Tag Archive: Donald Trump

The state of U.S. Republicans

Republican behavior

At a time when the United States is being called upon to lead in the dangerous crisis between Israel and Gaza, U.S. Republicans are locked in their own civil war, and have been unable to choose a Speaker of the House of Representatives.

During this dangerous crisis, Donald Trump has taken the side of terrorists against our ally Israel.

One Republican U.S. Senator has blocked the U.S. from filling crucial military posts, including 12 leadership posts at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which protects U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East.

Another Republican U.S. Senator says the U.S. should bomb Iran‘s oil fields and refineries, which would create a worldwide oil panic that would cause oil and gasoline prices to go through the roof.

Republicans are acting like the drunks at the bar whose car keys need to get taken away before they can get behind the wheel and kill someone. They are proving over and over again that they are unfit to govern.

So let’s not hear the media refer to “Democrats in Disarray” ever again.

Photo by Sharon Mollerus, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/x30dGq

Senator Robert Menendez must resign, but not for the reason you think

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

By now, many people know that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, is in big legal trouble, again. This time, the allegations leading to the latest corruption charges against Menendez look bad, including bribery payments to the Senator in cash and gold in return for his interfering with criminal cases and giving illegal special favors, even to the government of Egypt. As a result, there have been widespread calls for Menendez to resign, including from many Democrats. Indeed, about half of Menendez’ Democratic U.S. Senate colleagues, as well as New Jersey County Chairs and others, have now called for him to step down. It’s fair to say that such calls have grown louder and are gaining momentum.

At the same time, it’s true that in America, everyone accused of a crime is deemed under the law to be innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, it is not illegal to keep cash and even gold in one’s home; plenty of people do it. Thus, an argument can be made (and Sen. Menendez is making it forcefully, while pleading not guilty to the charges) that it’s unfair for him to have to resign unless and until he is found guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused. Unfortunately, however, neither the court of public opinion nor the U.S. Senate is a court of law, and there are powerful reasons why Menendez must resign right away.

Howard Stern, the Democrats’ new best friend

Howard Stern, woke this week

Usually, blunt and crude radio personalities like Howard Stern are not great Democratic role models. That’s because they will often make “edgy” remarks about women, minorities or cultural issues to get a laugh, a reaction and/or higher ratings. This week, however, Stern made comments — not once, but twice — that would cause a Democrat to blush with pride.

First, on his SiriusXM satellite radio show this past Monday, Stern went off on Republicans’ pathological use of the term “woke” as a criticism of Democratic values.:

I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m ‘woke.’ … To me, the opposite of ‘woke’ is being asleep…. And if ‘woke’ means I can’t get behind [Donald Trump], which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine — dude, call me ‘woke’ as you f‑‑‑ing want.

As to the Trump supporters who most often use the “woke” term against Democrats, Stern said:

I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how ‘woke’ I am: I believe the election was not rigged.

Continuing on the subject of the latest updated COVID vaccine (which many Republicans criticize as “woke,”), Stern added that he recently received it:

I’m not for stupidity…. F‑‑‑in’ science. This f‑‑‑ing country is so great…. I am ‘woke,’ motherf‑‑‑er. And I love it.

As if this weren’t enough to endear Stern to Democrats and rational Independents, on Monday he also attacked MAGA Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for her recent tawdry behavior, which included vaping, groping with her date, taking selfies, etc. in a crowded Denver theater, all of which got the pair kicked out. Responding to a caller who brought up the topic, Stern said:

Lauren Boebert is a disgrace to this country! Forget the politics. She’s in a ti–y dress. She’s with some dude. Looks like she’s obviously vaping, but also looks like she might be grabbing his p—s during ‘Beetlejuice.’

Stern also reportedly “ripped [Boebert] for being a liar after she initially denied that she vaped during the musical.” According to Stern:

I don’t know what’s going on in Colorado. What are they — just got dumb people in Colorado. How do you elect someone like her? …. I mean, how did she win an election? How does a woman like that win an election? You know, there’s certain standards. Once you get caught lying like that, goodbye!

While we would likely choose different language, on this occasion at least, Howard Stern demonstrated to Democrats how to go on offense against the Republicans. For this, he deserves our applause and our attention.

Photo by Bill Norton, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/sRfPnu

President Biden attacks “MAGA Republicans”

MAGA Republican extremism on display

Earlier this year, we noted that President Joe Biden had started using the term “MAGA Republicans” to describe his political opponents, especially the ones who are “threatening our freedoms, by attempting to cut Social Security,” threatening women’s healthcare decisions (i.e. banning abortion), banning books in schools, etc. Now, months later, President Biden, his 2024 reelection campaign team, his White House staff and other Democrats are continuing this use of “MAGA Republicans.” We think doing so is effective.

Essentially, there are two related advantages in using the term “MAGA Republicans.” First, it’s a way of saying, “look, there are plenty of reasonable Republicans with whom I can work, but there’s an extreme wing of the Republican Party that is causing problems.” And in fact, President Biden has worked with Republicans to pass major legislation, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Safer Communities Act of 2022 (which provides mental health assistance to reduce gun violence), the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and others, all with Republican votes (and some of which the Biden Administration even terms “Bipartisan” when referring to these laws).

“Coward Trump” chickens out of Republican presidential debate

Coward Trump

Donald Trump has announced that he will not participate in the first Republican presidential primary debate for the 2024 election, which is scheduled for tomorrow night on Fox “News.” Instead, Trump reportedly has been interviewed by Tucker Carlson, who was booted from Fox and now releases content on Elon Musk‘s X platform (formerly Twitter). The Trump-Carlson interview is set to air at the same time as the Republican debate. Furthermore, Trump’s statement indicated that he “will therefore not be doing the debates!” That sounds like Donald Trump won’t participate in any Republican presidential primary debate this year or next year.

Trump’s chickening out from the GOP debate is a great opportunity to attack him as a coward. Chris Christie, who is one of the only Republican presidential candidates courageous enough to take on Trump forcefully and directly, is doing just that. While recently sharing an article containing Trump’s debate pullout announcement, Christie wrote:

Surprise, surprise… the guy who is out on bail from four jurisdictions and can’t defend his reprehensible conduct, is running scared and hiding from the debate stage.

Trump—certified loser, verified coward.

Really, the Democrats could not do better than to quote Christie and repeat his vicious attacks on Donald Trump.

Indeed, Republican voters love a good authoritarian fascist dictator, but such a figure must be perceived as strong to be credible or effective. Attacking “Coward Trump” as being fearful and a “chicken” undercuts this image. Perhaps such cowardice could be Trump’s Achilles heel.

Photo by thetortmaster, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/LhtUYI

Republican debate preview: will Chris Christie take down Trump?

Chris Christie campaigning in Iowa in 2016

Next Wednesday, August 23, the Republican National Committee (RNC) of the Republican Party will host its first 2024 presidential primary debate, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To qualify for the debate, candidates need to meet three requirements:

–First, candidates must attract at least 40,000 unique donors, with at least 200 unique donors per state. Less popular GOP candidates have used gift card offers, concert tickets and more to reach the threshold.

–Second, candidates must score at least 1% in three national polls that meet the RNC’s requirements, or at least 1% in two national polls and in two polls from separate early voting states.

–Finally, candidates must sign the RNC’s pledge to back the eventual Republican nominee, no matter who wins the primary.

Biden Boom update — the economy continues to gain strength

Lots of this floating around the U.S. economy

Back in December 2021, we published the Biden Boom” story. At the time, we noted how, in less than one year in office, President Joe Biden had already made great strides in the U.S. economy. That included, for example, getting economic growth up and unemployment down from the 2020 Trump Recession caused in large part by Donald Trump‘s failure to act on COVID. At the time, we suggested spreading this good economic news.

Now it’s more than 18 months later, and while Trump is busy begging for donations to defend himself against a growing pile of criminal indictments, President Biden has been busy helping all of us. As a result, the U.S. economy continues to defy the predictions of the doom and gloomers, including many in the mainstream media. This continuing Biden Boom is the great untold story of 2023. For example:

–Unemployment is only 3.6 percent, near the all-time low

–The U.S. has created over 13 million jobs since President Biden took office, which shatters the job creation record for a president’s 4-year term in just two and a half years.

–Inflation, which rose sharply due to the economic rescue steps needed after Trump’s COVID failures, is now down to three percent.

–U.S. Gross Domestic Product (i.e. economic growth) is still going strong at well over 2 percent annually.

–U.S. manufacturing growth has sharply rebounded under President Biden, and according to Axios, “outpaces the rest of the world.”

While all of this good economic news is occurring, a crucial moment took place last Wednesday, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the Federal Reserve staff no longer forecasts a U.S. recession. This means the U.S. is likely headed for the much sought-after but rare “soft landing” of lowering inflation without causing a recession. Large companies like Caterpillar, reporting very high profits, agree.

Can a Hippie-era song help the Democrats in 2024?

Jefferson Airplane’s 1969 “Volunteers” album

“We Can Be Together” was not Jefferson Airplane‘s most popular song, but it’s one of their most controversial. Released in 1969 as the B-side to the better-known “Volunteers” and included on the album of that name, the song is a hippie call to action in the face of the Vietnam War and other oppressive actions of those in power at the time, including Republican President Richard Nixon. Here are some of the lyrics to “We Can Be Together”:

 

We are all outlaws in the eyes of America
We are obscene, lawless, hideous, dangerous, dirty, violent
And young

We should be together
Come on all you people standin’ around
Our life’s too fine to let it die
We should be together
All your private property is
Target for your enemy
And your enemy is we
We are forces of chaos and anarchy
Everything they say we are, we are
And we are very proud of ourselves
Up against the wall
Up against the wall, motherfuckers!
Tear down the wall
Tear down the wall

What to do when the media ignore President Biden’s accomplishments?

President Joe Biden

This past Monday, President Joe Biden held an event at the White House where he unveiled a more than $42 billion investment in high-speed broadband internet around the country. According to President Biden, this funding comes from both the American Rescue Plan (signed into law in March 2021) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (signed in November 2021).  The President indicated that the legislation passed thus far included “$25 billion for high-speed Internet in places where it was out of reach, for schools and libraries to help students connect to the internet if they couldn’t do it at home.” Now, says President Biden, the new funding will “be distributed to 50 states, Washington, D.C., and territories to deliver high-speed Internet in places where there’s neither service or it’s too slow.” The breakdown of such funding includes, for example, over $3.3 billion dedicated to Texas, over $1.8 billion to California, and more than $1.1 billion for Florida.

The President’s broadband investment plan is designed to “connect every person in America to reliable high-speed Internet by 2030.” However, President Biden stated that:

[I]t’s not enough to have access. You need affordability in addition to access. That’s why we worked with internet service providers to bring down prices for Americans struggling with internet payments. It’s called the Affordable Connectivity Program. It’s helping 19 million families save around $30 a month on their internet bills, and some save a lot more.

In short, this was a very important announcement about something that improves people’s lives and helps individuals, students, businesses and others conduct their activities more efficiently. It’s great for our economy and will create jobs as well.

However, at least according to a number of people (such as Mastodon user Kailee @skykiss@sfba.social), “[n]ot a single news outlet aired President Biden’s event.” If that is the case, the fault lies in several places, including with the news media, the Biden administration, Democratic leaders in Congress and in the states, and elsewhere.

Republicans in disarray over Trump indictment? More like a total mess

Chris Christie, causing problems for Donald Trump and the Republicans

Once again, Donald Trump‘s troubles are dominating the political landscape, and the Republican Party. Trump was in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, being arraigned on 37 felony counts involving his theft from the White House, retention and obstruction of justice in hindering the FBI’s retrieval of many boxes of classified documents, most of which were held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. If convicted on many or all of the charges, Trump could spend the rest of his life in prison.

None of this helps the Republican Party, which is trying to gear up for the 2024 elections and does not hold the White House or the U.S. Senate majority. Instead of gaining traction with a 2024 theme, elected Republicans are spending their time explaining how much they support Trump, and there is plenty of disagreement among them.