I’ve written many times here about how Donald Trump is more of a threat to America than Adolf Hitler ever was. Despite the reality there were tens of thousands of Americans back in the 1930’s who associated with the Nazi’s of Germany, NONE of them ever got this close to the “White House” – let alone having spent four years there having his ambitions squelched by a few (we now see as) honorable men/women. I remember reading about those who stayed in Trump’s service in order to prevent him from achieving his untethered aims – and, thinking, “Of course.” (said with sarcasm dripping from the words)

Well, as Trump gets closer to a possible second chance to turn America into a Fascist state, it becomes apparent there were many members of Trump’s administration who, while being republicans, were doing “God’s work” in keeping Trump from, for example, turning the military on our own citizens. This is all getting more serious as the days between now and the election dwindle away. So far, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said, in an interview (taped) with Bob Woodward that “Trump is fascist to the core.” Just a day or so ago, former Trump Chief of Staff, John Kelly, submitted to a recorded interview with Mike Schmidt of the NY Times and referred to Trump as a fascist (among other things).

Kelly said, on several occasions Trump mentioned “Hitler did a lot of good things.” Additionally, Kelly said Trump also repeatedly said, “I wish my generals were like Hitler’s generals.” Kelly, also, was the one who reported about how Trump referred to soldiers resting in military graveyards as “suckers and losers.” Is this believable? Of course it is – just about anyone without their head in the sand heard Trump point out, to him, John McCain wasn’t a “hero.” He added, “I like people who weren’t captured.” Is this making me feel validated for calling Trump a FASCIST several years ago? Well, no! The only reason we’re hearing it now is because of the impending election and the realization by these people this election is too important to sit out.

I don’t have the issue of being expected to be “non-partisan” due to being a member of our military – especially as a Four Star General. That said, I do feel this hasn’t been some kind of well kept secret. I mean I’ve published the definition of fascism right here several times – as I was pointing out the obvious. My frustration has not been the lack of transparency by these Generals (I believe James Mattis, former Sec. of Defense, has also chimed in on Trump’s unfitness for further office), but MOSTLY with our so-called “liberal media” which has not only failed to have the courage to tell it like it is, but worse, they didn’t learn from 2016 and they’ve been “both sidesing” this election from before Ms. Harris became the presumptive nominee.

Even when Trump began making comments which come right out of Mein Kampf, like the comments about immigrants “poisoning the blood of America” and calling his political opponents “vermin,” our MSM (mainstream media), by and large, has failed to call it the way it is. What’s the old saying, “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.” This entire issue has exasperated how so many in America’s public sphere have a total lack of COURAGE. I mean, the list of republican politicians who’ve, at one time, said the TRUTH about Trump, but when it comes to keeping their job it’s worse than “crickets,” they’ve become aggressive supporters. In my view, none of them deserve to be public “leaders” in this nation! When will “we the people” start purging these COWARDS from our midst? Who knows!?

Not only is the future of our democratic republic at stake in this election, but the future and stability of the Western World, NATO, and Ukraine hangs in the balance. We KNOW one of the first things Trump will do is pull American support for Ukraine and, then, if you believe Trump isn’t part of the Project 2025 manifesto, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. You won’t have to read much of Project 2025 to understand the words of Generals Kelly and Milley (and, apparently, Mattis) are right on. Picture the number one requirement for working in our government being you must pledge loyalty to Trump. That’s right! For around 250 years those involved in government service (at any level) must pledge their loyalty to the Constitution.

Back in 1967, right in the middle of Viet Nam, I joined the Marine PLC (Platoon Leader Corps) during my Junior Year of College (1st addition). I joined in December (while home on break), took a casual physical, and took an oath to the Constitution. I was ordered to report for Basic Training at the close of my Junior year the following June. As LUCK (I know now) would have it, when I reported for “Boot Camp” the doctor did a much more detailed physical and, when seeing the large scar on my left knee – not a problem for me (in my mind) – a serious problem to him. He had my knee x-rayed and subsequently, when I reported back to him, he said, “Son, if the Red Chinese were marching down Broadway in Portland (Oregon) we wouldn’t take you.” I was given an honorably medical discharge on the spot. My point, my oath wasn’t to LBJ, the president at the time, but, to the Constitution.

Trump has talked about “shredding” the Constitution because it’s an impediment to the unabridged POWER he seeks. And, of course, another of the first things Trump will do is to hire an Attorney General who will withdraw the charges against him emanating from the January 6th, 2021 INSURRECTION and, what might end up being worse (if you can imagine that) the allegations regarding the STOLEN TOP SECRET documents of which several were MISSING when the FBI exercised the search warrant of Mar a Lago back in early 2022. Think about the alleged 7 private phone calls with Vladimir Putin some of which, undoubtedly, occurred while Trump still had possession of those documents. In fact, I wonder if the missing ones ended up in Putin’s possession.

Getting back to the Project 2025. Trump says he doesn’t know what it is! If you believe that, I’ve got that bridge……… Regardless, Project 2025 (and Trump, curiously) says “they” are going to close the Department of Education. Now, I’m a retired Public School Teacher, I hope you can imagine how that works for me. George W Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” back in the early 2000’s did MAJOR damage to Public Schools, but that’s not good enough for these Project 2025 aficionados, they want to destroy the entire network of support for Public Education and Trump has confirmed he’s right there with them on this subject. In fact, Project 2025 reminds me of Steve Bannon’s statement, during Trump’s first reign, “We’re going to deconstruct the administrative state.”

When you read Project 2025 the loyalty of government workers isn’t to the Constitution as mentioned above, but THOUSANDS of experienced, dedicated civil servants would be FIRED under another Trump administration (ultimately, it will be a Vance administration – think about it, Trump’s 78 and losing his “marbles”) because of their loyalty to the Constitution and replaced by “yes men/women.” They are targeting, beside the Department of Education, the FDA, the Agriculture Dept., the State Dept., the Pentagon – yes, think about that, the Pentagon with people pledging loyalty to Trump. Yikes! And, regarding the issue of women’s health, IE access to abortions, forget about it. There IS a plan for a national abortion ban without exceptions.

Look, for women, being pregnant is already a life threatening condition in about a third of America. In Texas, since they (meaning a bunch of male politicians) instituted their abortion ban the maternal mortality rate has risen by over 50% – in just a couple of years. However, today, women do have the opportunity (if they can afford it) to leave the state to get their life saving care in the case of women having, for example, miscarriages. That said, there are those in Texas who are attempting to prevent women from leaving the state for their HEALTH CARE. Trump has been quoted (I actually saw it when he said it, to Chris Matthews) “There should be punishment for abortion.” He was asked if it should be women being punished and Trump answered, “yes.” enough said!

I could go on and on about Project 2025 – please read it for yourself before it’s too late if you’re an undecided voter, or if you actually believe the BS spewed by outlets like Fox “news.” My last point is consider the courts. The DAMAGE done by the courts since Trump’s first reign goes well beyond the overturning of Roe. But, consider this, if Trump wins both Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are expected to retire paving the way for two MORE right wing ideologues who are YOUNG which will keep this Court in the hands of people like the Federalist Society and the Heritage Institute for more than a “generation.” The American people have a big decision to make on November 5th, 2024. Stay tuned…….

Final Thought: Check out the PBS documentary “Nazi Town, U.S.A.” where you’ll see video evidence of how deep the Nazi movement in America was back in the 1930’s. Rachel Maddow has a great book about this called “Prequel, an American Fight against Fascism.” In February of 1939 the American Fascist Party – if I remember correctly they called themselves the “German American Bund” – held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York with 20,000 in attendance giving the “heil Hitler” salute to Fritz Kuhn, the leader of the Bund. I mention this for two reasons; first, I believe Trump’s father was in attendance at this rally (based on my intuition) – remember he was arrested at a KKK rally in the 1920’s and is a first generation German American – and, secondly, Trump is holding one of his final rallies of the campaign at, you guessed it, Madison Square Garden.

So, why would Trump be giving his closing remarks at the Garden? I mean, here’s the Five Thirty Eight summation of the polls in New York: Harris 54.1% to Trump’s 39.3%. You’re correct, that’s a 15 point difference in Ms. Harris’ favor. So, again, why would Trump be doing this? Well, I’m not a mind reader (that should be obvious), but I do notice all the “dog whistling” going on in Trump’s campaign. Could this be more than a “dog whistle?” Well, with the recent public statements by several Generals who were part of Trump’s administration that he’s a FASCIST, well maybe this is a way to confirm his beliefs without coming out publicly and saying it for his white nationalist base that, yes, I’m a fascist! As far back as the 1920’s (at least) the KKK has been considered a FASCIST organization. Two plus two equals………….. Yikes!

Trump constantly accusing Kamala Harris of being “Marxist, Communist, Fascist is obviously part of his strategy of “PROJECTION” – which I’ve talked about here for a long time as Trump’s “alignment” with Adolf Hitler and Hitler’s strategy for obtaining and keeping POWER – in this case attempting to insulate himself from those of us who (long ago) began referring to Trump as a FASCIST. Trump also uses Hitler’s “Big Lie Theory” to much success because our Mainstream Media (MSM) seems unwilling to present the reality of Trump’s 2nd (and worse) assault on America culminating one way or the other in the election of November 5th, 2024.

And, of course, Trump also has LONG used Hitler’s “Big Lie Theory” – LYING right to the face of his supporters with not a bit of conscience – to manipulate the minds of the unsuspecting Americans who find themselves in Trump’s cult. Trump’s LIES flow off his tongue like water going through a sieve and, as you listen to why Trump supporters stand with him it becomes clear he’s convinced them his LIES are actually “truth.” For example, the number of Trump supporters I’ve listened to who base their support on “immigration” makes it clear not many Americans are aware it was Trump who torpedoed the bipartisan immigration bill last year written by one of the most conservative members of Congress.

Trump’s fascist tendencies have been obvious for years. I mean, just the fact he inspired a full blown INSURRECTION in an attempted coup d’etat (with, by the way, the help of HUNDREDS or republican members of Congress) SHOULD be enough for him to NEVER be near any position of power EVER again. In fact, that INSURRECTION is likely the main reason he’s pushing so hard to be president once again. He’s been found guilty of 34 FELONIES in New York (election interference), state charges for which he’s facing sentencing shortly after this election, and something like (potentially, depending on how the 11th circuit court of appeals rules on Trump’s stealing of TOP SECRET documents) another 50 alleged FELONIES in three other pending cases.

This leads to one of the things bugging me as I closely watch this campaign. Neither the Harris campaign nor the MSM (Mainstream Media), as far as I can tell, are saying much about Trump’s 34 FELONY convictions or the other examples of his CORRUPT conduct pending in the courts. What the??? Why is this so? I mean, I’m listening to interviews with potential Trump voters who sound, well – I’m sorry, (OK, when it comes to this election and politics) STUPID. I have no idea how many of them are aware of all of Trump’s potential legal woes (should he LOSE) because – no one appears to be ASKING them! For heaven’s sake, at least ask these people how comfortable they are with a pathological LYING, narcissistic, misogynistic, xenophobic FELON as our next president.

I’m also not hearing much on the foreign policy front in this election other than Arabs and Palestinians in Michigan won’t vote for Ms. Harris. I have to ask myself, will they then be happy with Trump in the “White House.” I mean, despite both Harris and Biden working overtime to get a cease fire in GAZA – to no avail – do these people believe Trump will be working with Bibi Netanyahu for a “two state solution?” As the saying from some sports announcers go, “Come on man!” Trump and his benefactors are attempting to prove to the world that America’s democratic republic has run its course and the solution is pure unadulterated fascism (see Project 2025).

Honestly, for me, however this election turns out things don’t look good from my perspective. We have a Supreme Court which has overturned 50 years of women having autonomy over their own bodies, has opened up our elections to BILLIONAIRES to buy their way into even more power, has gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has blocked affirmative action from entrance requirements at the nation’s top universities, has taken the job of experts determining what’s best regarding the administration of our traditional government institutions (IE – the energy department, the environmental protection agency, etc. etc.), ruled that the 14th amendment to the Constitution doesn’t say what it OBVIOUSLY says, and, maybe worst of all, has given presidents the right to violate the laws they take an oath to uphold, so long as they do it during “official” business. Once again, What the???? Yet, the Court’s chosen candidate may win.

Apparently, the United States voting in a fascist for the next four years MIGHT be what it takes to get the attention of our people and the MSM – which has been busy “both sidesing” Trump and his democratic opponents for YEARS. I thought they had learned back in 2016 and the ensuing four years – which included a disastrous response to a “once in a century” pandemic where, by many accounts, tens of thousands of Americans died needlessly. And, of course, from my vantage point when Trump said, “I take no responsibility” for the disastrous response – well, to me, that was enough to cement the FACT he’s unfit for the job.

Clearly, Trump is running for president in order to stay out of jail. My feeling is Merrick Garland’s dragging of his feet is why Trump may get away with maybe the most terrible CRIMES committed against this nation, EVER. I mean, what other president attempted a coup? But, it may turn out the opposite. What if Garland was correct? I mean, it seemed EVERY time Trump was indicted (it happened FOUR times) his “base” became more solidly behind him. I truly hope that isn’t how this story ends. I’ve always rested my hopes on one reality – there are MORE women than men in this country.

I mean it SHOULD be the women of America who are rushing to the polls to vote AGAINST the republican party which was like the “dog which caught the car” when the Court overturned Roe. I mean, just in Texas – which has one of the more draconian anti-abortion laws – maternal mortality has risen 56% since the fall of Roe. That’s a LOT! And, you’d think that would catch the attention of not just women, but also husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, that is, MEN! But, according to the polls this is a 50/50 election. It could go either way. Yikes!

I honestly don’t think my stomach can handle another four years of Trump. And, should he win and the majority of economists be correct – “we the people” will be attempting to “make America great again” in four years. The predictions are a rise in inflation – which has finally been nearly “tamed” after the rise following the pandemic – and the potential of economic disaster within months of Trump implementing his Project 2025 – and, don’t allow yourself to be fooled into thinking another of his MASSIVE pile of LIES – that he doesn’t know anything about Project 2025. Ask the 140 former members of his administration who helped put the 900+ page roadmap to fascism if they believe that LIE?

Trump voters I’ve listened to and talked to believe the stuff they shouldn’t believe – IE “communists, Marxists, fascists” when describing democrats, MILLIONS of murderers, rapists, people from mental institutions, and terrorists are coming across our “open borders, and democrats want to end our “democracy” – while NOT believing the stuff they SHOULD. For example, Trump is the one who blocked the most conservative border legislation in a generation. Trump is the one who is arguably “fascist” – don’t believe me, just ask Mark Milley and John Kelly, two four star generals who worked closely with him and have described him as a fascist. In fact, Milley went so far as to describe him as “fascist to the core.”

And, of course, if you’ve listened closely to Trump, or read even a portion of Project 2025 you KNOW it’s the republicans (“conservatives”) who want to end our democracy (democratic republic). Trump has even stated he wants to throw out the constitution (or words to that effect) and the Supreme Court has, in essence, granted him the rights of a king – should he manage to win in November. That said, it can be easily argued the Supreme Court is right there with the republicans in wanting to see America’s original experiment ended. I mean, just the OBVIOUS ploy to prevent Trump from standing trial in the “January 6th” prosecution – they dragged out an incredibly disgusting decision for six months and made it impossible for that case to be tried – if it ever is – for at least another year after this election – and, ONLY if Ms. Harris should win.

And, I can virtually guarantee this – I SHOULD say I’ll make this prediction: Trump will NEVER stand trial for ANY of his CRIMINAL conduct – plus will never face punishment in his “election interference” case in Manhattan where he’s been CONVICTED of 34 FELONIES – either way, win or lose in November. I’ve been predicting for a couple years now Trump will choose to fuel up his plane and head for somewhere without an extradition treaty with the U.S. (maybe Russia?) before he allows himself to face a prison sentence. I’m pretty sure he can pull this off even after his passport has been confiscated and even if he was to be held in “house arrest.” We’ve seen that manipulating our “nation of laws” has been no problem for our TWICE IMPEACHED four times indicted two times popular vote LOSING and 34 times CONVICTED FELON (ex) president. He’s proven what can be done with unprincipled lawyers and a CORRUPT Supreme Court! Stay tuned……

Final Thought: Here’s another thing I don’t hear mentioned in the MSM often – in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this mentioned. BOTH Trump and JD Vance (who WILL become president at some point should Trump “win”) are married to IMMIGRANTS. Apparently, they’re just not married to the type of IMMIGRANT who they DISHONESTLY claim are eating people’s pets. Both still refuse to own up to that LIE, accept for Vance claiming that if he has to LIE to focus people’s attention on the problem – which, by the way, doesn’t exist – well, he’s willing to do so. Now, I don’t mean to say America doesn’t desperately need comprehensive immigration reform – but, if you look at the history of attempts to solve this problem it’s ALWAYS blocked either by republicans in Congress, or, as in the case of this past year, by Trump himself – who openly, at the time, said he didn’t want the problem solved – it would take away his main issue. And, sadly, he’s being proved correct, when you listen to the number of Trump voters who are basing their vote on our “open borders.” Yikes!!! Stay

My son took a class in “AI” at a university and we had several discussions of the future of “AI” with me claiming it was going to be used to swing elections by brutally dishonest people – including foreigners interested in having input in the outcome of specific American elections. Evidence shows that day has arrived. And, somehow, this 2024 election cycle appears to be close despite the reality the republican party, as I’ve been saying for about 20 years now pushes the saying “all politicians lie” to the incredulous, and needs to be voted into the history books next to Benedict Arnold, where it belongs.

And, that’s not to say “we the people” don’t need two functioning political parties to make our system of government work as it was intended. I’ve posted on this site over the years the “history” (my take of it) of republican politics emanating from the so-called “Powell memo” (back in the early 1970’s) written to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the “engine” which has produced the (near fascist) corporate/government partnership existing in America leading to a transfer of America’s Middle Class wealth of something like 50 TRILLION dollars to a small number of America Oligarchs who continue “investing” MILLIONS into the American political system allowing for the continuing of this “highway robbery!” How “low” will they go? There appears to be NO bottom!

I take several online surveys because I’m a “member” (I guess) of the Yougov online survey community. I’m someone who pays attention to politics “most of the time.” (If you’ve been here before, that should be obvious) So, some interesting “stuff” is popping up where republicans (or their illegal surrogates, ie the Russians) are showing absolutely (worse than “normal”) DISHONEST political ads using “AI” to twist the words of democrats into political “pretzels.”

A prime example of what I’m talking about is an ad (published by a Russian group going by the moniker of “Storm 1516) claiming to have a former student of Tim Walz (the former student is fake using a name and profile stolen from a man who lives in Hawaii) alleging Walz, when he was a teacher and football coach committed sexual assault. Of course, various republican outlets “ran” with the story and it was shared on Xwitter with reportedly 5 million viewers. (Of course, there’s NO part of Xwitter “moderating” fake news because Elon Musk FIRED the moderators shortly after buying what was then referred to as “Twitter”) This “fake news” was apparently spread across the “swing states” which decide America’s elections via the antiquated (and “deplorable”) electoral college that continues to allow a minority of America’s voters to potentially control our “elections.”

I live in one of the states (Washington) which only gets public political ads when they’re shown on national TV broadcasts – which is OK to me. Apparently, Washington is part of the “left coast” and is reliably “safe” regarding its electoral votes going to Kamala Harris. But we do get national TV! So, for example, I see political ads when watching a sporting event. Just as the national polls for president, in Washington’s 3rd Congressional district the “race” is considered a “tossup” and both the national republican campaign operation AND the democratic campaign operation are spending money on advertising here (which is unusual based on previous elections) because it appears control of the House could be determined by the outcome of this “race.”

Interesting enough, I’ve become a strong supporter of Marie Perez who is the acting representative from my district, Washington’s 3rd. In 2022 she surprised the pollsters by defeating the right wing associate of Matt Gaetz who was favored by less than one percent. This right wing wack job, Joe Kent – who’s been endorsed, of course, by Trump – has been the recipient of at least one ad – drawn up by republicans at the national level – which ended with Mr. Kent saying “I endorse this message” – and is clearly “AI” generated regarding the (false) words coming from Ms. Perez’ mouth.

I haven’t heard of any “experts” reporting this, but if you’ve watched enough of Steven Colbert on his CBS nighttime comedy/talk show you can recognize when the movement of the lips don’t correlate with the words (apparently) coming out of the mouth. In other words, someone (in this instance, apparently the republican congressional campaign committee) is experimenting with “AI” and publishing FAKE ads on TV shows – programming local people see on their TV’s in our district and probably believe. This is simply more of the republicans’ mantra of “the end justifies the means.” It remains to be seen how many local voters fall for this “smear,” although I suspect most republicans will internalize it. (As I remember it, Kent’s ad was putting false words in Perez’ mouth regarding – naturally – immigration)

The false advertising from republicans seems to have been regarded by the general public as, well, OK? Normal? I don’t know what to say other than it’s a never ending flood of the kind of “sewage” coming from their republican “mouths” that would have gotten me, in my youth, to have my mouth washed out with soap.. (I still remember my Mom doing so to me the first time she heard an “F bomb” coming out of my mouth when I was very young – and, didn’t know what it meant) There are numerous examples of this republican tactic, but one that stands out to me.

Republican advertising is spreading a LIE about Ms. Harris and her supposed connection to a federal policy regarding taxpayer funding of sex change operations for prisoners and “illegal aliens.” They’re suggesting Ms. Harris is responsible for this policy. The ad is being run mainly in “swing states” although I’ve seen it more than once on national TV. The TRUTH is the policy Trump’s campaign is referring to is an executive order signed by, of course, TRUMP himself back in 2019. The “Lincoln Project” – who I support with a small monthly donation – is pushing back on this insidious attack on Ms. Harris. I suggest, if you haven’t already, that you check out the “Lincoln project” on the web – a group of republicans who’ve been “reformed.” You can see their response to Trump’s disgusting ad HERE.

As I often say here, with republicans there’s ALWAYS more. And the pile of bulls@#t in this presidential campaign coming from Trump is too enormous to list all of it. There’s Trump LYING about FEMA workers who are attempting to provide relief to victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton resulting in MAGA “faithful” confronting these workers while being armed with their “militia” style weaponry. (IE – AR-15 style weapons) And, then with being confronted with the results of the danger posed to these workers by his rhetoric, what does Trump do? Of course, he “doubles down.” (His MO is to NEVER admit doing anything wrong – a lesson learned from Mob lawyer Roy Cohn)

There’s even Trump going on a ten minute “story time” with voters in Latrobe, Pennsylvania – where Arnold Palmer was born and began his professional golfing career – about Mr. Palmer. Of course, Trump couldn’t resist the chance to share with his adoring public a story about the size of Mr. Palmer’s – penis. Yep, that’s actually very true because I heard the entire rambling myself. For republicans, that’s “presidential.”

Trump also decided in the past week or so, to stop a Town Hall meeting where the questions from the audience apparently weren’t “properly” vetted, and where two people fainted apparently due to the heat in the venue (before he began his “dancing” he made light of the people being hauled out of the facility on stretchers – “anyone else want to feint?”) – Trump then spent the last 39 minutes of the Town Hall “swaying” to his chosen “Spotify play list,” with the hostess, Kristi Noem, dutifully trying to follow along! Embarrassing? An understatement! The guy’s losing it!

“We the people” have grown used to the LYING by republicans in their advertising to go well, way beyond the “spinning” of facts which is the kind of political advertising I grew up with in years before Trump. We all have opinions on stuff and it’s difficult to impossible to come to conclusions without personal bias. For example, I had a friend who used to do improvements to our home (regrettably, he’s passed away) and him and one of his employees, prior to the 2020 election were remodeling one of our bathrooms. His employee was clearly, based on stuff he said, “MAGA” and I had never talked politics up to that time with my friend (who many years ago pitched for the NY Yankees). I asked him – after a Trump comment from his employee – what he thought of Trump? He responded, “I’d vote for a can of tomato soup for president before I’d vote for Trump.” Well, that summed up my thoughts better than I could up to that time.

So, I know my opinion on facts is biased by my disdain for what I’ve called “today’s republican party” – for about 20 years now as it’s creeped farther and farther to the “right.” Astonishingly, one of the original objects of my anti-republican despair, Dick Cheney, has come out publicly in support of Ms. Harris – along with his daughter Liz. While I’ve found Liz Cheney to be “deplorably” MAGA over the years prior to the January 6th, 2021 Trump induced INSURRECTION at our nation’s Capitol, I have to admit, I’ve learned to admire her COURAGE in standing up to the MAGA extremists (after Jan. 6, 2021) who, undoubtedly, are threatening her on a continuing basis, based on her steadfast refusal to participate in the republican LIES about Trump’s attempted coup d’etat.

When Dick and Liz Cheney say the republican party is too extreme, well, that says to me, “I rest my case!” (While my hand slams down on the table) I mean, I’m sure Mr. Cheney has not repented in regard to his public admission he authorized TORTURE during the ill advised and ILLEGAL U.S. venture into Iraq in 2003. Back when Keith Olberman was the host of “Countdown” on MSNBC I’m fairly certain Dick Cheney received the “honor” of being one of the “Worst Persons in the World” from Olberman more than once. I say this because yesterday I witnessed, once again, a Town Hall where Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney were appearing together.

As someone who’s been lamenting the (Newt Gingrich inspired) era of republican induced Congressional gridlock and their intransigence leading them to FILIBUSTER every initiative coming from democrats helping to create the American political reality of “us against them” politics. Naturally, Trump has enflamed this “reality” and it “warmed my heart” watching/listening to Ms. Harris and Ms. Cheney acknowledging their different views on the issues but agreeing about the importance of LISTENING to one another.

Aside: I used to have (what I thought was) a friend who I would meet periodically for breakfast where we – him being a republican and me a liberal independent – would have spirited discussions about politics. I, at the time, admired the fact he and his wife had adopted and raised three African American children (who were by then young adults). I was taken aback when he, knowing and admitting to Trump’s disgusting personal conduct, joined the MAGA cult. We continued to meet, usually about every other week, until the election of 2020. (He bet me a steak dinner in 2016 that Trump would win and we went “double or nothing” for the 2020 election) Just prior to the 2020 election my friend said a couple things about one of his adopted children that raised the hair on my back. There was no other way than for me to interpret his comments about his adopted daughter than as racist – a red line for me. I tried to find a way to think it was a mistake, but when I brought it up he “doubled down” – in true MAGA fashion.

After Joe Biden WON the 2020 election I started getting emails demonstrating he had bought the “stolen election” bulls#$t coming from Trump’s mouth and after January 6th, 2021 I stopped hearing from him. Our relationship was terminated by LIES coming from Trump’s mouth. I say all this because I think that’s why I was encouraged watching Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney – seemingly political polar opposites – agreeing that defending our constitution and rule of law was a commonality between them. And, listening to them talking about the importance of “listening” to one another was encouraging.

As I said earlier, we all process FACTS based on our own prejudices – but, the bottom line is FACTS are FACTS! NOT “alternative facts” but clear situations where the TRUTH is beyond debate. Yes, how you interpret that FACT is going to be different than how someone else does, but denying the TRUTH of something is, well, not the TRUTH. For example, the result of the 2020 election had a record number of voters and Joe Biden had approximately 7 MILLION more votes than Trump. Trump has argued for almost four years now the FACT he got more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 (and didn’t win) means the election was “rigged.” It would take very creative thinking, from my vantage point, for anyone to argue – with factual information – that Trump won in 2020, even in the Electoral College. However, at a minimum, people should be able to disagree about it without one side being threatened. Even if someone seems crazy (Trump and MAGA sycophants) it’s important to listen to one another.

I actually really looked forward to my conversations with my (long lost) friend, knowing every time we sat down for breakfast we would be, in a good natured way, arguing. But, most importantly, we’d be listening to each other. I’m not sure either of us changed the other’s perspective, but (at least) I really looked forward to our get-togethers. I’ve sent him messages a few times since the 2020 election but, with no response. I’m expecting an “I told you so” message from him after this upcoming election if Trump somehow manages to CHEAT his way into another four disastrous years for our nation and the Western world. My hope, of course, is Kamala Harris will win a decisive victory allowing for Trump to deal with his NUMEROUS alleged FELONIES, and that the end result will be republicans and democrats somehow working together in a good faith effort to solve problems to the benefit of the American people.

As I see more and more of the FAKE news (the original fake news) coming from Russian sources and using “AI” to generate disingenuous bulls@#t in Vladimir Putin’s just as desperate attempt to swing this election Trump’s way as Trump’s desperate attempt to avoid potential prison sentences if he loses (A Trump “win” in the election will equate to a Russian “win” in Ukraine – more than likely) my optimism is paused. I almost couldn’t believe Joe Kent’s attack ad in my home district against Marie Perez which was clearly “AI” generated – including the false words (seemingly) coming from Ms. Perez’ mouth – I couldn’t believe my eyes (and ears) until I remembered Kent is a devotee to Matt Gaetz, he the alleged “sex trafficking of a minor” fame – who is known for sharing lewd photos from his “smart phone” with other members of Congress regarding his exploits with women. Nothing SHOULD surprise me anymore, but there’s always a new “low” when it comes to “today’s republican party.” Solution: VOTE THEM OUT!

Final Thought: I got a bit more carried away than usual today, but the more I read about how the republicans disrespect their own voters enough to continually LIE while looking straight at their voters’ faces, the more disgusted I get. Today, it’s the “AI” fake news (well actually I witnessed Kent’s “AI” cheating a day or two ago) and learning the “terrible” federal transgender programs” Trump is attacking Harris with suggesting her to be the perpetrator (and regarding that issue I go with Tim Walz saying: “Mind your own damn business) is actually a federal program Trump, himself, signed into (law?) back in 2019. Just MORE of his PROJECTION – his strategy taken straight from the annals of the Third Reich. (If you’re too young to understand what that means – it comes from Hitler’s Nazi Germany!) Stay tuned!!

Mr. Hartmann is one of my heroes. I subscribe to his substack (he says “pass it on” so I do) and I’ve purchased his latest book. I highly recommend it!

Can America Avoid Another Civil War?

…and instead make the transition from a white-controlled economic and political system to a truly multiracial, multi-religious pluralistic democracy with a stable middle class?

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” —Voltaire

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There’s little doubt that if Donald Trump thought starting a civil war to seize and hold power in America would work, he’d do it. As would the majority of his cult members.

But could they pull it off? Could America be on the edge of a possible second Civil War? And, if so, why and how did it get this far?

Most people would argue, “Aren’t civil wars usually started by the downtrodden? By the poor and disenfranchised? Rich and powerful people don’t start civil wars, do they?”

Amazingly, that widespread belief is almost 100 percent wrong. (Of course we believe this wrongly: rich and powerful people typically write history.)

It turns out that the vast majority of the hundreds of civil wars fought throughout history were started by those in power or wealthy elites very close to power. Facing economic, political, or demographic change, they’re the ones who see their wealth and power slipping away from them; that’s why they start civil wars, to hang onto that power and the wealth associated with it.

Serbs in power started the terrible civil war in the Balkans. Wealthy plantation owners in the American south started our Civil War. Wealthy Sunnis in majority Shiite Iraq started the Iraq Civil War. Other examples of recent civil wars started by in-power elites (I’ve done relief work in the midst of three, in Colombia, South Sudan, and Uganda) are listed at the end of this article.

And today a few dozen morbidly rich members of America’s elite, including the world’s richest man, using input occasionally provided by Vladimir Putin, could very well help start a 21st century American civil war.

Barbara F. Walter is the Rohr Professor of International Affairs at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego and one of the world’s leading experts on civil wars, violent extremism, and domestic terror. She’s also the author of five books including, in 2022, How Civil Wars Start: And How To Stop Them.

Walter identifies several major factors that predictably create the conditions for a civil war, and today the US meets them all.

The first is that the country is an anocracy rather than a democracy.

In an anocracy, there are all the trappings of a democracy — elections, political debates, peaceful transitions of power — but the government has ceased to serve its people, devoting virtually all its energy instead to supporting the elites that have captured it.

Typically it is one political party that flips a nation into being an anocaracy, and they are able to do it because they have formed an alliance with the country’s wealthiest people. This form of government might be described as, “Of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.” That’s what happened in over a dozen other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America over the past century.

Russia and Hungary today, for example, are anocracies. And, over the past few decades, America has largely become one, too.

Consider how much of “what average people want” actually got done in the era from the 1930s to the 1980s: We got from our democratic government the right to unionize, Social Security, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, high-quality public schools and nearly free colleges, food and housing support for the poor, Medicare, Medicaid, voting rights, low-cost healthcare, and reasonably priced insurance (among other things). Housing was affordable.

As I note in my new book, The Hidden History of the American Dream:

When my dad bought his home in the 1950s, the median price of a single-family house was around 2.2 times the median American family income. Today the St. Louis Fed says the median house sells for $417,700 while the median American income is $40,480—a ratio of more than 10 to 1 between housing costs and annual income.

Wealthy elites were held in check by high taxation, and anti-trust laws were enforced to prevent the formation of monopolies. “Good government” laws set rigid limits on dark money in politics. More than half of the members of Congress during most of that era came from the middle class.

As a result, Congress helped out average Americans and kept the power of the morbidly rich in check. CEOs only took home 30 times what the average worker earned.

Since the Reagan Revolution, however, that system was flipped upside down and America has slid into anocracy.

Newt Gingrich convinced Republicans in the 1990s that they should never compromise with Democrats, and in 2010 five Republicans on the Supreme Court ruled that billionaires and corporations could give unlimited amounts of money to aid political campaigns.

Billionaires and giant corporations essentially took over our government. Today, they buy elections in ways that would’ve earned a prison sentence 50 years ago.

As a result, average Americans no longer get what they want from their government. We’ve seen the middle class collapse over the past 43 years, going from around two-thirds of us when Reagan came into office to well below half of us today. Rubbing salt into that wound, today it takes two incomes to maintain a similar lifestyle to what a single paycheck could provide in 1980, and college, housing, and health insurance have all become unaffordable.

Since Reagan suspended enforcement of the anti-trust laws and cut taxes on the wealthy in the 1980s, the morbidly rich have seized fully $50 trillion that used to be in the homes and retirement accounts of working class people and moved it into their own money bins.

They’re using it to buy super-yachts, build giant penis-shaped rockets to blast themselves into outer space, and to purchase politicians. Three men own more wealth than the bottom half of America.

And they want to hang onto it.

The result is that we’re seeing the most visible symptom of an anocracy: The elite get whatever they want while the average person sees almost no help or support from a government that now seems remote and disinterested.

That, says Walter, is the first characteristic of a country on the brink of a civil war.

The second is that in-power elites suddenly begin to face the possibility of losing some or even all of their power, and the wealth associated with it, which provokes them to encourage strife.

Often this is caused by demographic change, which is exactly what’s happening in today’s America.

Within a single generation the non-white population will be larger than the white population (it already is in Texas, for example), and non-white politicians and business people are gaining wealth and power.

To provoke civil strife, white workers are told by Republicans like Trump that non-whites “want your jobs” (and want to “rape your women”), and that America is becoming a “hellish” “shithole country” as it gets browner and browner.

Thus, civil war occurs when the elites themselves pit factions within a nation against each other, mainly to keep the focus away from their own pillaging of the country while preserving their own wealth and power.

That, of course, is at the core of the Republican Party’s current electoral strategy.

Even Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were willing to collaborate and work with Democrats to get things done. Now that the GOP has become primarily the party of white grievance, Republican politicians view their role (beyond more tax cuts for white elites) as blocking any forward progress that may help the country’s non-white near-majority.

Exacerbating this divide, social media now uses secret algorithms that reward outrage and hate, inflaming the white majority and certifying their fear of a loss of wealth and status at the hands of non-white people and their allies in the Democratic Party.

That elevated profile of grievance on social media also causes the haters — being algorithmically amplified — to believe their numbers are much larger than they actually are, which makes them even more dangerous.

A final factor that inflames the chance of a civil war here is the presence of over 400 million guns, many of them weapons designed specifically for the battlefield. Most are in the possession of the same white now-majority that fears their place in society is slipping because of the growing population of non-white people.

Having read Walter’s work (and others) and worked in the middle of three civil wars myself, I believe if Trump can manage to seize power this fall and again become president, he will try to start a civil war.

His language is a near mirror image of that coming out of the old South in the 1850s; he’s already threatening to unleash the military on America’s people (the definition of a civil war); and he’s supported by several billionaires whose formative years were spent in apartheid South Africa.

Those same billionaires, in fact, funded the rise of JD Vance to the Senate.

On the other hand, if Trump decisively loses this fall and is unable to seize power via the Supreme Court or other means, I believe he’ll still try to start a second American civil war. The odds of his success are much lower without full access to the levers of power, but that hasn’t stopped many others in his same position throughout history.

Walter points this all out in her book and an amazing Ted Talk that’s well worth fifteen minutes of your time.

So, what can we do?

Walter argues that one of the top ways America could calm tensions and step back from the possibility of civil war is to regulate social media so they can no longer use their secret algorithms to prioritize messages — many originating from Russia — that are intentionally designed to tear the country apart.

The other step, of course, is to return America from anocracy back to democracy. That will require re-outlawing dark money in politics by reversing Citizens United, re-regulating corporate and individual contributions to candidates and causes, and returning our government to functions that give average people what they want rather than simply catering to elites.

Can we do it?

There’s little doubt in my mind that both President Biden and Vice President Harris are well aware of these circumstances that threaten actual nationwide violence; both have repeatedly referenced them, albeit tangentially or vaguely.

That increases the chances that if Democrats can take both houses of Congress and hold the White House this fall we can step back from the abyss while making life much, much better for the majority of Americans of all races and religions.

And that might even bring many of these Trump cult followers back to their rational senses, as America puts itself back together like we did after the Republican Great Depression. Dissent diminishes, after all, as society becomes more prosperous and egalitarian.

Can America avoid that worst civil war outcome and instead make the transition from a white-controlled economic and political system to a truly multiracial, multireligious, pluralistic democracy with a diverse middle class that’s again stable and prospering?

The answer, if enough of us vote this fall, is most likely an emphatic “Yes.”

The Hartmann Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my daily work to bring true democracy to America, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

One thing people must remember when following the upcoming presidential election is that Trump has a decided advantage with Social Media which, to me, is proving to be a plague on our nation. First, of course, Elon Musk who owns Xwitter can control what comes and goes on that platform and secondly, the reality is Trump’s campaign STILL has access to the data Cambridge Analytica STOLE from Facebook back in 2016 exposing the info of 57 MILLION Americans. And, to boot, that Facebook material was organized into “neighborhoods” allowing targeted ads to be sent – much of it the misinformation which was the original “fake news.”

Trump’s campaign used the Cambridge Analytica data (along with the Russians, the Saudi’s, the Emerati’s, the Egyptians, and Israeli’s) to flood Facebook with targeted misinformation in 2016. Clearly it worked then and I’m guessing it’s working now. I don’t frequent Social Media so I’m commenting based on my instincts, but the reality is I’m seeing the polls closing towards Trump once again as we get to the finish line. I “get” that the polls are just the polls, but, to me, it’s really unnerving to know that close to 50% of Americans are willing to vote for Trump.

People who are benefiting from the legislation passed by the Biden administration don’t appear to be cognizant of what’s been done for them. I’m reading a lot of articles where Trump supporters are being questioned and I’m just finishing a book by Jeff Sharlet, “The Undertow, Scenes from a Slow Civil War,” where he travels from one side of the country to the other questioning the hard core Trump supporters – those who consider Ashli Babbitt a “martyr” – and there’s little logic to their reasoning. In short, they hate the government and they believe virtually every word coming from the mouth of Donald Trump – maybe the worst pathological LIAR I’ve ever witnessed. Many of them a QAnon devotees.

Union members in Pennsylvania (the elders) are reported to be “pissed off” at all the younger members who’ve fallen for Trump’s schtick. I listened to a meeting where members of an electricians union were questioned and the younger members were kind of like “whaat?” When asked to explain why they were going to vote for Trump. I remember one guy who, just after listening to one of the elder members of the union explaining how Trump put the “thumbs down” to a bipartisan immigration policy earlier this year say he was voting for Trump – after stopping to think of a reason – because of immigration. I could see the steam coming from the brow of his “brother” who had just spoken. A couple of the young guys didn’t even understand the job they were on was a direct result of the “Science and Chips Act.”

Another issue which could prove fatal to Kamala Harris’ campaign is the war in GAZA. Large numbers of young Americans are holding the Biden administration accountable for the actions of Bibi Netanyahu. I have a “Millennial” son and I often have to walk away from conversations with him because he’s even more cynical than myself. I’m 77 and I understand why America must stand with Israel – despite the fact (and I’m certain of this) Netanyahu wants Trump’s return to the “White House.” I told my son on October 7th, 2023 that the Israeli’s would “flatten” GAZA and Netanyahu would continue the war indefinitely out of self preservation.

Well, the young people of America know the Israeli’s are using U.S. produced munitions in their assault on GAZA and they’re blaming Biden. While I want that war stopped as much as anyone I keep telling my son President Biden can’t order Netanyahu to do anything. And, cutting off America’s support for Israel simply opens the “door” for Iran to attempt to do what they’ve been wanting for 75 years and that’s to blow Israel off the map. I can’t imagine any American president NOT choosing to support Israel after what happened in the second World War. When I explain that to my son I get a sort of “so what” response. In the reading I’ve been doing of late I believe there are many young people who would otherwise vote for Ms. Harris who are conflicted and, who knows, may not vote at all – or, some might actually vote for Trump – apparently, unaware of Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu. The HOPE for a “two state” solution will depend on America electing democrats for the foreseeable future.

Much of the misinformation concerning the war in GAZA, the war in Ukraine, and the issues like immigration, racism, and abortion is – from what I’m understanding – floating around on Social Media. I know the stuff my son spews to me which causes me to push back comes from Social Media. And, it’s true, every time war breaks out between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians, historically, the Palestinians take the brunt of the damage. If I know that, it can be no secret. Well, it seems to me YahYa Sinwar knew this as much as anyone, but could care less about the Palestinian people. He knew they were going to suffer great losses after October 7th, especially because HAMAS was hiding behind civilian “targets.” So, who cared less about the Palestinian people, the Israeli’s or the leaders of HAMAS.

It seems to me the goal of HAMAS was/is to start a wider war in the region. I don’t know enough about that part of the world to feel certain, but one thing which is clear is Iran is looking for any reason to attack Israel, and, of course, they do it with their “proxies.” (They don’t, for example, want Israel making a peace accord with Saudi Arabia or the other Arab states) So, count Iran as another part of the equation where they don’t care at all about the Palestinian people. I’ve even read where Netanyahu has actually worked to prop of HAMAS in the past as a way to prevent the so-called “two state” solution. As I’ve said, I “get” where the young Americans are coming from, but I question whether or not they have a full grasp on the history of that region. That said, I too look forward to the day when Netanyahu is facing a court for his alleged crimes just as I’m hoping Trump gets the same “privilege” here in America.

My point tonight is there are several issues which I believe are being targeted with misinformation on platforms like Facebook and Xwitter. As I’ve said, with Elon Musk the head of Xwitter there’s not much which can be done to fight against this. However, Facebook is led by Mark Zuckerberg who I believe is all about the $$$”s. Might he be susceptible to public pressure to put a stop to it? Although, realistically, it’s probably too close to the election to matter. Whatever damage has been done, is done. Just potentially furthering my suspicion that Social Media is the force behind the negativity pitting Americans against each other and opening the door to the possibility of America becoming a fascist state. Yikes!!

Final Thought: As if “we the people” needed further evidence that Donald Trump is loosing his marbles and is unfit to be the next president (as I wrote in my previous post, JD Vance is waiting in the wings) The other day in Latrobe Pennsylvania, the home of golf legend Arnold Palmer, Trump spent about 10 minutes rambling about his Palmer stories with one of them focused on the size of Palmer’s – OK, his penis. I’m not kidding. Now, I don’t think Trump actually used that term, but his meaning couldn’t have been clearer. He was describing the comments about Palmer by other golfers who’d been in the clubhouse in the shower-room with him after a tournament round. Yes, that’s almost as bizarre as stopping the questions from the audience in a Town Hall and “swaying” to his “Spotify play list” for the last 39 minutes of the gathering. This is the guy who might “beat” the “rap” of all his CORRUPT conduct by CHEATING his way back into the “White House.”

And, “we the people” will be the “road kill” of the “conservative” march to the agenda laid out in “Project 2025.” I keep encouraging people to read it, but so far I don’t know a single person who’s taken me up on my – well, I guess it wasn’t really an offer – encouragement. I’ve published links here to the Project 2025 website at least three times – the last time I had to give them my email address so I’m not doing it again, but it’s easy to find. As I’ve said, I made it through the intro and the first 100 (or so) pages and I didn’t need to read more. It’s a roadmap to fascism and should Trump manage to “win” and get a republican Congress, well – “katy bar the door.”

In a lot of ways I’m encouraged about the election, but, for me, it’s too close for comfort regardless! I am discouraged by the number of Americans who’ve joined Trump’s cult!

Oh Yes! One other thing I’ve been reading about is the number of men who won’t vote for Kamala Harris for president because, well, she’s not a man. Well, duh! And, many of these men are complaining about the “status quo” (whatever they mean by that) – yet, hasn’t America been “ruled” by men for her entire history? Don’t you think trying a different approach might be warranted? (And, I say that as someone who absolutely learned to appreciate the accomplishments of Joe Biden – to me, the most capable politician regarding understanding how to make this government work) Stay tuned!!!

1

Donald Trump is extremely unpopular/unlikable but, it appears, JD Vance is even worse – by most accounts he’s the MOST unpopular VP candidate in modern history. The “MO” of Trump and Vance is the “shtick” devised in the early thirties by none other than Adolf Hitler in conjunction with his “minister of propaganda” Joseph Goebbels – the “Big Lie Theory” (repeat a LIE over and over until people believe it’s true) and “Projection” (accuse your “enemy” of the very things you’re doing yourself). In the interest of demonstrating Trump’s true intentions, here’s an example of the projection he’s made in just the past couple of weeks:

Under Harris, “America will be condemned to a fate of decline, desperation and despair,” Trump said at one stop. “Your family finances will be permanently destroyed. Your borders will be gone forever. Tens of millions more illegal aliens will invade our cities and towns. … Medicare and Social Security will buckle and collapse.” He went on to say that businesses would be “worthless” and that Harris “would crash the stock market like in 1929, annihilate the pensions, 401(k)s and all of the retirement accounts” and cause “your income to plummet, your net worth to collapse, your tax bills to soar and your jobs to totally disappear.” But none of this will matter, because, in Trump’s telling, she’ll also start World War III. (Thanks to Dana Milbank for that)

I could go on (and on and on…..) but, the point is Trump is quickly losing it (whatever he had in the first place) and, from where I sit, it’s highly unlikely he’ll survive four years in the “White House” if he somehow cheats his way back in. (By the way, one of his most outrageous use of projection is claiming the democrats will cheat in order to “steal” this coming election) This man is not well. He’s OVER 78 years old and his family has a history of dementia – his father died from Alzheimer’s. Therefore, his choice of VP becomes all the more important. And, he chose Vance, apparently based on the recommendation of Don Jr. Yikes!!!

Vance, he who admitted the “eating dogs and cats” was a “made up story” in order to get voters to focus more on their (his and Trump’s) LYING about immigration – not seeming to care he was creating a chaotic and dangerous situation for his OWN constituents – has less than TWO years in public service. Well, I’ll grant his time in the military was a public service – but NOTHING to prepare one to assume the duties of the President of the United States. He’s not even an effective, useful member of Congress. In short the guy is a wack job whose changed his position on Trump by 180 degrees in order to draw himself closer to power.

Vance is the product of Billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, two apologists for South Africa and the apartheid era. Musk was born in South Africa and is an IMMIGRANT. Theil was born in West Germany and is also an IMMIGRANT. He spent part of his youth in South Africa during the waning days of Apartheid. Both Musk and Thiel are clearly supporting politicians in America who have, at a minimum, made comments suggesting they are racists. Both seem to have a sweet spot for South Africa’s Apartheid government. Need I say more. Well, regardless, I’m not going to. You can figure out what’s going on re: Trump/Vance and these two BILLIONAIRES.

Trump is threatening to bring in a true mimicking of Russia’s fascist regime along with an era of OLIGARCHS. Now, don’t get me wrong, I already believe America is loaded with “OLIGARCHS” – but, it won’t take much to put her (America) into a full blown fascist state with an even more extreme example of a government/corporate partnership. We are close and what Joe Biden did in the previous 3 1/2 years and Kamala Harris is proposing for the next four does not appeal to those BILLIONAIRES like Musk and Theil who can’t seem to get enough MONEY.

And, trust me, their loyalty is to the money – not the U.S. or, even, Trump. In fact, I read a while back how Thiel purchased a large, isolated part of New Zealand where he can go when the s@#t hits the fan – so to speak. And, it almost seems as if he’s attempting to speed that process up. And, these aren’t the only two who would fall in the same category. (I’m talking about BILLIONAIRES here)

Make no mistake. There are BILLIONAIRES who support Kamala Harris and are openly campaigning for the preservation of our democratic republic. Trump has OPENLY suggested that his supporters wont have to vote again once they elect him in November. He suggested “we’ll have it all taken care of” (or words to that effect) suggesting either no more voting or us “radical left lunatics” won’t be allowed to vote. Who knows? The stuff coming from Trump’s mouth really does suggest he’s losing his “marbles.”

Regarding the lack of loyalty to the United States of Trump’s two Apartheid loving BILLIONAIRES, I think the same thing with Trump. I’ve been saying for a couple years now (sporadically) that I believe once the election is over and, if Ms. Harris prevails, Trump needs to be put on some kind of “house arrest” regarding his legal woes, because I think he’ll have his plane fueled up and he’ll be out of the country to some place with no extradition treaty with the U.S.

So, you can see why he’s acting with so much desperation. He’s focused on saving his own “donkey” (if you know what I mean?) and Kamala Harris is focused on saving our republic from a bunch of avowed fascists – who clearly don’t believe in our constitution and/or our form of democracy. (Once again, read “Project 2025”) Trump has MORE than 34 reasons to be desperate and his desperation MUST be taxing on someone 78 years old (I’m 77 and understand how the body is going “south” at this age) and his obvious mental decline suggests to me the odds of him lasting four years as president are slim and none. Therefore,, when you cast a vote for Trump, in my view, you’re ultimately casting a vote for Vance – and therefore people like Musk and Thiel. Just think about that! It appears close to half of America is on board with that nauseating thought. Yikes!!!

Final Thought: Speaking of PROJECTION – yesterday I watched a segment of a speech Elon Musk was giving to a group in Pennsylvania – where he’s trying to get Trump “over the hump” to win in that state. As he was speaking, he very casually mentioned while talking about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: “They have hundreds of puppet masters.” Well, I found that an interesting (alarming) LIE considering he’s supporting a 78 year old man who is showing himself to be “unstable and unfit” for the rigors of the job he’s “applying” for. Just read Project 2025 – the roadmap for the “next conservative president” – put together by a couple hundred “conservatives” (in America these days that appears to mean “fascists”) who will be “guiding” the next (Trump?) American “conservative” president.

I’m guilty of suggesting Trump is the puppet and those behind “Project 2025” are the “puppet masters” – but, the difference between myself and Elon Musk is I give “evidence” to support my contention. Obviously, there aren’t many American voters who are reading that manifesto because I rarely hear it even mentioned of late – including by Kamala Harris. Additionally, of late I have rarely heard Ms. Harris or her supporters mentioning Trump’s THIRTY FOUR FELONY convictions, plus his pending legal challenges which he’s attempting to erase by getting elected once again. I’m getting the feeling the work of Musk and his BILLIONAIRE associates is working as the “polls” are tightening in the “swing states.”

Politicians always have benefactors which they feel indebted, but this Project 2025 is something I’ve never seen in my 60 years of following politics. (Actually, closer to 70 years because my parents were active back in the 1950’s – I still remember the arguments between my Mom and Dad about Stevenson v Eisenhower) Not only is Musk using PROJECTION to hide “Project 2025,” but he’s funding some extremely “cynical” (using the description of HuffPost) advertising where he sends targeted ads to Pennsylvania voters identified as Palestinian supporters showing Kamala Harris as a strong supporter of Israel and, to the voters identified as Jewish, he’s sending ads depicting Ms. Harris as a strong supporter of the Palestinians. Will he get away with this? We’ll see! I’ve been saying for years republicans have a “the end justifies the means” strategy and it’s gone to an even more extreme – and, sadly, I believe it works! Stay tuned…..

This thought just arrived in my brain: I still remember James Comey, in testimony before Congress, saying the thought of him announcing the re-opening of the Clinton investigation (into the same email server setup as her predecessors who were republicans) was the reason Trump “won” in 2016 made him a bit “nauseous” while publicly announcing the “Russia investigation” leading to the first of Trump’s alleged “Obstruction of Justice” sections in the Mueller report. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mr. Comey is getting nauseous once again – knowing how things would be so much different had he kept in mouth shut back in 2016. Go figure!

I copied this article written by Thom Hartman for “Raw Story” an online publication I subscribe to. Mr. Hartman said to “pass it on” so I did:

Sometimes I hate being right.

Donald Trump is campaigning in Blue states right now, including California, Colorado, and New York. It has pundits scratching their heads: is it just all about his ego? Is he crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

I’d argue the latter: that this is part of a strategy to legally seize the White House after he’s lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, much like Republican Rutherford B. Hayes did in the election of 1876.

Eight months before the 2020 election, I wrote a largely-ridiculed article for Alternet.org predicting that Trump would lose the election but would then use multiple phony slates of swing-state electors to try to get the Electoral College count thrown to the House of Representatives where, under the 12th Amendment, the Republican majority would crown him president.

I noted that I’d first heard of the plan that month from a Republican insider I knew from my days living and doing my radio/TV program from Washington, DC.

And, as we all now know, that’s pretty much exactly what happened.

Fortunately, Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi stopped Trump and his merry band of corrupt lawyers and lawmakers (including Mike Johnson, who led the effort in the House) from executing the plan, but not before five civilians and three police officers lay dead because Trump incited a violent attack on the Capitol in his final, desperate attempt to pull it off.

Now we know, I believe, why Donald Trump thinks it’s so important to call out the military around election day this year. He expects millions of Americans to be in the streets because his plan is for the House, Republicans in the states, and the Supreme Court to hand him the presidency regardless of the election’s outcome.

Last Friday, my SiriusXM colleague Michelangelo Signorile mentioned to me (on his program) that a prominent rightwing hate radio host had claimed Trump is campaigning in Blue states right now so he can help out down-ballot House members in those states. According to that host, it’s all about holding the House so when the time comes for the election to be certified Republicans will be able to deny that still-necessary certification and vote Trump in themselves.

Which is giving me a terrible sense of déjà vu. At the risk of again playing the reluctant role of Cassandra, here are some examples of how Trump and the GOP could try to steal the White House this winter, regardless of how the vote turns out. And how Republicans are today telegraphing this very outcome.

Article II (the Executive Branch), Section I, Clause 2 of the Constitution (and the 12th Amendment, which revises it) gives solely to the legislatures of the states the power to control the electors who will decide the presidential election.

It does not say — and there is no federal law that says — that the people of the states shall vote for their choice of president and then that vote shall be reflected in the states’ electoral votes. It’s entirely up to each state’s legislature (without any input from the governor).

“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…” is how it appears in Article II of the Constitution.

As Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote in the 2000 Bush v Goredecision when the US Supreme Court overturned the Florida Supreme Court’s order for a recount that would have given the election to Al Gore:

“The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States… [T]he state legislature’s power to select the manner for appointing electors is plenary; it may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself, which indeed was the manner used by state legislatures in several States for many years after the framing of our Constitution.”

Every state’s legislature generally directs all their electors to vote for the candidate who won the majority in the state (Maine and Nebraska are the exception, allowing for split decisions), a system we call “winner takes all,” but, as Rehnquist noted, a state’s legislature (its combined house or assembly and senate) can, by simple majority vote, direct its electors to vote for any candidate they want, even over the objection of their governor.

In the 2000 election, for example, when the Florida Supreme Court ordered a complete recount of the vote for president in that state, Jeb Bush and his Republicans knew that a full, statewide recount would give Al Gore the presidency. (It would have discovered the additional 45,599 votes for Al Gore that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris arbitrarily and illegally chose not to count, as The New York Times noted a year later.)

In other words, had the U.S. Supreme Court not intervened to stop the Florida recount, the Republicans in the Florida legislature were fully prepared to hand the entire Florida electoral college vote — and, thus, the White House — to George W. Bush, even if a recount showed that Al Gore actually won the state. It was, after all, their constitutional right, as Rehnquist later noted in Bush v Gore.

As David Barstow and Somini Sengupta wrote for the New York Times on November 28, 2000, just before the Supreme Court intervened:

“The president of Florida’s Senate said today that Gov. Jeb Bush had indicated his willingness to sign special legislation intended to award Florida’s 25 Electoral College votes to his brother Gov. George W. Bush of Texas even as the election results were being contested.”

“But,” some say, “Kamala Harris is the Vice President, so she won’t refuse to accept the Electoral College votes like Trump wanted Pence to do!”

That’s true, but irrelevant.

While the updated Electoral Count Act explicitly redefines the Vice President’s role as purely ceremonial, it does not — and could not without a constitutional amendment —alter the power of individual Republican-controlled swing states to send Trump electors (claiming that the Harris-winning results in their states are the result of voter fraud) to DC.

Regardless of how transparently dishonest such an effort would be, its primary result would be to throw to the Supreme Court the decision over which electors to count.

Multiple Court observers have noted how light the Court’s docket is this fall because, they speculate, Roberts is fully expecting to play a role in the election similar to what five Republicans on the Court did in 2000 when they stopped the Florida recount, handing the White House to George W. Bush.

The Court could then declare the election flawed because of the alleged voter fraud — Republicans across the country, as well as Trump and Vance, are already preparing the ground for this claim — and, citing the 12th Amendment, throw it to the House of Representatives.

Under that scenario, each state’s House delegation has one single vote for president (the Senate is not involved under the 12th Amendment) and right now there are 26 states controlled by Republicans: the 26-24 vote would put Trump and Vance in the White House for the next four years.

That strategy would require one or more individual states to either refuse to certify their vote, delay certifying their vote, or submit multiple slates of electors.

And we’re already hearing from both local elections officials and state legislators’ rumblings that this is exactly what they intend to do.

Another option to produce the same result would be for a majority vote in the House to refuse to certify a Harris win.

Which brings us back to Trump campaigning in Blue states. As Ed Kilgore wrote for The New Yorker:

“As it happens, there are ten highly competitive House races in California and New York, and a Trump appearance nearby could goose GOP turnout and promote party-organizing efforts in ways that could make a difference in those contests.”

This brings us back to the scenario Michelangelo shared with me. The new, 2025-2026 House is sworn in on January 3rd, whereas the presidential vote is certified on January 6th.

If Democrats win the House in November and are sworn in on January 3rd, it’s unlikely that Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would go along with Trump’s scheme on January 6th, and Republicans wouldn’t have the necessary majority in any case.

But if Republicans can hold the House, there’s a good chance that Speaker Mike Johnson would happily hold the vote to declare Harris’ win as “fraudulent.” After all, he’s the guy who corralled fully 147 votes against certifying the 2020 election in the House; his being the ringleader of that effort is the main reason he’s the speaker right now.

There are multiple razor-tight House races in California, Colorado, and New York. Trump and his co-conspirators may well believe that his holding rallies in those states represents the best bet for helping Republicans win those races, thus insuring Johnson is in charge of the House so they can refuse certification and throw the case to themselves via the Supreme Court.

Seizing control of the Senate would be the icing on the cake for this scheme, as it’s also sworn in on January 3rd and also votes to certify the Electoral College vote, but a deadlock is only necessary in one of the two legislative bodies, and if the 12th Amendment is invoked by six Republicans on the Supreme Court because of that deadlock only the House votes for president.

Keep in mind, JD Vance is still refusing to say that Trump lost the 2020 election, most recently stonewalling the question five timesin a podcast interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro of The New York Times last week. Donald Trump is also still asserting that he won, and is already signaling that he intends to declare victory in November regardless of the “official” outcome.

And, unlike in 2020, there are no longer Mitt Romneys, Adam Kinzingers, or Liz Cheneys in Congress who could gum up the works. The GOP is today unified in its assertion that voter fraud handed Joe Biden the 2020 presidency: this is the perfect setup for the scenarios I’m describing, and Republicans know it. They created it, in fact.

The most likely scenario, though, would involve local election officials gumming up the works by slow-walking counts, challenging counts, or outright refusing to certify counts at the state level long enough that several individual state votes can’t be certified by January 6th, very much like in the election of 1876.

That would provide an easy excuse for the six Republicans on the Supreme Court to intervene, invoke the 12th Amendment, and throwing the election to the House, guaranteeing Trump’s victory.

As Jim Rutenberg and Nick Corasaniti recently wrote for The New York Times:

“The Republican Party and its conservative allies are engaged in an unprecedented legal campaign targeting the American voting system. Their wide-ranging and methodical effort is laying the groundwork to contest an election that they argue, falsely, is already being rigged against former President Donald J. Trump. …
“Even if the cases fail, Mr. Trump’s allies are building excuses to dispute the results, while trying to empower thousands of local election officials to disrupt the process. Already, election board members in several states have moved to block certification of primary election tallies, including in a major swing county in Nevada last week.”

The updated Electoral Count Act sets a hard date of December 11th for states to certify the vote, but doesn’t detail any consequences or outcomes if states fail to meet that date. Thus, in the case of conflict, confusion, or multiple lawsuits the case would, again, end up before the six Republicans who control the Supreme Court.

As the Times’ Rutenberg and Corasaniti note:

“For his part, Mr. Whatley, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, was noncommittal when reporters recently asked him if his party would seek to block certification in any states this fall.
“‘We’re not going to cross any of those bridges right now,’ he said.”

Gee, ya think? They couldn’t be telegraphing their plans any more clearly if they were skywriting them.

I wrapped up my March 2020 article predicting the GOP’s upcoming fake elector strategy by imploring Democrats and the media to ring the alarm before they tried to pull it off:

“Get it into the media and repeat it over and over again: The GOP plans to claim Democratic voter fraud in this election to steal the election for themselves, and they’re already getting people primed for it!”

It’s worth repeating today.

Pass it along.

Here we are, 25 days from the November election which COULD put Donald Trump where he belongs, right next to Benedict Arnold in the history books. And, oh yes, across the room from Jack Smith in a courtroom headed for another guilty verdict due to some of the most egregious political corruption in American History. But, there’s SO MUCH more “We the people” should be paying attention to. As I listen to political programming as we head toward this election I “get” what’s being talked about, but there’s a couple issues which boggles my mind as they seem to be getting “glossed” over. There are many issues, but – especially if you’re a “young voter” these seem to be the ones which SHOULD be at the top of the “list.”

I mean, no one can argue, for example, freedom for viability over their own bodies for women are serious issues which pretty much will be determined in this election, one way or another. And, I have to add, this is NOT just an issue for women. It involves husbands, brothers, fathers, uncles, and grandfathers. I learned long ago I had paid for an “abortion.” (Even though I thought I would never do so) In the first pregnancy I was involved in (directly – as the father) my wife started bleeding profusely at about 15 weeks and had a miscarriage. I rushed her to the hospital and she had an emergency “D & C” – in essence, an abortion. Over the next few years she gave birth to two beautiful young daughters.

As we’ve seen from the stories of more and more young women since the overturning of Roe v Wade women who’ve been turned away from the hospital because of “Trump abortion bans” – that, according to him, EVERYONE wanted – are facing the reality of serious health complications including DEATH. No one knows the number of women who’ve DIED because of these TRUMP bans on a common procedure, but the statistics are clear that pregnancy is now a “life threatening condition” for women in nearly half of the U.S. states. This is a SERIOUS issue in the upcoming election, but in the long run, I submit, not one of the top two. (I shudder when I think of what if my wife and I had been in today’s Texas – without the means to get to another state for the needed health care)

Here’s one which really causes me some consternation. Somehow Trump is favored due to the ‘economy” by more Americans than Kamala Harris. How can this be so? Trump left office with the WORST job creation record in American History? In the same general direction as Herbert Hoover – the “father” of the great depression. Additionally, Trump’s administration was responsible for roughly 25% of the nation’s total debt – for ALL TIME. So, something like 3 million fewer Americans were employed when he left than when he took the oath. And, he’s so dishonest he’s trying to take credit for the RECORD stock market numbers – get this – under Biden! This guy will say ANYTHING!

Yes, the economy is important – but, you have to wonder what people are looking at/reading to have this view of Trump’s ability to run the economy. For heaven’s sake, he oversaw the BANKRUPTCY of his businesses SIX times. He was bailed out of several business disasters by Russian, Saudi, Chinese, and Qatari “investors” looking for a way to LAUNDER some of their “Ill gotten” gains. If he was applying for a job at an American Fortune 500 company, he’d never get through the first wave of applicants. And, the economy is a “short term” concern – and, I’m talking about more important “long term” issues.

Voting Rights are high on my list of important issues. I’ve watched in somewhat a state of horror over the past few years since John Roberts and the Supreme Court “gutted” Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and seriously weakened Section 2. (I used to know in more detail about both sections, but at 77 I’m witnessing, first hand, the cognitive decline you hear talked about after Trump has given a speech.) “Conservatives,” as usual, are trying to create circumstances where the fewest possible number of voters, from their perspective, head to the polls. Voter suppression legislation has been passed in nearly half of the American states. Yikes! (Yet, not what I see as the two most important issues)

The “environment” (clean water, clean air, etc.) obviously is of great importance and, now, we’re getting “warm” regarding the two issues I believe should be DRIVING this campaign. I’m also concerned about the proliferation of guns in America. For example, to me, AK – 47’s (AR – 15’s) are not weapons for individual self defense or HUNTING? Guns which can shoot rounds off faster than the guy who reads the “small stuff” after an advertisement on TV – just picture someone talking faster than you can think, are NOT guaranteed by the second amendment – and, they SHOULD be illegal.

The wars in Ukraine and Israel/GAZA. If you’re a republican and you’re talking about supporting Vladimir Putin, well, I can’t help you. I “get” the issue with the Israeli’s and their outrageous response to October 7th, but the reality is Joe Biden (or Kamala Harris) can’t control Bibi Netanyahu – who will drag this war out indefinitely – simply out of “self preservation” – kind of in the “mold” of Donald Trump. Once this war is “over” (it’s been going on for 4000 years if you believe the Bible – even Trump’s version) Netanyahu will be forced to face up to his corruption. (Bribery and Fraud – sound familiar?) Bottom line, if you care about the Palestinians, you SHOULDN’T be voting for Trump. And, you can support both the Israeli (people) AND the Palestinian people. That gets me to my point!

If you’re a young person and you care about this nation remaining a “nation of laws, not men,” you SHOULD be focused on voting AGAINST Trump simply because of the issue of the COURTS. If Trump manages to CHEAT his way back into the “White House” I can guarantee you both Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito will retire and will be replaced by YOUNG jurists selected by Leonard Leo. That means MORE Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, or Coney Barrett types for the next FORTY years. That would mean the court will be a right wing disaster for the lifetimes of my children. This SHOULD (in my view) be one of the top two issues of this election season giving reason to vote AGAINST Trump, but more importantly FOR Kamala Harris.

The second issue I consider of IMPERATIVE importance would be the CLIMATE CRISIS. I keep wondering what is it going to take for “we the people” to wake up to this CRISIS? Florida was “hit” twice within two weeks by POWERFUL hurricanes – the first doing MAJOR damage all the way up to Western North Carolina – leaving major flooding and lost of life in its wake. The second storm reached category FIVE status in a matter of hours and was category three when it made a direct hit on the Western shores of Florida. The destruction was MASSIVE and, yet, hear we are a week later, hardly focused on the devastation any more. (Unless, of course, you live in the affected areas)

But, hurricanes aren’t the only problem stemming from the CLIMATE CRISIS. Every year, it seems, huge parts of California are on fire with damage which compares to that caused by hurricanes in the East. Plus, the increase in average temperatures is alarming if you pay attention to the scientists who suggest we’re close to the “tipping point” – meaning “we’ve gone too far” (i.e. – we’ve ignored this problem for too long) The truth, when thinking about CLIMATE, is that the democrats have managed to get “beginning” legislation through a recalcitrant Congress as a start. Trump continues to call the CLIMATE CRISIS a “hoax.” Why are we virtually IGNORING this critical issue?

Simply put, democrats are in favor of addressing this issue and MUST win the “White House” in order to prevent the Supreme Court becoming more of an issue for the working class members of our nation. Since John Roberts became the Chief Justice the court’s “tilt” to the right has become much more extreme. It’s already a corporate friendly court, but that could get worse – MUCH worse! The only hope in dealing with these two issues requires “we the people” to vote for democrats up and down the “ticket.” We need a democratic Congress in order for a progressive agenda to have any chance of passing! Stay tuned!!

Final Thought: The ROT in the republican party runs much deeper than just Donald Trump. Can you imagine J.D. Vance as president? He is the least popular and least “prepared” V.P. candidate in modern American History. (However, from the republican standpoint, he’s proving himself to be a proficient LIAR!) He’s even worse than Sarah Palin and Dan Quayle – if you can imagine that. Vance might be able to spell “potato” but, he can’t answer the question; “Did Donald Trump LOSE the 2020 election?” What a chicken s@#t! Trump’s OLDER than President Biden was back in 2020 and if something would happen to him, should he CHEAT his way back into the “White House” (and, get away with it once more) Vance would become president! Think about that! Yikes!!

As usual, there’s MORE: This past weekend, while Trump was ranting about the “radical left lunatics” (presumably, he’s talking about me) he suggested using the National Guard, or “if necessary” the MILITARY to – well, I’m not sure what exactly he meant. Was he suggesting using the MILITARY to attack their fellow Americans? To kill fellow Americans? Apparently, given the “immunity” he got from the Supreme Court, actions like that would become legal. I’m not sure if they’d be legal from the standpoint of the members of the military – I was only a Marine for six months – (HONORABLY medically discharged) back in the days of Vietnam (While Trump was getting “bone spur” deferments) but, I still remember something about not following ILLEGAL orders. Just sayin….

With Trump, there is NO bottom because as General Mark Milley has publicly stated, Trump is “fascist to the core.” Apparently General Milley has read at least as much as I have of project 2025. (It’s easy to get a copy to download if you want to read it) I just had a stray thought: Could he have read my blog? Project 2025 is a “road map to fascism” (My characterization) and when Trump says he doesn’t know what it is, well, just pile that on the tens of THOUSANDS of other LIES he’s spewed right to the faces of his supporters. It’s the “agenda of the next conservative president” and its authors (well over 100 contributors – it’s 902 pages in length) were significant members of his administration. Repetitive LYING and PROJECTION (staples of Trump’s “campaign strategy” – or, maybe just a core principle of members of organized crime?) come straight out of Mein Kampf. If you’re young and didn’t pay attention in history class, that means Trump’s strategies were first devised by Adolf Hitler! I rest my case!!!

When are “we the people” going to get it? When are republicans going to get it? How many disasters have to happen before republicans quit referring to “Climate Change” as a “hoax?” Led, of course, by possibly the STUPIDEST president to ever occupy the “Oval Office.” And, when are republicans going to pull themselves from the “clutches” of Donald Trump – realizing they’re in a “cult of personality.” Of course, there’s the hard core white nationalists/supremacists who consider Trump their “vehicle into the mainstream of American politics.” That won’t change anytime soon.

I wrote that paragraph a few days ago as I was watching an emerging “disturbance” in the Gulf of Mexico which appeared to be the makings of another HURRICANE just a couple weeks after HELENE wreaked havoc on six states in the Southeast of the United States. Well, a couple days later this disturbance was named “Milton” as a “Tropical Storm.” Now, after another couple days it’s a category FIVE hurricane headed for a “direct hit” on Florida around the Tampa Bay area – the first significant storm to directly have Tampa in its “sights” in a century – and the people affected still haven’t cleaned up the mess from Helene – and, they were just on the periphery of Helene. The one due to “hit” Thursday morning will be the “big one” if you believe the meteorologist’s predictions.

I say that because if a retired sixth grade (language arts, mostly) teacher could see this coming, what is WRONG with politicians like Trump and the sycophants who worship him – still calling the Climate Crisis a “hoax.” A couple days after Helene left much of the Southeast in ruins Trump said of Climate Change, “It’s one of the greatest scams of all time… people aren’t buying it any more. I don’t want to use bad language, my wife said, ‘Please don’t use bad language.’” At the time he said this there were 116 KNOWN deaths from the storm and, as I’m writing this (about a week later), the death toll has reached 235 with STILL hundreds missing. The devastation was such that getting relief to the survivors is a MAJOR challenge. (Although FEMA, along with state and local heroes – in some cases willing to risk their own lives in order to save others – are doing an incredible job)

Trump, and some of his most deranged supporters, was/were actually suggesting the storm was caused by – OK, you know what’s coming next – DEMOCRATS. He pointed out many of the counties hit the hardest were “MAGA” counties (so, must have been caused by democrats) and the survivors will crawl to the polls to vote for him and his “weird” running mate J.D. Vance. His idea of supporting those affected by Helene was to start a “Go Fund me” – without putting anything in it himself. Keep in mind, as of this writing the estimated damage is $250 BILLION. The man is a nincompoop! (Along with several likely personality disorders including severe narcissism and pathological LYING)

Trump showed where his sick mind resides when he suggested if the level of the ocean raised one eighth of an inch it would create “more ocean front property.” (?) Aside from the fact that statement made no sense to me, it showed, once again, Trump proving he’s an ignoramus. Just like his ridiculous statements about windmills:

“We’ll have an economy based on wind. I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. I’ve studied it [sic] better than anybody I know. It’s [sic] very expensive. They’re made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none. But they’re manufactured — tremendous, if you’re into this, tremendous fumes, gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So [a] tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything — you talk about the “carbon footprint” — fumes are spewing into the air, right? Spewing. Whether it’s in China, Germany, it’s going into the air. It’s our air, their air, everything, right?

So they make these things, and then they put them up, and if you own a house within vision of some of these monsters, your house is worth 50 percent of the price. They’re noisy, they kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? You just go, take a look, a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill some day. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen ever in your life” (Dan MacGuill, Snopes – December 2019) Trump will continue to push his “climate denial” ad nauseam – until he’s voted into the history books. (Right next to Benedict Arnold)

That said, as Hurricane Milton bores down on Western Florida, Trump will be finding ways to blame Kamala Harris right up to the election – because, the work of cleaning up the mess will go well past November 5th – making up stories along the way. He will blame Ms. Harris, he’ll be blaming immigrants, he’ll be blaming President Biden, what he won’t be doing is making ANY suggestions about what should be done to put America a bit farther down the path needed to address the Climate Crisis. In fact, he’ll probably find a way to criticize the legislation passed by the Biden/Harris administration already as a first step in an attempt to address the problem. I believe Trump has promised oil executives he’ll repeal Biden’s Climate agenda in return for a measly ONE BILLION dollar campaign donation.

If you’re a young voter and you happen across this site – I believe the Climate Crisis SHOULD be number one on your list of important issues. It is the Climate Crisis which could/will have the MOST influence on your life going forward. I have children and grandchildren and I shudder at the ADDITIONAL damage Trump will cause should “we the people” somehow choose another four (or more – read Project 2025) additional years of Trump savaging our constitutional republic.

Not only should you cast a vote for Kamala Harris, I believe you should attempt to get someone else to do so as well. While I consider this the most important election of my lifetime (Yes, I’ve said that for every election since 2018) I believe that will be the case for the next four or five elections because the only way to get rid of this version of the republican party is vote them into – well, history. They won’t go away easily. They have MONEY and they’ve been pushing a corporatocracy for MOST (if not all) of my lifetime (I’m 77). Stay Tuned……

Final Thought: So, today it was reported Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin at least seven times since he left Washington D.C. with “his tail between his legs.” This would include at least ONE phone call while Trump has been a candidate for president once again. What do you think they discussed? But, from my vantage point, there’s likely MUCH more. I will remind you when the FBI exercised the search warrant on Mar a Lago where HUNDREDS of top secret classified documents were found. The focus of reporting back then was how many of them were likely exposed to “who knows who” while they were cavalierly stored in various places at Trump’s resort available to people who simply needed to use the rest room.

Here’s what is rarely mentioned. There were SEVERAL folders labeled “TOP SECRET” which were EMPTY. I believe something like a two to three DOZEN. I have no idea if those MISSING files have ever been accounted for – at least not publicly. You probably know where my thoughts are going – although, I’ve brought this up before. Do you really believe Trump wouldn’t share those files with Putin? (or another world dictator who might give something in return) To me, all of this demands answers! What were Trump and Putin discussing on their phone calls? Why hasn’t Trump explained where the missing files are? Why haven’t members of the press pressured him on this? Yikes!!