A Divided Government Equals Gridlock

Think about this.

Joe Biden wins the election.
The Senate majority is held by the Republican Party.
Little or no legislation is passed.

That is not an unlikely scenario. Mitch McConnell wanted to make Barack Obama a one term president by blocking Obama’s agenda. Aren’t we going to hear those same words again?

There is no reference to political parties in the U.S. constitution and that is the problem. This issue is confronted by countries that have a parliamentary democracy by agreeing to a compromise that provides everyone a voice. Or does it?

Explained at britannica.com. A Parliamentary system, democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the greatest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chancellor.

A majority of the world’s parliaments are unicameral. One body decides what laws are to be passed and who will obtain a judgeship.

One main criticism of Parliamentary system is that the head of the government is in almost all cases not directly elected but that is the system in the United Sates democracy too.

Is Joe Biden to be a place holder? The ACA may not be dismantled and DACA children may not be deported from the country. Then what? The Democratic Party will have to find new leaders in four years.

If Trump were to obtain a second term, he is more likely to see legislation passed.

Grid lock is likely to be the situation for the next four years. Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate. This is a system that makes many people question the whole idea of democracy.

A Peaceful Transition of Power if Joe Biden Wins

A message to Mission Control from Apollo 13 were these famous words “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

President Trump refused to promise Thursday that he’ll accept the results of November’s election despite bipartisan outrage over his declining a day earlier to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Joe Biden wins.

Congressional leaders from both parties, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), swiftly pushed back Thursday after President Trump declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Gerald Ford was defeated by Jimmy Carter and was denied a second term.

Jimmy Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan Clinton and was denied a second term.

George H. W. Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton and was denied a second term.

In all of those instances there was a peaceful transition of power.

No one questioned the legitimacy of the election process.

Donald Trump has half joked, half spoke seriously and said he would like to serve two or three more terms in office. The constitution’s twentieth amendment clearly states “The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.”

The twenty second amendment says “The No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.”

Today this craft called the United States has a problem. Since Donald Trump thinks he can ignore the constitution we really do have a problem. What will happen if Trump refuses to relinquish his position to Joe Biden? Apparently there is no precise steps that would be taken by the government.

Apollo 13 safely returned to earth. Can the United States safely land? We are all praying.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

On the eve of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) A sad day for America. Leading the Supreme Court’s liberal bloc, Ginsburg was a legal pioneer who backed affirmative action and defended abortion rights. Her notable rulings and dissents advanced feminist themes, including the groundbreaking 1996 decision ordering the Virginia Military Institute to allow women to enroll.

The battle for who will take her place on the Supreme Court will be brutal.

Throw Everything at the Wall

Donald Trump is trailing in every election poll. This past week has been a disaster for him thanks to his own words.

He privately disparaged dead American soldiers as “losers” and “suckers.”

In a February interview with Bob Woodward admitting to that the coronavirus was much more deadly than the flu and easily transmitted through the air — while saying virtually the opposite publicly and most recently Trump has insisted that the U.S. is “rounding the turn” on coronavirus.

So there is only one thing he can do to win on November 3. Throw everything he can say about Joe Biden at the wall and hope some of it sticks.

September 10, 2020 Tweet, ‘If I don’t win, America’s Suburbs will be OVERRUN with Low Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and, of course, “Friendly Protesters”.’

“If Biden gets in, this market’s going to crash,” Trump asserted in an interview on Fox Business Network with host Maria Bartiromo. Invoking Biden’s tax plans, Trump also claimed that the former vice president would “tax this country into a depression like in 1929.”

Fox News will broadcast an interview tonight Saturday, September 12, 2020 in which Donald Trump accuses Joe Biden of taking performance-enhancing drugs. What drug would that be? A Consumer Reports doctor says there’s virtually no good evidence that such products can prevent or delay memory lapses, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia in older adults. Some may do more harm than good.

He previously accused Joe Biden of not being psychologically fit for office.

With 53 days to go until election day Trump will keep throwing the mud. Sadly Biden is too quiet. Unless he starts punching some of that mud is going to stick.

If Trump does win you can say good-bye to the American democracy.

Michael Cohen says Trump is not joking about staying in office for more than 2 terms

This is serious and frightening. I have been writing about this repeatedly. By Paul LeBlanc, CNN Updated 12:44 AM ET, Thu September 10, 2020 (CNN) President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday evening that Trump isn’t joking when he floats the notion of attempting to stay in the White House beyond two terms. “Donald Trump believes that he should be the ruler — the dictator of the United States of America. He actually is looking to change the Constitution. When Donald Trump jokes about 12 more years … he is not joking. Donald Trump does not have a sense of humor,” Cohen told CNN’s Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight.” “So I want you to understand that when he says 12 more years, if he wins he is going to automatically day number one start thinking how he can change the Constitution for a third term, and then a fourth term, like what he said to President XI and like what he said to so many other people. It’s why he admires the Kim Jong Uns of the world.” Even during an uphill reelection campaign, the President has repeatedly advanced the idea of a third term while also looking to sow doubt in the integrity of November’s election. “We are going to win four more years,” Trump said at a rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last month. “And then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.” Expanding on his warning against reelecting Trump on Wednesday, Cohen went on to describe the White House as “like a cult” with a culture that forbids anyone from challenging the President. “Not only is the Trump Organization like a cult, but so is the White House,” he said. “Anybody that wants to work there, God forbid you say something wrong. God forbid you do something wrong. You’re fired. That’s exactly why there have been so many people coming in and out of the administration. I think he set all sorts of records. He likes records. Well, he certainly set the record for the most people in and out of the administration.” Pressed on how Trump has been able to command loyalty within the Republican Party, Cohen offered: “Because he is a cult leader.” “And people somehow follow him. Why? I don’t know why. I did it when I had my daughter, my wife, my son continuously telling me, ‘Stop, we don’t want you to work for him. Quit, you don’t need to work for him. What are you doing? The things that you are doing are morally wrong. You lost your moral compass, wake up.” His comments come one day after the release of his book where he unleashes on the President as “a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man.” Cohen had been a vocal surrogate for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign before he pleaded guilty in 2018 to tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for facilitating hush money payments to two women who alleged past affairs with the President. Trump has denied having affairs with the women. When pleading guilty, he implicated the President, telling a federal judge that he had made the payments “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump, who prosecutors identified in court filings as “Individual 1.” “If you look at the end of the book it’s really a call. It’s a warning call to anybody who is reading the book. Put the Visine in your eyes, clean your eyes out and see that Donald Trump cares for no one or anything other than himself. So he doesn’t care if your family member dies as long as it’s not him. He doesn’t care about anything other than himself and this election,” Cohen said Wednesday. “And he is willing to sacrifice your life so he has four more years.”

Is there a Reason to Vote for Joe Biden?

“Mr. Trump, you want to talk about fear?” Biden asked last Monday.

“Do you know what people are afraid of in America? They’re afraid they’re going to get Covid. They’re afraid they’re going to get sick and die, and that is in no small part, it’s because of you.”

Joe Biden’s only chance of winning the election on November 3 is to convince voters that Trump’s mismanagement of the virus spread and the collapse of the economy is reason enough to deny him another four year term.

The collapse of the economy is a consequence of the spread of the disease. If there had been no virus Trump would be repeating over and over the claim that the low unemployment and the high stock market is the result of his management of the economy.

Joe Biden would be left with only two campaign issues. Donald Trump is a racist and social justice for all Americans.

On this Labor Day Biden accurately bemoans the loss of jobs in Pennsylvania and other rust belt states but that is not an issue caused by the Trump presidency. Factory job losses are an issue that is decades old. Businesses have been moving jobs overseas to save money. There is no way Joe Biden or Donald Trump can bring those jobs back to America.

I recently bought a new computer, printer, and a webcam. The computer was assembled in Mexico from parts made elsewhere. The printer was made in Thailand. The webcam was made in China. My new undershorts were made in Honduras.

Do you actually believe any of those items will ever be made in the United States in a future time?

Trump’s loss of the election will likely be the result of his own ineptitude and a set of beliefs and ideas that are not in tune with most Americans. His lack of respect for the military and his support of right wing conspiracy groups are his biggest Achilles heels. His push for a vaccine before election day will only bring cheers for his loyal supporters.

Biden’s loss of the election will likely be the result of his lack of specific ideas on how to help the economy recover and White fear of a minority invasion.

On the subject of social justice Joe Biden was one of 95 senators who voted for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. From FactCheck.org “Biden, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, largely wrote and shepherded through the legislative process. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 received bipartisan support at the time but has been criticized for some of its provisions, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, and its impact on mass incarceration.”

That law “grants to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.” That law put people in jail for drug use rather than rehabilitation.

It was none other than Kamala Harris, in the first primary debate, who pointed out that Biden opposed school bussing as a way of encouraging integration.

Social justice, better paying jobs, a racially integrated society. Great ideas but I would not count on Joe Biden to make those goals a reality.

Biden’s campaign says he is doing just what a candidate should — pushing broad ideas while leaving room to negotiate the details.

This is troubling for me. What does Joe Biden stand for?

I am voting against Trump because he stands for hate, division, and destruction of the republic.

We Deserve Total Honesty from our President

First Lady Melania Trump delivered a speech supporting her husband’s re-election from the Rose Garden at the White House. It was a very well prepared speech that was non-confrontational. The speech was meant to sooth concerns about her husband and to that extent it was a success.

She offered sympathies for those hit hardest from the COVID-19 pandemic, briefly stressed the need for unity amid racial conflict, the need to remove the stigma around drug addiction.

“…honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president. Whether you like it or not, you always know what he’s thinking, and that is because he’s an authentic person who loves this country and its people and wants to continue to make it better.”

What? Better for who?

Donald Trump has been a continuous liar.

- He has told us that Covid 19 will magically disappear.

- He has promoted Hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus.

- He renegotiated NAFTA with another agreement with a new USMCA that is no more than an update of NAFTA.

- He has worked diligently to destroy the Affordable Care Act with a non-existent replacement.

- He has made the countries that were are friends into enemies.

- He has treated immigrants as unwanted parasites.

- He has conducted a war against everyone who is not a WASP.

- He has tried to reverse California’s regulations on car emissions.

- He has claimed to have absolute power over everything in the government base upon the constitution’s Article 2.

- He is now talking about a third and fourth term in office even though the constitution limits him to two terms.

- And these actions are just the tip of the iceberg.

Former President Barack Obama was correct when he said at the DNC

“So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability — to embrace your own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.

Because that’s what at stake right now. Our democracy.

“This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win.”