Category: Domestic Affairs

Donald Trump is one of them

On Friday, former president Donald Trump denied knowing who white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes was after Axios reported that he dined with the noted racist and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel on Friday condemned his meeting with two men notorious for spreading anti-Semitism in America.

The two were  Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.  Trump has claimed there was no discussion about Jews and he did not know that Fuentes is a Holocaust denier. 

Trumps only ambassador to Israel, Ambassador David Friedman, addressed the scandal on Twitter.

“To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this,” claimed Friedman, who did not resign after Trump’s fine people on both sides remarks following the fatal “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

“Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable,” Friedman wrote. “I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong.”

“Antisemites deserve no quarter among American leaders, right or left,” he wrote.

Friedman was Trump’s only ambassador to Israel and he served until the end of his administration on Jan. 20, 2021.

The question is why would Trump associate himself with people who are known antisemites?

You know the answer.

When Republicans go Nuts

We are now in the period of madness.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee in Michigan invoked a conspiracy that the Covid-19 pandemic and protests in the summer of 2020 after the killing of George Floyd were part of a decades-long plan by the Democratic Party to “topple” the United States as retaliation for losing the US Civil War, adding that the party wanted to enslave people “again.”

In a six-minute monologue at the beginning of the show, Tudor Dixon said that after the “attempted creation of the Black House Autonomous Zone outside of the White House,” referring to a cordoned off area near the White House erected by activists, that Democrats were using this moment to “topple” the US.

During the Civil War, the Democratic Party itself was divided on the issue of slavery as some Democrats wanted to expand slavery in the West while others wanted to leave it up to referenda in the new territories. It was that divide that led to President Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 election.

More than 100 years later, however, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 while Democrat Lyndon Johnson was president, the Democratic Party lost more and more southern White voters to Republicans, who adopted the mantra of state’s rights and the “Southern strategy” to appeal to conservative White voters. Ever since the 1960s the Democratic Party has been the advocate for minority rights.

Abortion isn’t L.A.’s most relevant issue

Karen Bass is running against Rick Caruso for mayor of Los Angeles. Her problem is she has hitched her wagon to President Joe Biden’s pitch about protecting abortion rights. On her website, abortion is highlighted. “Women’s reproductive rights are under attack,” it says. “Join Karen’s fight to defend legal abortion in L.A.”

Bass isn’t alone in highlighting abortion rights. Bob Hertzberg is running for Los Angeles County 3rd district supervisor. His flyer says Working to expand women’s reproductive freedom.

Abortion rights is a national issue and a state issue. California’s ballot has the issue covered in its Measure 1 that amend the state’s constitution as a right.

The right to an abortion is not among the primary issues confronting Los Angeles. For all the problems the next mayor of Los Angeles will face — discrimination, homelessness, affordable housing, violent crime, corruption, jobs, and potholes to name just a few are the issues that need attention.

Where is Bass’s solution to those problems? They are not on her campaign flyers. They are on her web site. You have to hunt for her answers. Her answer for homelessness is too vague for me. From her campaign site: Karen Bass will bring leadership, accountability and action to dramatically reduce homelessness and end street encampments in Los Angeles. Here is the home page. https://karenbass.com/

If this is the best Bass and Hertzberg can offer they will not get my vote and I am telling everyone I know that we need a mayor and a supervisor that will attack the problems in this city and county.

The U.S. Debt is not just a Paper Number

$31 trillion is the debt limit set by congress. Today the debt is at $30.93 trillion. As you can see in this U.S. treasury graph the growth has increased at a horrifying rate. That debt is bonds sold by the government. That debt exists because the government spends more than is taken in through taxes. With higher interest rates any new bonds will cost more.

If this was your household would you continue borrowing or would you say NO to more spending? What would you cut out of the federal budget?

$30.93 trillion

Racism is alive and well in America

Racism is alive and well in America. That includes “liberal” California.

A high school ended its football season after a racist posting “Kill the Blacks” was found on a chat site by administrators at Amador High School in Sutter Creek. That is a community in the Sierra foothills not far from Sacramento. Last week, the football team of another high school near Sacramento, River Valley in Yuba City, forfeited its season after a video showed several players staging a reenactment of a “slave auction.” And last spring at another Sacramento-area high school, Oak Ridge, a football player reportedly taunted a Black soccer player with “ape sounds” during a match.

In Los Angeles three Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council and a top county labor official held a conversation last fall that included racist remarks, derisive statements about their colleagues and council President Nury Martinez saying a white councilman handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory,” according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by the Los Angeles Times and reported on local television news programs. There are calls for Martinez to resign.

I have no solution. Hate of others will not end no matter how so many of us try to stop those that are taught to hate.

Is the American Democracy Coming to an End?

A Trump supporter attends the former president’s rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

Too many Americans believe that elections are fixed. That is a problem for the survival of the American democracy.

In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark. While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond. On the Democratic side, all 19 nominees contacted by The Post said they would accept the outcome.

President Joe Biden gave a speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 1, 2022 about democracy in America. In that speech he said

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people.” 
 
“They refuse to accept the results of a free election.  And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”

The Washington Post survey proves that many GOP candidates are in opposition to the idea of winners and losers in every election. That should frighten everyone. It frightens me.

Donald Trump Admires Authoritarians

At a rally on Saturday August 3 the former president described Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin as “fierce” and “smart” before anticipating the reaction from the media. He called both leaders “fierce,” adding that Xi is “smart” to rule China with an “iron fist.”

“He rules with an iron fist, 1.5 billion people, yeah I’d say he’s smart,” he continued. “Wouldn’t you say he’s smart?”

Xi, whose authoritarian tenure has been marked by an increase in censorship and mass surveillance, has been accused by Human Rights Watch of starting a “broad and sustained offensive on human rights” since he became China’s leader in 2012.

Imagine what a second term for Trump would be like. He would be taking revenge on those who opposed him. There would be no guard rails preventing him from withdrawing from NATO. Military parades in Washington D.C. would be the order of the day.

Donald Trump dreams of absolute power and our system of government could permit him to obtain his objective.

Trumpism Menaces Democracy

The President clearly stated at a speech he presented at Independence Hall in Philadelphia that MAGA is an attack on American democracy. He pointed out that those supporting MAGA beliefs take the position that there are only two consequences of an election. Either they won or they lost due to a corrupt election.

In other words they do not accept any loss. That means there is no democracy. President Biden said American democracy remains in great peril and declared former President Trump and his supporters the biggest threat to American democracy. While it was a political speech meant to rally Democratic Party loyalists to go to the polls in November the point he made rang true.

When do the MAGA Republicans accept an election loss? Apparently the answer is they do not accept any loss. To me Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.

NYT editorial board calls on Garland to seek indictment of Trump if there is ‘sufficient evidence’

The New York Times editorial board called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to seek an indictment of former President Trump if “sufficient evidence” exists to establish his guilt “on a serious charge.”

The board argued in a piece published Friday that, “Mr. Trump’s unprecedented assault on the integrity of American democracy requires a criminal investigation” following the Jan. 6 select committee hearings and news of the Justice Department’s search of Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla., home for classified documents.

“This board is aware that in deciding how Mr. Trump should be held accountable under the law it is necessary to consider not just whether criminal prosecution would be warranted but whether it would be wise.”

The board mentioned former President Ford’s pardon of former President Nixon for any crimes he may have committed during the Watergate scandal, with Ford justifying the decision as avoiding the “rousing” of “ugly passions” and polarization. 

The board stated that prosecuting Trump could entrench support for him and “play into the conspiracy theories he has sought to stoke.” They argued it could also allow future presidents to misuse the precedent set to go after their political rivals. 

But, the paper warned that doing nothing poses a much more significant risk and not holding him accountable for his actions related to the Jan. 6 insurrection would could set an “irresistible” precedent for future presidents. 

“Why not attempt to stay in power by any means necessary or use the power of the office to enrich oneself or punish one’s enemies, knowing that the law does not apply to presidents in or out of office?” the board wrote.

To Hell with the Proletariat

In Les Misérables, author Victor Hugo criticizes the injustices of the nineteenth century. Issues such as women’s rights, intergenerational conflict, cruelty of the justice system, and the failure of society’s institutions are all discussed in the novel, which is still resonate.

I have a four year degree from CSUN (California State University Northridge) in the San Fernando Valley.  The first two years of my college experience was at a community college.  The cost was $6.50 per semester.  The two years at CSUN coast $42 per semester.  The cost of a college degree was affordable for everyone.

I know, it was a long time ago but what happened?  Why did the cost at the community college grow to $1238 per semester? CSUN now costs $7,064. I am not reporting on the cost of books or the cost or the cost of room and board.

It is no surprise that college attendance has resulted in high student debt. Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. Federal support has not kept up: Pell Grants once covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third. That has left many students from low- and middle-income families with no choice but to borrow if they want to get a degree. According to a Department of Education analysis, the typical undergraduate student with loans now graduates with nearly $25,000 in debt. 

This country refuses to help its youth obtain a college education. Sean Hannity: “We have a lot of young people that work on my TV show, they’re not making a $125,000. They’re now eligible to get in some cases up to $20,000 and in other cases $10,000. This is New Green Deal radical socialism.”

The Rich don’t care about the rest of us.  The philosophy is to hell with the Proletariat.  After all they are just the working class.

The debt reduction by President Biden is a nice gesture but it does not address the issue of the excessive fees to obtain a degree.

Where was Donald Trump during those four years he was president?