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Is the Republican Party Ready For a Blue Wave?


If you had asked me this question two months ago, I would have said yes. But the Democratic Party, disorganized as it always seems to be, has seen a big rise in the Democrat/Socialist far left wing of the party. This is good news for the Republicans because they can put up more centrist candidates and probably beat every Democrat/Socialist. The Big Blue Wave may turn out to be just a little ripple leaving the Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives. This absolutely should not be the case.

So what’s the problem with the Democrats. First and foremost, they have yet to set out a plan for economic recovery from the miserable state it is in right now. When Trump founded the MAGA movement, he was able to coalese blue collar people with the idea that they would share in an economic rise. That was the first team. But Trump kept MAGA alive during Biden’s term and were it not for Biden not stepping aside mid-term, as he had promise, it is most likely that a Democrat would have won that election. And so Trump simply pumps up his base, MAGA people. Then he plays the Wizard of Oz when Democrats, rightfully, point to the 2025 plan and tell the people that is Trump’s new playbook. But for some reason it does not resonate with the populace. Why? Most like because in the house and senate failed to point to certain portions of the 2025 document and make the people of their state realize what was at stake. Now we are seeing the result of that failure by Democrats.

The most powerful part of our government lies with the Congress. Right now it has the power to override Trump and his Iran war and command that it be over. They also have the power to end the foolish, short-sighted tariffs. When it comes to economics, Trump is clueless, save that which enriches his coffers. Trump has enriched himself to the tune of $4.05 billion (forbes.com). But the Republicans, who have control over Congress, are running in fear that if the go against Trump’s wishes, Trump will back a Republican candidate to replace anyone who dares to go against what he wants.

To show what a horrible businessman he is, his “truth social” is bankrupt. He has no idea of how to run a social network. Years ago he bankrupted two casinos! No one who has an ounce of business ability ever bankrupts a casino! Everyone knows that the house always wins in a casino setting. How did he go bankrupt? The same way he is bankrupting our country.

That said, Trump himself may be setting up Republicans for a resounding defeat come November and the Blue Wave will actually happen in spit of the Democrat’s lack of a solid and well known agenda. In the state that I now live, North Carolina, a senate seat held by Tom Tillis will be won by a Democrat. Former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper is leading his opponents by double digits in the race for Tillis’s seat. Tillis is a moderate Republican who, I believe, just got tired of Trump and the state of the Republican party. Is it possible this is happening on a national level?

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The State of Our Military


When asked about the state of affairs on the USS Lincoln carrier, President Trump stated there was nothing to the complaints about moral, food, and length of deployment. He has never understood, nor does he now, how the military works. Troops need to be rotated from a war zone back to the U.S. on a regular basis. Short of that, troop moral can suddenly plumet, which it has on the USS Lincoln which puts the entire ship in a dangerous position.

Why is the top military leader silent? Quite simply, when Peter Hegseth was put in charge, his first move was to fire all the top military leaders, include the head of the joint chiefs of staff. Additionally, he has shown that he is both a mysoginist and a racist. In the latest round of giving naval captains and colonels a star, he did not allow a single woman nor a person of color to get a star even though at least a few of them were far more qualified than those who did get that star.

Another thing, Trump has allow our cruise missle and Patriot systems to run very low in replacements. And with regard to the Patriot Missle System, he has totally ignored the extreme need for these in Ukraine. The American public, 70% according to today’s CBS polling, supports Ukraine but Trump does not listen!

Trump needs to change his MAGA to MAWA, Make America Weak Again, which he has successfully done. In World War 2, FDR made sure that the supply of necessary weapon systems was always full. Today we do have the capacity to do that. But it takes the Defense Department to put out an order to a company like Raytheon Missle Systems, in Andover MA, to increase its output which translates into awarding the company a new contract. Raytheon also makes the Tomahawk Cruise Missle which means the DoD contracting system has a very easy way to increase production. We desperately needs a large increase in production. The DoD did contract Raytheon for more Missles but the amount is undisclosed.

The point of my rant is a very simple one. We have one person, Donald Trump, who has no understanding of how the military works, and his puppet, Pete Hegseth, who only does what Trump desires.

It bothers me to no end that Trump still calls on Putin, a man who Nikolia Krushchev would have loved. Krushchev is famous for banging his shoe at the UN saying, “we will bury you.” Considering Putin was once the head of Russia’s secret police, it seems obvious that he has the same idea. What does Trump still call this man, like he is a friend, to talk to him? The man people of the U.S. overwhelmingly want Trump to talk to is President Zalinskii. That is not happening to any real extent. The administration’s view of Ukraine seems disinterested. Trump fails to see that if Putin were to win that war, he would immediately go after Moldova, a former USSR satellite as Ukraine was. But Moldova is part of NATO which Trump fails to see as a necessary organization for both Europe and the U.S. World stability requires that.

Finally, and I will be brief, China has certainly taken note of the depletion of war materials in the U.S. I would not be surprised if China took this opportunity to try to take over Taiwan. Their only question is, how much support is the U.S. capable of giving Taiwan? According to the “Naval News,” right now the Navy has 200 warships of various sizes and duties. It has 11 Aircraft Carriers, 77 destroyers, and 65 submarines with the other ships being mostly support ships. China has only 3 aircraft carriers, 75 submarines, 62 destroyers, and 59 frigates.

The American public should be very concerned about world peace right now. We can no longer support the war against Iran, unless however, Trump invades Iran with infantry divisions, the only way to win that war. Otherwise, he simply needs to admit, which he won’t, that his plan is failing miserably and pull out.

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Gestapo in the United States


If you find the title shocking, good! It is meant to be. Those people who call themselves ICE agents are little more than thugs. They are a lawless group of Federal Employees who act again American Citizens with impunity. Please note that I said American Citizens and not illegal aliens.

But on the topic of illegal aliens, since Trump arrived in the White house, he has consistently ignored the rule of law which in the 4th Amendment to the Constitution says:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and not Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Nowhere in that Amendments does it say “American Citizens” which simply means that by extension, this amendment applies to all people living in America. And because the Trump administration under the ospecies of Christie Noem has ignored this civil right entirely. In several reports, American citizens have been taken from their homes and summarily sent to a foreign prison.

Furthermore, the 6th Amendment provides: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” Again, note the lace of the phrase “American Citizens.” Over the past 250 years, non-citizens have been taken to trial as is their right while living on American soil. They are convicted, serve time in an American Prison and when released are summarily deported to their country of origin.

The Trump scare tactics have used the terms “rapists, murderers, and drug runners” to bring that fear to the average, and unfortunately, an uninformed public. This is the same tactic used in Nazi Germany when the deportation of German Jews began. The idea of an Ayrian race, thow pure fantasy, was what allow non-Jewish Germans to look the other way while their neighbors were looted and dragged away to concentration camps in other counties, i.e. the French and German Jews being sent to Poland.

Right now the tail is wagging the dog. That means We the People are the dog and Trump is the tail. It is high time that Americans took back the power and started demanding of its Government both transparency and accountability. We have the power so we must act now!

Finally, it is the responsibility of the these ICE agents to call in the local police when being confronted by American Citizens in peaceful protests. It is NOT the job of ICE to quell protests that block the streets or that stand in front of ICE agents. That is the place of the local and state police in whose jurisdiction these protests arise. It is fair to say that had the local police in Minneapolis been called in to deal with the protests that Ms. Goode was a part of, there would have been no death that day because those police have mandate to not shoot at a fleeing vehicle. Somehow that principle has been ignored by ICE.

Again I repeat, we must take back the power that is rightfully given to us.

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Wake Up America! Trump is Working Towards Nulifying the Next Election!!!


My title sounds a bit bizzare but is it? We are supposed to be a country that has three equal parts of government, the President, the Congress, and the Judiciary. But what we have witnessed has been Trump combining the three into one, him. It seems that if something seems legally suspicious on Trump’s part he merely defers to the SJC and they have consitently given him the rubber stamp he desires.

Let’s back up to Trump on day 1. He gives the hundreds of men and women who purportated an insurrection against our government a pardon!!

He has openly stated the DEI must be done away with and that he is limiting the number of people who can come from other countries to study at our universities. This defies all logic. Diversity is all about having a “diverse” work or study place. Republicans do not like that but the reasoning is beyond belief. Equity, this is about giving any person an equal chance at whatever they are doing regardless of their color, religion, or ethnic background. That was the Civil Rights act of 1965!! But in Tumpland, that cannot be tolerated. And then there is inclusion. We are told we must be all inclusive in anything we doing which means giving everyone an equal chance. I think these ideals scared Trump since his MAGA followers are largely non-college grads who watch only Fox news. But they forgot what happen to Fox news when it was shown that Fox was deliberately airing items that it new were not true!

In case you were not watching, Trump is systematically, along with his Allies, ruining the lives of people with regard to their health care. First he took aim at Planned Parenthood because they perform abortions. The truth is, 90% of all women who go to Planned Parenthood are not their for an abortion but for information. Planned Parenthood does not push women into having an abortion, just the opposite actually. Why is it the Trump and his MAGA minions not see this? Because it is a truth he simply cannot deal with. Now he has taken aim at Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act. Democrats have maintained that millions upon millions of Americans, Republicans included, rely upon this act for insuranced they can afford. Part of the bill to reopen our government maintains the ACA and that does not sit well with Trump and his billionaire buddies who will get a tax reduction from monies now go to the ACA!!

Tump has the Speak of the House, Mike Johnson, toeing the line of not engaging in discussions with Democrats over getting this bill passed. Chuck Shumer, who Trump dearly hates, has requested that two Democrat, two Republicans and Trump sit down and hammer out a solution. Trump refuses. Why? Because he knows he will not get his way and it is his way or the highway.

Trump has muted the Judiciary, blunted the Congress from doing its business, and brung a high degree of power to the Excutive Branch. There is a parallel here. This is exactly what Hitler did. He consolidated power to become all powerful and one of Hitler’s first moves was to eliminate elections. Then he went after undesireables, a.k.a. Democrats in the U.S. Trump is only withholding Congressionally approved funds from highly visible universites in blue states. He has sent out the Texas National Guard to Chicago to quell all the violence there, when in face violent crimes have dropped 40% in the last 10 years, and, this also is probably an illegal act under Chapter 32 of the U.S. Code, the National Guard of a state may only be used in its own state. He also took U.S. Marines to Los Angeles which is absolutely against the law according to the law found in Chapter 10 of the U.S. code which says that active duty soldiers may not be used against American citizens. He has done it and not a single Republican has called foul. Well, I, an unaffiliated voter, am calling foul!!!

Republicans are supposed to be all about small government and pushing as much power down to the states as possible. Is Trump doing this? No!

Wake up America!! Your country is being stolen from you piece by piece by a despot!!

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Why Do Evangelical Christians Want Trump?


To those on the left, this would seem to be an anthema to the core beliefs on any Evangelical. But the answer to this seemingly atithetical question is not the easy. Let’s consider that you have grown up in Central Southern Ohio where rural farmlands abound as do Roman Catholic and Evangelical Churches. These people will tell you that their parents voted Republican, their grandparents voted Republican and everyone in the family has always voted Republican and it would go against their history to vote any other way. If, as in some states, their is a drawbar in the voting booths that allows a person to vote straight Republican or straight Democrat, they will always pull the straight Republican lever. And this is why it is difficult for those on the left to understand why people with staunch Christian values, or for that matter, Hasidic Jewish values, to vote for Trump.

Now you might ask, but what about all the outright lies Trump tells? As stated in the paragraph above, these people eat, sleep, and dream Republican. They also read and watch conservative radio and television. That simply means they are going to take all their news from Fox News, the 700 Club, and any other entity that serves the most basic beliefs politically. The will believe, for example, that the 2020 election was stolen not only because Fox News is still allowing people to say this on their platform, but because the U.S. Representative is also saying it. And so now things have been raised to a National level.

Let’s take one entire state that is almost entirely ruled by not just one party, but by one religion, Utah. You may have heard that just recently Senator Mitt Romney declaring he will not run for re-election this fall. Why is that significant. Senator Mitt Romney is a Mormon who lives in Utah. But at one time he was the governor of a decidedly blue state, Massachusetts. And he was a two term governor there as well. How did he do that and keep his faith? Quite simply, he used a very diplomatic route of being a middle of the road Republican. In truth, he was probably further to the right than he governed, but he did what was right for the people of his state and succeed. Now years later, he is in the state where his religion was formally founded, Utah. But he brought with him certain values he learned in the state of Massachusetts. That did not make him liberal in the least, but it an area that boasts the likes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Brandeis University, and a host of other liberal bastions of thinking, he was forced into a position of having to listen to the liberal point of view and he learned how to succeed in”enemy” territory, as it is thoght of today. But Senator Romney, to his credit, and in my belief, saw a Republican Party that was abandoning its long held view in favor of a wannabe dictator. It is unlikely that people of the Mormon Religion will ever vote for a Democrat but for them and for Evangelicals and other, a non-vote for president, in this election, is like a vote for Biden. We will never know but I would guess that in November’s election, Romney will chose to not vote for either candidate, this saying that Trump survives the criminal court system.

To be sure, Romeny is far from the only Republican who will not vote for Trump; Mike Pence said as much on today’s (Sunday, March 17, 2024) CBS Face the Nation. And I doubt, given her part on the January 6 Committee, that Liz Cheney will vote for him either but again, she will not vote for President Biden either. Now, Liz Cheney is an excellent example for other very conservative Republicans because she is one herself. Liz Cheney’s religious beliefs are unknown although she was brought up in a Untied Methodist household.

Democrats can make inroads on the Evangelicals if President Biden will go into say rural Kentucky, Elizabethtown, near Fort Knox, would be a good place, tell the Evangelical Republicans there that he is a go to church on Sunday Catholic. That will put into the minds of these people he need only beg them to do “fact checking” on Donald Trump to get to the truth and remind them of the New Testament Scripture that says, “I am the truth and the salvation . . . ” to possibly move them away from Trump. And in finishing, he would say to them that he is not asking them to vote Democrat but to consider what the actual truth of Donald Trump is.

One of the tools at Biden’s command is to get Republicans not to vote Republican but just to not vote for either candidate this go around.

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Why Don’t Americans Read?


I can answer that with a simple statement, “I don’t know.”

Something has happened within our culture which keeps American, without regard to education, from reading. The most obvious sign of this is how many newspapers have ceased publication in the past 25 years along with formerly daily newspapers which have become three day a week papers.

I am tactile person who likes nothing better than to read a daily newspaper in its newsprint form. Until my wife and I moved to Eastern North Carolina, on Sunday mornings, I went out and bought both the Boston Globe and the New York Times. We sat at our dining room table pouring over these publications with delight. Newspapers’ ability to sustain publication relies entirely on its circulation. As across the nation those numbers have decreased, the ability of the newspaper to get much needed advertising has also declined. Newspapers, even though they print news that you may have heard 12 hours earlier on the television, offer something that television news reports do not; their coverage of a story is far more complete. Additionally, television news cannot give the same amount of news as a newspaper does. But this is where the non-reading public comes into play. I suspect that a large portion of the American public will say that they do not have time to read a newspaper. But for most of them the real truth is that they just cannot be bothered to do so.

Fifty years ago, in any city of any size that you ventured to, had at least one bookstore, and, in most cases, there were multiple bookstores. In larger cities the used bookstores were easy to find. That is not true any longer. My wife and I are avid book readers. My wife reads them electronically and I buy the hardcover book. Either way, we read a lot of books. But independent bookstores are shuttering their operations more and more. There simply exists little call for what they sell. Where I now live, Barnes & Noble is my refuge.

I know from the experience of having worked for many years in public school systems, that reading is a major part of their curriculum. But for some reason, people who go through those systems may be looking at reading as something they did not like to do in primary and secondary schools and so why should they continue?

And then there are our public libraries. If such figures existed, I suspect the foot travel into these institutions has dramatically decreased. And those books are free which means that people on limited budgets cannot use the excuse of not having the funds to buy books.

I read a lot as a way to escape the realities of our world into the world of fiction. I also subscribed to the Boston Globe’s electronic version just to stay abreast of the news of a state I called home for most of my life but also because it is the only daily source of that type of news available to me here in Eastern North Carolina. We have two “daily” newspapers, as their masthead declares, that come out 3 days a week, have about 8 pages of mostly advertising, and are overpriced, $2.00 per copy.

It is my belief that Americans have lost sight of the value in reading the printed word. The last time to general public got into a reading frenzy was when the various Harry Potter books were published. Since then, everyone has reverted back. Are we heading to being a country of illiterates? To some degree, yes. Are we becoming a country which is ill-informed of the news of the nation and the world? Most definitely!

I have no idea how to get the general public back to reading except to write my blog about what I see as a problem. And of course, my blog, and others like it, appeal mostly to people who read.