Look, Donald Trump is NOT the first threat to America’s Constitutional democratic republic. He’s just the most brazen threat in my lifetime and he’s managed to “light up” the white nationalists in America who were “hiding under the rocks” until Barack Obama was elected President in 2008. And, Trump continues to DARE the Justice Department to stop him – and, honestly, I’m not sure Merrick Garland has the stomach for what that would entail. Trump’s “entourage” continues to “grow” as people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and others fall in line as they see Trump as their “vehicle” into the so-called “mainstream” of American politics. And, they’ve got a good “friend” on their side. MONEY!

If you’ve followed the so-called “Koch Brothers” (now “Brother”) at all over the past 40 years you’d know Charles and David Koch began their political careers in the John Birch Society, they INHERITED an oil business which led to “Koch Industries” one of the most successful privately held businesses in America – each brother worth over $50+ BILLION the last time I checked a couple of years ago. David Koch passed away in 2019, but his brother Charles hasn’t slowed down a bit. The Koch’s have been responsible for the Heritage Institue, the Cato Institute, and, other right wing “think tanks,” plus they were largely responsible for the success of the “Tea Party,” and ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council) has their “fingers” into state legislatures all across the nation “helping” republicans get their legislation “right.” (funded by the Koch’s and their rich peers) It goes on and on, but the bottom line with (now) Charles Koch is he has an UNLIMITED amount of MONEY to spend on his “wishes.” And, he’s in his 80’s and seems willing to “tear the house down” before he dies. (Largely to protect the fossil fuel industry)

And, when you look at some of Trump’s most egregious “policies” (in that there were any “policies” at all) you can see the “importance” of making Mr. Koch and his network of DONORS happy. Koch industries, of course, is a business with its “focal point” in the oil industry. (Surprise, surprise) The Trump administration’s blocking of environmental regulations was received by Koch and his surrogates with enthusiastic approval. Keep in mind, the Koch Brothers inherited a fortune built by their father who went to the Soviet Union back in the 1930’s in order to sell a device used in the refinement of oil to Joseph Stalin – a device he couldn’t sell in America because it violated registered patents. He came back from Russia a multiple millionaire (in 1930’s dollars) and, thus, the beginning of Koch Industries. Plus,. their father, Fred Koch was part of the original John Birch Society. (If you’re not familiar with the “Birchers” I suggest you look them up)

Is it a requirement of children who oppose America’s democratic republic and who inherited their WEALTH to be from fathers named Fred? (Just sayin) While the Koch’s may have come around a bit over the years in regard to their alleged RACIST beliefs (again, check out the John Birch Society) it appears the same can not be said for our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president – who seems to be going farther off “the rails” every time he gets closer to receiving and INDICTMENT for one of his MANY choices to violate our system of laws – laws he feels as if don’t apply to him.

So, here’s the bottom line at this point in time. It’s (today) three weeks until the 2022 mid-term elections and, astonishingly, (at least to me) the predictors continue to suggest republicans are going to take control of (at least) the House of Representatives. Lately, I’ve been using the word “stupid” more and more – simply because I can’t come up with a better explanation for what is happening in this nation I’ve grown to love over the past 75 years. I’ll attempt to explain why I believe this in as succinct of terms as possible. Let’s start with the FACT over 50% of the American population is WOMEN. Well, are WOMEN going to VOTE in this election in order to protect their right to determine their own course of action regarding their health care. Of course, we all know, Roe v Wade was a victim of democrats failing to show up in 2016 allowing Donald Trump to move into the “White House.”

Mitch McConnell had the political instincts to refuse allowing Merrick Garland a vote when Barack Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court back in 2016 – motivating right wing (republican) voters much more than democrats during the campaign for president back then. The result was not only one “stolen” Supreme Court nomination for Trump, but, of course, two more before Trump was “fired” by “we the people” in 2020. Honestly, today I was listening to some democrats complaining that the overturning of Roe is the fault of democrats not doing enough over the years to “codify” it when they had enough votes. To me, that just goes to prove “stupid” in America is “bipartisan.” The democrats have no one to blame but themselves for failing to show up to vote – apparently believing there wasn’t much difference between Trump and Hillary Clinton. I’ll say it once more – STUPID!

So, now democrats, once again, have an opportunity to support Joe Biden to achieve some ground breaking success, but, they’re “unhappy” – so, they’re either not going to vote – or, for heaven’s sake – vote for republicans. Here’s what they’re voting for – if they’ve been paying ANY attention at all. First, they’re voting for maybe the most SPINELESS politician to come along in years to put Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House. In essence, what they’re voting for in reality is giving POWER to people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz (he, another politician Mr. Garland doesn’t have the stomach to prosecute – even for child sex trafficking), Jim Jordan, and the whole right wing crew that goes along with them. They are going after Social Security and Medicare, they want a NATIONWIDE abortion ban, they’re threatening to cut off funding for America’s support of Ukraine, and, of course, they will try to IMPEACH Biden soon after taking control. For what reason – do they need a reason??? And, will democratic voters blame democrats in Congress should republicans gain control of the House? The bottom line is there are MORE democrats than republicans – so ………………………

Personally, I’m not willing to speak kindly to anyone who comes across my way who tells me they didn’t vote or voted for a republican and then complains about the absurd amount of chaos we’re experiencing as we have to endure them in office for the next two years. Here’s how republicans are going to go after Social Security and Medicare (both dear to my 75 year old heart) – they’re going to use the debt ceiling to extract – I don’t even know what they want to extract and I’m not sure they do – cutbacks which will affect us old people. The first thing I thought of the other day when it was announced Social Security recipients (full disclosure – I’m one of them – I paid into it for over 50 years before retiring) are due to receive an 8.7% increase in benefits come January 1, 2023 was that this will make it even MORE of a target for republicans. Are Americans even paying attention to all this?

I keep hearing reports the polling says the most important issue for most Americans in the election is “inflation.” And, I place much of the BLAME on this to the TERRIBLE messaging abilities of the democratic party. Without a doubt, inflation is a serious issue. But, one of the most important? Is inflation more important than the preservation of our democratic republic? Not to me. (And, when you take a close look at the republican scheme if democrats lose in November it could be quite some time (past my remaining lifetime) before the damage can be reversed – if ever (And, I don’t believe that’s hyperbole). Do women care about whether there’s a nationwide ban on abortion care? Remains to be seen. Do seniors care about whether they continue to receive their Social Security benefits? I hope so, but, again, it remains to be seen.

Do young people want the proposed forgiveness of up to $20,000 of student loan relief? Enough to actually vote? Well, republicans are busy, as I’m writing this, attempting to block the Biden administration from being able to follow through on this proposal. Do Americans really want responisible gun legislation? Well, if so, why would you vote for a republican? Are Americans bothered by the FACT republicans LIE pathologically – right to their faces – with impunity? Apparently, not – at least anyone who would vote for a republican. In FACT, the LYING has become even more egregious as we get closer to the election. Don’t believe me, just give Marjorie Taylor Greene about a minut of your time – she’s full on “MAGA.”

I could go on and on, but if “we the people” fail to show up to vote this November we deserve what we get. And, keep in mind, we MUST show up in MUCH greater numbers than republicans because of the gerryandering which has taken place over the past couple of census results. Plus, if you’ve had your head in the proverbial sand, you may not be aware of some of the voter suppression bills passed in various “red” states since our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president convinced about a third of the country the 2020 election was “stolen.” This was done without a shred of evidence. (Every example of actual voter fraud I’ve read about was committed by republicans finding ways to vote more than once – but, even those instances were MINUTE when compared to the total number of votes cast) Here’s how we KNOW the 2020 election was NOT stolen – Donald Trump FAILED in his attempt to do just that. And, republicans are already working on STEALING this upcoming election and those which follow.

Some of the “improvements” fall into the “what are you talking about” category – like, in Georgia it’s now a FELONY to give someone waiting in one of the long lines (they create purposely) either something to drink or something to eat. I’m not kidding. But, as usual with republicans, it gets worse. The Georgia legislature gave themselves the incredible power to overturn the results of the election should they disagree with the outcome. For example, if miraculously, Stacy Abrams would upset Brian Kemp in the race for Governor, the legislature could simply overturn the results and declare Mr. Kemp the victor. The same goes in the race between Raphael Warnock and Hershel Walker. Other state legislatures have followed sut since – like, I believe in Arizona. And, keep in mind with the gerrymandered districts, many states with a 50/50 split between republicans and democrats have significant republican “majorities” in their legislatures. For example, Wisconsin is a state with a demoratic governor which also voted for Joe Biden in 2020. They have eight members of Congress and SIX of them are considered “shoe ins” to win as a republican. Their state legislature is strongly republican despite, again, over HALF of the electorate voting for democrats in statewide elections. And, this is not uncommon. (Do both parties participate in gerrymandering? Yep, it’s just that, as usual, democrats are far less successful at it)

Let me finish this rant by going back to the issue of inflation. First, people SHOULD understand despite things seeming “peaceful” here, in Ukraine there is a brutal war where the Ukrainians are “fighting like hell” (to borrow a phrase from Trump) to preserve their democracy – and, it’s having an effect on inflation worldwide. In fact, in America inflation is less of a problem than in MANY other places around the world. Worldwide I say? Yep, the world is still coming out of the pandemic and supply shortages are a problem all across the globe. It’s totally unfair to blame Biden and the democrats. Do Americans really want to suggest the FACT their wages have increased is the cause of inflation? Do they want to go back to lower wages? Is the FACT more Americans are working today than at any time EVER in our past a problem for our working class people? Truly, I hope not. Are there any Americans who’ve noticed the price of a barrel of oil has dropped by about 30% in the past few months, but the price of gas at the pump has increased by the same amount? Does anyone else find that suspicious? (Apparently, this rise in prices is not “across the board” – but, is affecting those buying gas where I live)

Here’s the deal, there are a plethora of reasons why Americans should give Joe Biden an INCREASE in the number of democratic Senators plus continued control of the House. I’ve listed a bunch of them, but there are many more. And, just stop and think – what policy suggestions are coming from republicans which are first, HONEST, and second something aside from fearmongering? What suggestions do they have for making our lives better? Personally, I haven’t heard one. I keep hearing a bunch of absurd LYING. I, personally, live in the district of a republican Congresswoman who voted to IMPEACH Trump after the INSURRECTION and, of course, she lost in the primary to a Matt Gaetz wannabee, Joe Kent, who, in the first “debate” with his general election opponent – well, it won’t surprise you – LIED through his teeth, over and over. You’d have thought he was a Reagan republican. Question: Is Joe Biden the duly elected president of the United States? Answer: “Yes.” Question: “Was the 2020 presidential election stolen?” Answer: “No.” I just hope Trump saw the answers he gave to those two questions – let alone some of the others. Because Kent was a full throated “election denier” prior to that debate performance. Does Trump care how these questions are answered. You’d think Mr. Kent is a moderate – of course, in Congress he’ll be anything but!

Final Thought: Some instances of how I’m expecting the upcoming election to give me stomach problems (at least temporarily) will be in a few governors races. For example, I really have to wonder about the people of Texas and Florida as it appears both Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are headed to victory. Plus, in Georgia, it looks as if Stacy Abrams will need a miracle to come out ahead of Brian Kemp (without the legislature intervening). What’s up with the people in Texas (where Abbott has abused his power repeatedly – from this viewpoint) and in Florida it seems to me DeSantis is worse. DeSantis is attempting to be the republican nominee in 2024 and he seems to believe continually pushing his behavior up to and over the legal lines will get him more republican votes. Sadly, he appears to be correct! And, Abbott, if you remember, he had his border fiasco costing Texans BILLIONS and he’s apparently done NOTHING to protect Texans from a power grid dangerously susceptible to freezing temperatures – likely to arrive this winter. What is wrong with these people? (Especially in Texas where they have the opportunity to elect a true friend of the working class in Beto O’Rourke – go figure)