participate in the rallies in person, the concern is for those who may be affected indirectly. I’m still listening to the “experts” and, so far, they are being proven correct. The “numbers” don’t look as if there’s a big “spike” occurring until you take New York and New Jersey out of the statistics – then it looks bad. And, I wish the TV pundits would stop talking about the fear of the “second wave” happening. We’re still in the FIRST “wave.” Michael Osterholm is a VERY distinguished professor of public health at the University of Minnesota and he does not mince words when talking about this virus. He likens it to baseball by saying, “we’re in the second inning of a nine inning game.” In my mind, he’s well worth listening to. Stay tuned…………..