george.schnur

Every day it comes clearer into focus that the majority of Republican politicians at the federal and state levels are living in some dream world. We have the disgraced former Governor of Missouri who is now running to be the GOP Senate candidate in that state airing a political ad in which he is calling on primary voters ‘to obtain hunting permits for Republicans In Name Only’ while flanked by men wearing tactical gear and holding semi automatic weapons while he himself brandishes a double barreled rifle. It sounds like a call to commit violence against those who disagree with him on anything. Then we have Sen. Johnson who had promised to seek only two terms but who now is running again. His stated reason is that people were coming up to him with tears in their eyes and begging him to be a GOP primary candidate. Now I admit that I find these two politicians to be totally weird but they don’t quite measure up to the craziness of Texas Republican legislators. Texas Representatives have endorsed legislation to allow a vote on secession from the US. They seem to have forgotten the Civil War and what led up to it. It was the plan of several states to leave to Union. Then we have the Texas GOP adopting a resolution rejecting the 2020 presidential election results but those for Senators and House members seem to be in order. They too must have forgotten 61 lost GOP court cases in which it was ruled that there was no evidence of election fraud. All of this tells me that the GOP is losing its way to remain a serious party. I suspect that the GOP does have members who are tired of inconsistencies, contradictions and disconnects within their party leadership.

I agree that Mike Pence deserves credit for doing the right thing by certifying president Biden’s election win. He resisted tremendous pressure from Trump and his group of coconspirators not to do so. But let us not go as far as calling him a hero for executing the vice presidential duties he had sworn to do. We now have heard from his own Chief of Staff and others to what degree Trump tried to manipulate Pence to overthrow the election outcome. But we have not heard directly from Mike Pence in his own words on what had transpired before and leading up to the Capital attack. If Pence were indeed a man of integrity he would give up his idea that he has a chance to be a presidential candidate in 2024 and call a press conference to inform the public on everything he knows. To think that a person whose life was threated by Trump loyalists but still refuses to publicly break ranks with Trump is beyond belief. I am sure that it isn’t loyalty anymore to the person who stabbed him in the back but his unbridled ambition that he remain a national GOP fixture in the future. Yes, when a person can accomplish a difficult task but fails to do so that person is indeed a shrinking violet!

After only two public hearings of the Select Committee we have heard shocking testimony of a corrupt administration. These witnesses are from Trump’s cabinet, his campaign staff, his lawyers and even his children. Furthermore, not a single witness has taken exception to what the committee members presented in those hearings. These are undeniably facts not matter how some Republicans are trying to undercut their devastating impact on us. How silly is it to accuse Democrats of not being fair and balanced when every witness comes from the Republican party? I expect that in subsequent hearings we will hear much more testimony directly implicating Trump and some Congress Representatives and Senators in their attempt to overturn an election. We have been waiting a long time for this story to be told and now it is unfolding right before our eyes. We know that the Watergate affair under GOP President Nixon was a tale of intimidation and corruption. The tentative coup attempt by Trump may even be worse!

Past events in Germany should tell us what happened there in the thirties can happen here if democracy isn’t protected. The democratic Weimar Republic wasn’t destroyed overnight but mostly because Germans were ignoring the threats against it by a far right nationalistic faction. Those who believe it can’t happen here should carefully look at the evidence being presented by the Select Committee in their hearings. We already know that Trump was warned that the election was a toss up on election night but moved ahead by claiming he had won. Then as subsequent negative results trickled in, Trump found comfort in claiming wide spread voter fraud was prevalent. Here again, his own staff reminded him that in all recounts of the past the change in voter totals was minimal and even if it benefitted him, it was insufficient to change the election outcome. That now forced Trump and his hard core followers to consider interfering with the election certification by the Vice President, The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were enlisted to be vanguard on the march to the Capital on Jan 6, 2020 in order to create havoc and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Some states with their GOP controlled election boards had even appointed alternate electors to sabotage the proceedings. Such scheme is nothing more but outright treason. Fortunately for our democracy that coup attempt failed because Pence did his job as outlined in the duties of a Vice President. We can’t permit this to happen again. We must stand united against evil.

There have been many powerful men in history who thought they were generals as good as Napoleon, reincarnations of Roman Emperors or as great as past leaders of their nation. Now we can add Putin to the list of those men since, in his own words, he is another ‘Peter the Great’. When Peter was the Czar he pushed Russian territorial expansion by claiming the land of what is now Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and great portions of the Sea of Azov and Black Sea regions. Now it is obvious that Putin’s Ukraine land grab has nothing to do at all with NATO but is his desire to regain lost territory as a result of the Soviet Union breakup. Russia had signed a treaty in 2003 with Ukraine agreeing that the Sea of Azov. would be shared internal waters. Putin shredded those treaty provisions when in 2021 Russia blocked 70 percent of the Azov Sea near Mariupol. That action was a prelude to the invasion of Ukraine since on Feb. 24, 2022 Russia began shelling Mariupol and Putin knew that he had ignited a war. Given his statements that regaining lost Russian territory is his highest priority, I see little hope for this war to end in a diplomatic solution. I can now also clearly see why the Baltic countries feel that they may be next on Putin’s target list. The countries of the world must stop that Russian aggression at all cost. Appeasement is never an answer to land grabs as the 1938 treaty with Germany has shown.

After the Uvalde mass shooting of 19 children and 2 teachers it appeared that Republican legislators were finally shocked and willing to address implementation of meaningful and reasonable gun legislation. Now barely 2 weeks after that tragic event their initial compassion and empathy has again turned to callousness and cold-heartedness. Passionate pleas by President Biden, Matthew McConaughey and grieving parents that something must be done are now easily forgotten and have given way to political expediency. The height of ridiculousness is when one Republican Senators states that assault weapons are a must to kill wild boars and another prairie dogs in their respective states. Republicans are again showing little concern for the suffering of of parents and communities impacted by mass shootings. Their claim that their actions are all about protecting the second amendment rights of Americans isn’t sustainable since the majority of the public doesn’t oppose changes to gun laws. What it really gets down to is that the GOP is telling us: ‘Get used to mass shootings since we are unwilling to do anything about it!’. I suspect that this position is grounded in the fact that a large component of their base is far right voters and they don’t wish to antagonize them. Aftercall, every vote counts and we must not lose a single one.

Even though tid bits of information has come out about the Jan 6, 2020 Capital attack, I suspect that it is a small drop when compared to what will be revealed at the Thursday Congressional hearing. For may politicians, White House staffers, Trump and Fox News commentators it will be a Day of Reckoning since their misdeeds and lies will be exposed. None of them will be able to hide from the truth as their personal communications come to light and witnesses under oath tell their stories. It appears that Fox News refusal to televise the proceedings is based on the reality that their network stars Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade had their hands in spinning false narratives about events of that day. They will be exposed for their failure to tell the truth. Hopefully it will have some of their television audience question what else the network has been lying about to them. Is it in regards to the election fraud Big Lie or other conspiracy theories mentioned on Fox? In any case, it will be riveting to see Republicans squirm as their unconstitutional and treasonous conduct is shown to the public.

Republicans have begun their full throated defense of guns by launching the blame game on issues like mental illness, RAP music, video games and dysfunctional families. However, they totally ignore that these issues exist world wide. My view is that their outrage is a mere deflection from the real problems facing us. We by far outpace any nation in the number of people killed by guns and that includes many children. So the question becomes: ‘What really makes us different from other countries?’. Well, I believe it is our proliferation of guns, many of which are copies of military style weapons with the sole purpose of killing as many as possible quickly. In addition, we are surrounded by GOP politicians who receive lots of money from the NRA and the weapons manufacturer lobby. They will continue to place blame of mass shootings on anything except the ready availability of guns. They are against background checks, ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines sales. In other words, their outrage is merely a storm in a tea cup since it isn’t addressing the real problem our country is facing. They are pointing at issues issues knowing fully well that they aren’t the real root cause of our killing epidemic. Shame on them all. Stop interpreting the Second Amendment in that ridiculous way that when it comes to weapons that everything shall be permitted and common sense shall not interfere with our interpretation is dead wrong. Nineteen school children killed in Texas are proof of that!

During his term in office Trump made many demands of Barr’s DOJ to investigate alleged wrong doing by the Clinton campaign and Obama administration. Trump’s focus was implicate Clinton staff members as being involved in the Russia probe and that Obama’s White House unmasked General Flynn’s questionable conduct. This week we learned that these were sly disinformation efforts which were not based on any evidence. Barr’s appointed special prosecutor Durham, by his own admission, failed to find wrong doing by the Clinton campaign in court. An internal DOJ memo has emerged summarizing that the Obama administration had no plans to unmask Flynn. The question is if Trump falsely believed that he was right or if it was merely a misdirection play to trick and deceive the public about true events? I believe that the undertone of the Trump administration was always to divert attention from the fact that they were the new and very real Washington swamp. The GOP game plan was always to hint that something was wrong without ever producing facts and sound evidence. We see that play out with the various explanations trying to justify the 2020 election loss to Republicans spinning that the Jan 6, 2021 wasn’t an attempt to overrule the will of the people. The 2022 November election will give us the opportunity to drain the GOP Trump swamp before they can do more damage to our democracy.

The first congressional hearing dates back to 1861 to investigate the defeat of the Union Army at the Battle of Bull Run. Such hearings can be called by the Senate, House, joint or special committees investigating major political events like Watergate, Iran-Contra affair and presidential impeachments. Generally they are open to the public and aired on television. Their purpose is to seek information, investigate suspicious activity and determine responsibility for the events. Normally confirmation hearings are routine but there were fireworks at recent Supreme Court Judge confirmations. Now that the Special Committee investigating the events of the Capital attack on Jan 6, 2022 has announced dates for their public hearing, I expect them to be doozies. Much damaging information has been revealed already but my expectation is that we will hear much, much more. Certainly early indications from known information places the former president, his WH staff, some House members and possibly some Senators in precarious positions of having been involved in efforts to overthrow a democratic election. Witnesses will be under oath with no place to hide as they face the glaring lights of camera flashes. If they claim not to remember critical texts, I am sure that print out of them will be readily available to confront them immediately. It will be grand theater and a crackerjack of a show for the public to watch. It will be up to them to set the tone on what steps the Committee should take next.

The widely held belief that our Founding Fathers were infallible in their thinking and ideas is false. They were a group of mostly of wealthy plantation owners and businessmen who did pen a series of important government documents. But in many cases they were interested in maintaining their status and place in society and were unwilling to address pressing social issues. For instance, even white men had no right to vote in elections if they didn’t own land. Women still weren’t treated fairly and had no say in elections because they weren’t given the right to vote. Slavery was legal but a contentious subject with few individuals willing to abolish it in the colonies. However, for the sake of unity that was quickly dropped from further discussions. But over time these difficult challenges were overcome and modified to meet demands of the public for change. Now as we look back on history we realize that even individuals with foresight are easily trapped by norms of the time they live in. Even today we have endless debates on adequate and reasonable gun controls or how to provide for fair access to the ballot box. We must recognize that change to the status quo can’t be blocked and so it will be on gun control and voting rights.

The nation’s Attorney General gave the Harvard Commencement Address. It was scholarly, somberly delivered and touched on issues facing the country but fell short of a strong defense of democracy and condemnation of those who have and continue to undermine it. I would compare it to saying: ‘Please don’t do it anymore’ rather than a forceful ‘Insurrectionists and lawmakers supporting them will have the full weight of the DOJ fall on them’. Frankly, I am tired of AG Garland’s attempts to stay away from facing a political fight with Trump loyalists who, based on texts and email correspondences, were implicit in participating and/or offering support to those who did. There are some who believe that AG Garland is slowly and meticulously assembling the evidence against individuals and they will be charges. The problem, as I see it it, is that they must face justice prior to the 2022 election cycle for the Republicans have already stated that if they win a House majority they will stop current efforts to get to the truth. I hope that we see some DOJ action in spite of my pessimism. I am always ready to be positively surprised!

The Uvalde school shooting information provided to date is severely lacking in consistency. It appears that much which was stated by authorities on Wednesday was plain wrong. Their attempt yesterday to provide transparency was another failure. But what did come out is that the Police response can be considered an operational failure. The Police resources first at the scene failed to engage the suspect to neutralize the threat. They waited for 30 to 40 minutes for additional officers to arrive. That long wait may have resulted in some students dying of wounds who may have had a change to be saved without the delay. It is astounding to hear a Senior Police Officer admit that some were afraid to be shot. After previous school shootings Police Departments were told that the suspect must be immediately confronted to minimize overall casualties. That was not done here. Many good Policeman and Policewomen have lost their lives in process of protecting citizens and they all are true heroes. The first responders in Uvalde could have done better.

I believe that the top two names on Trump’s list for retaliatory action were Gove Kemp and Sec of State Raffensperger in Georgia. They are the ones who refused his request to find him by hook or crook enough votes to win in Georgia. They executed their responsibilities and certified President Biden’s election results in their state. Now both were running for reelection for their positions. That made the 2022 Georgia GOP primary election a battleground election since that made them Trump targets to exact revenge for failure to do as he requested. As a result, Trump forcefully endorsed their GOP opponents in the primary election who sided with him that the election was stolen. We all know that Trump will always side with politicians who are election deniers. As such it became a test of Trump’s clout in Georgia. Well, the Republican voters ignored Trump’s endorsement and noise making and pushed Kemp and Raffensperger to easy wins. It may indicate that conservative Republicans are finally waking up and are willing to oppose the self proclaimed Kingmaker.

Another mass shooting of 22 individuals with 19 of them being children will again result in comments that it is a sad day, blame it on mental health issues, state that we must pray for the families but very few will point out the dangers of our ridiculous gun culture. Add to that the NRA is pushing that nonsense that ‘they will take our guns away’ and gun manufacturer lobbyists making generous political donations not to implement tightening of weapons legislation. I have lived in the US now for 66 years and I don’t remember any time that federal or state authorities went house to house to take guns away from anyone. May I suggest that everyone of us in the US bow their heads in shame that we as a society appear to be unwilling to do something about our epidemic of mass shootings! Nineteen more innocent children are dead because of our inaction!!!!! And don’t forget the Buffalo victims and all others.

When the European nations forged the European Union and formed NATO with the US it was based on the concept of unanimity. Basically it was an agreement between all countries that any future changes to its structure and actions required the consensus of all. That philosophy is now being seriously questioned since Putin’s Ukraine war revealed that the Kremlin appears to have found friends in Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Turkish President Erdogan. Orban declared that he is opposed to plans to sanction Russian oil exports while Erdogan has stated he will oppose Sweden and Finland’s request to join NATO. In no way should the other nations be held hostage by these two strongmen. If diplomatic efforts to change their positions are unsuccessful they must be ignored for the common good of the European continent. The principle of unanimity never made any sense since it has and always will be difficult to have so many nations be politically on the same page. Democracies should follow democratic principles in everything they do and that should also apply o international affairs. May be a simple majority vote on important issues is inadequate but how about a two thirds majority vote would show overwhelming support for a critical issue.

The winner of the Pennsylvania Republican primary for the Governorship was won by Mastriano. He has been a strong Trump supporter by buying into various far right election falsehoods covered under Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. But his conversion to far right ideas doesn’t appear to be a recent development. A thesis written by him some 20 years ago points out some troubling beliefs he holds. For instance, American youth has been corrupted by drugs and alternate lifestyle options, the European Union threatens US dominance and that the US military is the only institution which can prevent the destruction of our republic. Given that he is a former military man who swore to uphold the Constitution that last belief of his is indeed frightening. We must remember that the Constitution clearly spells out that our military is under control of elected civilian leaders. Our Founding Fathers realized that the largest threat to democracy will always come from potential military involvement. I believe that his poisonous views are at the core of who he is. He demonstrated that by joining the Trump extremists as they marched to attack the Capital. Any politician involved in anything that looks like participation in an insurrection has no role in being part of any government entity. Our domestic moral decay of Politicians is a greater danger to our democracy than foreign armies.

Yesterday McDonald’s announced the sale of their 850 franchises in Russia to Siberian businessman Alexander Govor. It is difficult to assess if the sale is driven by Ukraine war concerns or is just a business divestiture. Mr. Govor has extensive business holding which already included 25 McDonald franchises. Financial details of this mega Burger Deal haven’t been announced. Russia’s Trade Minister Denis Manturov has pledged that the Kremlin will support Govor to make the acquisition of these Burger shops a Russian success story. Since the specifics of the sale prohibit the new owner to operate the acquired restaurants under the McDonald logo and corporate colors, the Russian public has been asked to contribute potential names for the new chain. One suggestion stands out since it is ZBurger. The Z is a Latin character and is widely used in Russia to show support and acceptance of the Ukraine war. I do feel that if that name ends up being chosen, it may ruin the appetite of many Russians for burgers.

The mass shooting inside a grocery store in a predominantly black community was perpetrated by a White Supremacist consumed by hate. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that when you fan the ambers of hate a fire will break out. White Nationalists and White Supremacists are predominantly Republicans and have found a warm and cozy home in the MAGA and Ultra MAGA tents. These extremists have bought in to the rhetoric spread by FOX news, especially by their commentator Tucker Carlson, that immigration will destroy white values and western civilization. Such ideology has been around for a while but now it is being amplified on social media and even prominent Republican politicians like Elise Stefanik and JD Vance. The young white man responsible for the murder of 10 individuals in Buffalo became a follower of that ideology since he repeatedly cited Great Replacement theories in his published manifesto. We must all realize that hateful words will lead to hateful actions. It is wrong to write off such murderous episodes as ‘sad events’ and attribute them to ‘mental health issues’. We must face the ugly truth that the only massive conspiracy we are facing is to drive fear into the white population that nonwhites will eventually control our nation. Every American must speak out against racial hatred and violence against our black and brown brothers.

Prices are sky rocketing not only in the US but all over the world. The vast majority of the price inflation is clearly based on Putin’s ill advised plan to annex Ukraine to Russia. But it also makes sense to factor in cost increases due to price gauging via windfall profits by large corporations. Many again are raising prices in spite of setting record profits every quarter. The Russian military leadership is stunned by Ukrainians defensive skills, superior courage and willingness to sacrifice for their freedom. Putin has failed in all of his stated war objectives. But I expect that we won’t see a change of heart on his part to alter his Kremlin course of action. The reality is that Russia has suffered greater losses in man power than in their 10 year Afghanistan misadventure. I am convinced that human losses leave no impact on him. The cost of his war is felt by all citizens everywhere because energy prices have risen steeply and Ukraine being one of the leading grain exporters is unable to deliver their usual amounts to other countries. That fact alone may mean that some people in poor countries will go hungry. We are all paying for Putin’s vanity to start a war which he thought was easy to win. Now it isn’t clear at all how this international crisis will end.

Our society is suffering a stark moral decline. The proof surrounds us all through examples of social issues. We have social injustice, incivility, racial hated and mass shootings. Moral poverty is when people fail to determine what is right from wrong conduct. Without moral guidance it makes it virtually impossible for people to live cooperatively in groups. What we see now is that many people refuse to make short term sacrifices for the benefit of society. It seems individuals now wish to make their own definition of right and wrong and totally ignore what were accepted standards of behavior. We used to accept election results but now when a person’s candidate loses it must be due to election fraud. We fail to acknowledge the sadder aspects of our national history and try to whitewash that slavery really wasn’t that bad for blacks. Many of our elected officials ignore their oath to the Constitution and engage in efforts to undermine our democracy and many don’t see it as an insurrection attempt. Yes, I strongly believe that moral poverty due to our moral decline has led to our nation being divided on many issues!

The former Secretary of Defense appeared on the 60 Minute broadcast and has written a book about his interaction with Trump when he served him. Esper’s book is ‘A Sacred Oath’ and and soon will be available on store bookshelves. Esper’s interview and tidbits which have come out about the content of the book portray Trump in an unflattering way. As a result, the former Secretary of Defense has been attacked by Trump and the far right media. They are trying to convince us again that the book is full of lies, that Esper was weak and ineffective in his position and, when everything fails, call him a RINO. Trump is forgetting that he appointed Esper to his position and then fired him for supposedly being ineffective. That is a pattern Trump has with followed when other individuals left their positions. Now one has to remember that Esper isn’t a run of the mill journalist but as a former Secretary of State the book content had to undergo a rigid vetting process for accuracy and to ensure that it contained no classified information. That is why the information in his book and his interview have to be taken at face value to be the truth. The most distressing facts which has come out is, at least to me, that Trump had no clue what a President could do in regards to some issues. Trump’s idea that he would be the one to end the drug war by sending rockets into Mexico to destroy cartel drug manufacturing factories was totally unreal. But he did float that as one of his brilliant ideas. He also thought that federal troops should be deployed during the BLM unrest and suggested that protesters should be shot. Fortunately for the country some sane personnel surrounding him were able to change Trump’s mind. I find it utterly sad that so many keep on believing that Trump is capable of being a presidential candidate in 2024.

How could it be that parents of infants in the US suddenly are facing a shortage of baby formula? Many stores have no product on their shelves while others are limiting the quantities that shoppers can purchase. Manufacturers of the product claim that a lack of key ingredients, packaging problems, labor shortages and the Abbott Nutrition recall are responsible for the current baby formula availability issue. This is a serious situation since three quarter of US babies take some form of baby formula in their first six months. I quick Internet check reveals that no other countries are reporting baby formula shortages. That makes the US situation even more puzzling. The main ingredients required to make baby formula are listed as protein, fat, various vitamins and calcium. Yet milk and sources of fat, vitamins and calcium are readily available in pharmacies and grocery stores. The open issue is to what degree the Abbott Nutrition product recall has potentially impacted the baby formula business. The leading manufacturers are all huge companies like Gerber (Nestle), Danone, Mead Johnson, Kraft Heinz, Abbott and Perrigo. I find it hard to believe that they all simultaneously ended up with production problems. I really believe that some clever investigative reporter should dig into the baby food shortage situation and find out what really is going on in that industry. It is ridiculous that parents are forced to start experimenting by making baby formula at home in this day and age because they can’t get access to the commercial product.

Putin’s much anticipated WWII Victory speech lacked the fireworks many had expected. There was no announcement of a Declaration of War against Ukraine or that additional Russian military forces were being mobilized. It sounded more like Putin was in a bind and actually had no concrete plan on how to proceed. So he fell back on repeating that Ukraine was under control of neo-Nazi elements and he was morally obliged to invade and defeat them. He claimed that he had warned the western countries about this looming threat but was ignored. Then he continued his spin by blaming the west for aiding the Ukraine and for providing them weaponry. He acknowledged Russian casualties but didn’t quantify them. Putin failed to proclaim that victory had been achieved. What was missing from his speech appear to be clues on what the Kremlin is planning next. Will they resume the attacks on Kyiv and Lviv or focus on the Donbas region? We know that Putin is unpredictable and his somber tone today should not mislead us into believing that any kind of Ukraine/Russia peace deal is imminent. I feel that he has realized that his ‘special military operation’ was poorly planned and woeful in its execution. So he may be buying time to reorganize the military leadership, restock his lost weaponry and try again to gain victory. But given the Ukraine resistance he will fail in taking the whole country again!

I, as most citizens, believed that judges were non political and acted as stewards of our laws and the Constitution. However, the leak of a Supreme Court brief content has thrown that belief out the window. Clearly we all now know that the majority judges sitting on the bench of SCOTUS are now no more than political appointees determined to to support the political agenda of the party which appointed them. How and who may have leaked the information is totally irrelevant. What we know as a fact is that three judges in their confirmation hearing stated under oath that Roe v. Wade is codified law and as such shouldn’t be changed. If they now change their minds it would be a case of committing perjury. What I find extremely perplexing is that many in the pro life movement totally ignore the constitutional right of any woman to own and control her body. It strikes me so strange to claim that mask wearing is an invasion of privacy but telling a pregnant woman what she must do isn’t! I also feel that many who advocate pro life see no responsibility of pregnancy on part of the man. Furthermore, I see their morality as being flawed since they often fail to support legislation which provides funds for feeding, educating and housing of young children. Chief Justice Roberts is appalled that the brief was leaked. But it seems that he is aware by whom is was done. Early evidence runs counter to the GOP claim that liberals must have done it. May be it was leaked as a trial balloon to see how the American public would react if it became the final POTUS ruling. I am convinced that the majority of the public will continue to oppose elimination of Roe v. Wade.

There is no doubt that many GOP politicians seek Trump’s endorsement in the 2022 election cycle. The past has shown that if his candidate wins it must be due to his endorsement but if he fails it is due to the candidates shortcomings. Recently Trump has made a number of endorsement for Senate and House candidates which raised some eye brows and will indicate if the Trump endorsement magic is still present or fading. Is Trump still the kingmaker or a gambler with some of his endorsements? In Senate primaries Trump has endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, JD Vance in Ohio, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Ted Budd in North Carolina, Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska and initially Mo Brooks in Alabama. Some of these endorsements were made against the advice of his inner circle and met with opposition from state GOP officials. In some cases even super wealthy donors have signaled to Trump that he is backing the wrong horse in the primary race. In the Georgia Governor primary Trump supports former Sen. Purdue against the incumbent Gov. Kemp. Here Trump is basically lashing out at Kemp for not supporting his Georgie 2020 election loss. On the House primaries Trump favors Harriet Hageman over long time Representative Liz Cheney and in Alaska he has endorsed Sarah Paling in the primary. Hageman has difficulties raising funds for her financial election war chest and Sarah Palin’s star power has dimmed the last few years. The 2022 GOP primary elections will show if the Trump endorsement is still the most powerful in the country or not as great as some thought. What we know for sure is that Trump will still claim to be the kingmaker in the Republican party.

Even though Ukraine is receiving aid from countries around the world that aid insufficient to meet what is direly needed. I submit that many countries are making some serious errors in their posture toward the Putin war.

1. Historical Miscalculations – the most tragic miscalculation was that Putin would not attack Ukraine in full force and bomb targets far from the disputed Donets and Lugansk areas. Now the world sees Putin’s intentions and other countries feel that they may become his next territorial price. Certainly that fear exists inn the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Moldova. But even Finland and Sweden have become concerned and are contemplating joining NATO.

2. Insufficient Military and Humanitarian Aid – any aid which countries have provided to Ukraine is welcome but it has been slow and uneven. The financial aid trickling in is totally insufficient for a humanitarian crisis of such scope. But the biggest issue is the snail pace of weapons reaching Ukraine fighting forces. Deliveries of more advance weaponry has picked up lately but in order to have a chance to hold off Russian forces they require modern air defense systems, heavy artillery and tanks. For instance, in Germany there are heavy discussion on what needs to be done but their military aid is minimal. I am convinced that in other countries talk outweighs meaningful actions as well.

3. Duplicity of Some Nations – virtually every government denounces the Russian aggression but some key players talk a great game but in reality provide comfort to Putin. High on the list of such countries are China, India, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. One can almost assume that these nations provide clandestine help to the Kremlin in evading western economic sanctions.

4. Error 4 is to Minimize Errors 1 -3

For some strange reason there are countries which fear to jeopardize their relationship with Moscow. In some cases they depend heavily on Russian arms shipments or don’t wish to interrupt their imports of critical raw materials. That is a short sighted view since tyranny must be stopped whenever it raises its ugly head.

Republicans embracing far right policies isn’t a recent development. One can go back to the GOP National Convention in San Francisco in 1964 to see similar activities. At that time the far right John Birch Society was obsessed with alleged Communist infiltration of the US, UN control over the nation, globalization and called the civil rights movement a Communist plot. At the convention conservative Republicans wanted to repudiate the Birch wing of their party’s positions but failed. The Birch Society was founded by John Welch, a candy salesman, who was able to gain financial support from a number of wealthy Republican donors. He was able to create the first alternate media world, similar to what FOX represents today. The society published bulletins for its members and sold stickers and booklets in their Freedom Stores. All that too is being replicated by far right outlets today but with the additional power of the Internet. It shows that the GOP has a long standing reluctance to oppose extremism at its fringes. The world created by QAnon, the Proud Boys and other groups today is no different then that represented by the Birch Society 58 years ago. But I would say that these modern replicas are more empowered and more visible. They don’t get criticized, there is no effort to reduce their voices but there is fear of their members. I do wonder if that is the modern Republican party base now?

Certainly Putin cares about his health and fitness. His visage is smooth and shows no signs of wrinkles. It has all the customary parts like ears, nose, eyes and mouth which make it a human face. But it appears to be a face unable to shed tears as children are killed in the war he initiated. The reason must be that it is a face unable to cry because it doesn’t reach the heart and lost connection to its soul. It is a face which gets no wrinkles when people starve. It is a face which merciless bombs cities to rubble. Drops phosphor bombs which destroy lungs. All western intelligence services warn us that this face could resort to using horrible chemical weapons. In Putin’s latest public appearance he expressed confidence in a war victory. HIs face was smooth and wrinkle free because most likely it is full of Botox injections. Maybe it is all that Botox which makes it impossible for his heart to show compassion?

Two of the staunchest Trump devotees were Sen Lee and Rep Roy. Now the Select Committee has obtained over 100 texts from these two legislators which they send to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows voicing their full throated support to overturn the 2020 election result. Only when the lawyers Giuliani and Eastman began reaching for crazier conspiracy theories to justify the usurpation of an elected administration, did they begin to waver and began to diminish their support for it. The idea that RED states election boards would send a slate of alternate electoral college delegates was too much even for them. But their change of heart came only on Jan 6th as the attack on the Capital unfolded. It seems that Sen Lee as a constitutional legal expert suddenly saw the danger of the plot to our democracy. Both legislators began contacting Makl Meadow with pleas that Trump must call off the attempt for VP Pence not to certify the election result. Since then Sen Lee and Rep Roy have tried to distance themselves from their actions. What surprises me is that Trump and his allies were quick to demonize all Republicans who were critical of the plot but no such rebuke was made against Sen Lee and Rep Roy. I wonder why not? In any case, they were both all for the plot, then against it and now they don’t even remember anything.

Sure signs of Easter are when the days grow longer, daffodils and hyacinth are in bloom, temperatures are rising, cherry trees are blooming and children are playing outside. This weekend many parents and children will be busy coloring eggs for their Easter baskets or egg hunts. But in Ukraine thousands of refugees will be seeking safety in the face of an uncertain future. Some fathers and mothers will be searching for their displaced children and for them it will not be a ‘Happy Easter’. Many will even be asking on this traditional religious day when Jesus Christ had risen to defeat evil, when this merciless war will end? Why are we suffering? Certainly suffering isn’t a sign of virtue nor one of holiness.

Ukrainian forces continue to stall Russian territorial advances. The Russian claim that their slow progress is due to the western countries having supplied high tech weapons to Ukraine. But that isn’t true sine Russia certainly has a larger inventory of powerful weapons in their armed forces. What is really comes down to in this David versus Goliath conflict is that Ukrainians are fighting for their country and its sovereignty. Young Russians were send to invade a country under false pretenses. ill prepared to face opposition and poorly led by their officers. The Russian military campaign has shown deficiencies in Russian military structure, inadequate logistical support, poor battle field communications and the fact that lower ranking officers have been stripped of the power to make tactical decisions. Then there is the important factor of Russian soldier morale. My guess is that it low since they are fighting against fellow Slaves and both even share the same religion. As more soldiers question the reason for being in Ukraine, their morale will sink even lower. When soldiers on the battlefield have low morale, all the weapons in the world, no matter how high tech they are, will not insure victory.

In today’s political divide Democrats and Republicans should never forget that country comes over party. However, I feel that our politicians have lost sight of that traditional American value. Members of both parties have developed their own set of political views of how to rebuild norms and defend the legitimacy of existing institutions, provide for the welfare of the public and guarantee the judicial independence of the Supreme Court. But the reality is that there is a wide gap in attitudes pertaining to race, immigration, foreign policy, health care, personal freedoms and guns. Yet both parties proudly proclaim that they care about the middle class and are respectful and tolerant of all individuals. The political landscape is further thrown into disarray because neither party believes that the other has any good ideas. That belief immediately neutralizes any ability to work together and totally blocks any hope to reach a compromise an anything. We the people deserve better. Maybe politicians on both sides of the aisle should go back and plan and implement policies which do place country above politics.

Last week I was told by a Trump leaning individual that the high mail in turnout in the 2020 election was suspicious. His implication was that somehow Democrats had used it surreptitiously to slant the election outcome in their favor. A closer analysis of the 2020 election totals shows that Republicans had made a number of miscalculations. The final totals were over 81 million votes for Biden and over 74 million for Trump. Of all ballots cast 66% of Trump voters voted in person while only 42% of Democrats did so. That means that Democrats overwhelmingly used the mail in option. The first noteworthy anomaly is that Trump voters were not encouraged to use mail voting because of the pandemic since they downplayed its seriousness all along. Secondly, they felt comfortable that in heavy red districts there would be no obstruction to on site voting. But the biggest wrong assumption was that Democrats wouldn’t be able to generate voter turnout. On the other side Democrats encouraged mail in ballots for many reasons. One is that their base was more cautious about the potential impact of the virus on their health. They also faced the reality that in states with GOP elections boards many drop off boxes in urban areas had been removed and smaller voting locations had been eliminated. Therefore Democratic voters feared facing long lines in order to vote and even being harassed by far right activists. That all translated in Trump receiving only 34% of the absentee votes while Biden had a robust 58% and that huge margin in mail in votes explains that major urban centers heavily voted for Biden. Even Republican skeptics must admit that heavy pro Trump votes in states like Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and the Dakotas can’t compete with Democratic votes in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles. In addition, one can’t ignore that Democrats are making head way in decreasing the GOP dominance in states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Georgia.

Two months before the 2020 election some senior members of Trump’s campaign staff raised the possibility that he may lose the election based on their own internal polling numbers. That seemed to ignite White House insiders to review all possible options on how to keep Trump in power if that indeed happened. These potential plans were summarized two days after the election, while votes were still being counted, by Donald Trump JR. text to White House chief Mark Meadows. Junior stated: ‘It’s very simple. We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage. Moral high ground. POTUS must start second term now.’. This text confirms what many had suspected all along that there was a premeditated plot to subvert and election. My opinion is that phrase ‘operational control’ and ‘total leverage’ meant that Republicans were in charge of election boards in five toss up states, VP Pence could refuse to certify the electoral count and to Trump extremists even a martial law declaration suited their aim. I am confused why Junior thought they had the ‘moral high ground’ given that every option they considered went against the Constitution and amounted to an insurrection. The phrase ‘POTUS must start second term’ leaves no doubt about that. It proves conclusively that Trump fell in love with power and was determined to keep it by any means possible. Anyone in the White House at that time must have smelled the odor of treachery!

I can’t imagine anything as inhumane as Russia launching rocket strikes against a train station filled with civilians trying to reach some safety zone. Two powerful rockets hit the train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Hundreds of civilians had gathered there in the hope that they would be able to catch a train taking them away from the fury of war. Ukrainian officials report that at least 50 people with many being young children are dead and over one 100 are injured. This brutal attack again confirms that the Kremlin is determined now to inflict untold misery on the civilian population. The world must condemn this treacherous and underhanded missile strike against innocent civilians.

When military forces commit war crimes against civilians, available technology and eyes witness accounts provide testimony of it. All attempts by the Kremlin to deny that it is and has happened in Ukraine are futile. Reporters from many countries have been on site in Bucha and other cities to report alleged war crimes. There accounts are supported by pictures and videos taken by satellites and drones. One shocking image seen around the world is that of a murdered woman laying in the mud. As she was dying she raised her hand and you see her red colored fingernails. She was identified by her daughter. She said that her Mom had taken her bicycle to go grocery shopping. That is when she was shot. Now her daughter is coping with her huge senseless personal loss. She said: ‘Mom, you always helped me. Always wiped away my tears. Mom, now I cry and no one is there to wipe my tears’. The United Nations must collect all evidence of war crimes being committed. Those responsible must be brought to justice just as those were who were found guilty of war crimes after the Bosnia war.

When I saw the lights of New York shining brightly as our ship pulled into Pier 44 on January 9th in 1956, I was 13 years old. To my parents, my brother and I it was indeed the land of promise and opportunity. As I attended school and joined the military after my high school graduation I came to the realization that Americans believed in values which weren’t codified into law but were part of how they lived. They believed in freedom, democracy, respect, diversity, unity, nationalism, patriotism, all men and women are created equal, opportunity for all, in science and rationality and exhibited humanitarianism and philanthropy. But I learned that freedom meant that you had to be self-reliant and to seize opportunities required ambition and work. Even though we had diversity among our population not everyone enjoyed the same freedoms and ability to live the American dream. However, there was hope that things were changing for the better for all. Now I find myself questioning if we are the same nation we were 66 years ago. I see that unity within the country is fractured almost as badly as prior to the Civil War. Our two parties can’t work together anymore and their constant bickering is harmful to the public. There is no respect for election results since many have been convinced that if their candidates don’t win there must be election fraud. We have segments of the population holding white power rallies waving Nazi and Confederate flags. The belief in science and rationality is being undermined by groups opposing common sense measures to fight a pandemic. The trust we had in our institutions is being attacked by the spread of lie after lie and far right conspiracy theories. We have citizens supporting war mongering dictators over elected leaders of democracies. We have a House member calling sitting Senators of her own party pro-pedophiles. These negative developments make me fear that our traditional set of American values has eroded and is even in danger of vanishing.

Now that the world has seen the shocking pictures of atrocities committed against civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, the Kremlin has begun its whitewash campaign of denial. They claim that the photos were staged and that Ukrainians may have done it at the suggestion of the US. What a ridiculous claim! Many may not know but in 1940 Russian dictator Stalin had 22000 Polish officers executed in the Katyn forest. In 1943 the Germans discovered the mass grave and asked the Red Cross to investigate. Stalin refused to cooperate. Only in 1990 did a Soviet investigation of the event result in a 1991 report admitting that Stalin’s secret police was responsible for the massacre. It is important for us to know who has responsibility for the mass killings in Bucha. The UN Human Rights Commission should send an investigative team with forensic experts to Ukraine to shed light on this atrocity. When you have many civilians shot in the back of the head it is difficult to explain that they were hit by random gun fire. The world is entitled to know the truth!

World wide economic globalization through various international trade agreements had the aim to improve living standards around the globe, decrease unemployment in some countries and have nations focus on their core manufacturing expertise. Germany, South Korea and Japan were joining the US in auto production and heavy machinery. Taiwan and South Korea cornered the market for semiconductors and computer chips. China became the producer of inexpensive daily commodities and of electronic equipment. The US focused on agricultural products like corn, wheat, soybeans and meat exports. On paper that international trade philosophy seemed to be great. However, there are risks to the international globalization scenario which were overlooked or deemed not to be a major factor. The first crack in trade was the fact that some nations began to accumulate huge positive trade balances while for others they were negative ones. The more serious risk was that the trade model flourished in times of stability and peace and began to hiccup when unusual events took place. One such event was the Covid pandemic. Suddenly every nation had to deal with a serious health crisis which adversely impacted their national manufacturing output and created supply chain shortages around the world. This was made more acute by the ‘just in time’ supply order philosophy and lack of adequate local parts inventories. But the biggest impact to trade is always a war. Russia’ war in Ukraine is the present example. The only mechanism western countries have to block Putin’s ambitions is to hit Moscow with severe sanctions. Yes, it does damage the Russian economy but also causes harm to the countries implementing the sanctions. They see a spiking in prices impacting everything from groceries to fuel. It proves again that there is never a perfect solution to anything.

The Russian military forces in Ukraine are dependent on a steady supply of food, fuel and ammunition. A surprise helicopter attack against a huge fuel depot just across the Ukrainian border in Russia has severely impacted the mobility of their mobile rocket launchers, tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks. Within seconds large quantities of oil and gasoline evaporated in a huge fireball. Russia is accusing Ukraine for having conducted the border crossing raid while the Ukraine military is not commenting on the attack. Of course either country could have engaged a third party to conduct this daring attack. Certainly the destruction of the fuel depot has an immediate benefit for Ukraine since, at least for a short term, it keeps Russian forces from mounting full scale operations. Of course, one can’t rule out that Russia initiated a false flag operation and used mercenaries to execute the strike. In such case the aim would be to accuse Ukraine of escalating the conflict. However, it seems that a country which has been invaded by foreign forces has the right to defend itself by all available means and an attack on a strategic target provides a tactical advantage. If Ukraine is indeed responsible for the attack, Russian military planners will have a difficult time explaining to Putin why its military wasn’t able to prevent it.

The latest tool to mislead the public is to take a harmless video and use artificial intelligence manipulation to totally change its initial intent. This translates into using the latest technology breakthroughs to create something generally referred to as a ‘deepfake’. A recent example of this new threat appeared on social media supposedly showing Ukrainian President Zelinsky telling his soldiers to surrender to advancing Russian troops. Obviously the modified video has its origin with Russian intelligence services since it suits Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Major social media firms remove deepfake videos when they are identified on the basis of being a violation of their misinformation and manipulated data clause. However, while these fake videos are on social media very much damage can be done. This new misinformation technique represents a huge risk to governments and companies since it can confuse the public, customers and employees. The danger of deepfakes can’t be underestimated since they can be easily distributed by foreign powers, industry competitors and even disgruntled employees. Emerging technologies are fantastic when utilized in a beneficial fashion but extremely dangerous when misused!

The use of mercenaries in combat is as old as war itself. One of the most notorious and brutal group’s right now is the Wagner Group. For all practical purposes it is a Russian paramilitary organization or de-facto group of mercenaries aligned with the Russian government. It is believed that the group is under control of Russia’s intelligence service and supports Moscow’s interests in foreign countries. The rumor is that the group is financed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prizokhin who is a close ally of dictator Putin. Members of the Wagner Group have military expertise or receive such training. They have been active in the Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, Syria and various African nations. In these encounters they were brutal in their tactics and known for their ruthlessness. The group is also known for carrying out assassinations like the killing of Muhammed Abdullah al-Ismail, a critic of Syrian dictator Assad. Right now it has been confirmed by western intelligence services that the Wager Group is participating with the Russian military in the war in Ukraine. Supposedly they have been assigned the additional mission of assassinating Ukrainian leaders. Given that several attempts on Zelensky’s life have been foiled, that is probably true.

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has shown this week that his principle is to treat people differently for basically the same poor behavior. When some of his House members kept propagating the election fraud tale, attended White Nationalist conferences or even threatened their Democratic counterparts he could only mutter that such talk is unacceptable. But when Madison Cowthorn came out with the shocking revelation that he had been invited to attend orgies and witnessed cocaine use by Republicans, McCarthy was in disbelief that this could be happening. He proceeded to meet with Cowthorn to express his displeasure with those comments and gave him a verbal dressing down on how harmful this was to the GOP. To ones surprise Cowthorn had no option but to say that his comments were exaggerated. But it must be noted that he never stated that he had lied. McCarthy double standard is obvious as is the reason for it. The Republican base really doesn’t mind despicable behavior as long as it furthers their talking points. But any comment that there are Republicans who practice deviant behavior can’t go unchallenged. After all, it makes the party look very bad in the eyes of most Americans. In Cowthorn’s case, McCarthy acted forcefully and told him he had lost his trust and must re-earn it. But other House members who had lost committee memberships because of their atrocious behavior were even promised a return to committees if the GOP should take the House majority back in the 2022 mid term elections. Now that is operating by a double standard that has no equal.

Trump’s latest interview on Real America’s Voice by disgraced interviewer John Solomon who was even disowned by FOX News is a huge disgrace for the former president. Trump could not say a single word about the atrocities being committed by the Russian military in the name of Putin. He lacked the courage to state that the war must stop. Trump seems to have no issue with a dictator willing to bomb hospitals and orphanages, destroy whole blocks of apartment buildings and shopping malls. In the process killing thousands of innocent civilians including the elderly and children. Threatening the world with his chemical and nuclear arsenal if the western nations get in his way of territorial conquest. Trump couldn’t do what any reasonable person would have said. Instead, he asked Putin to do him a favor and try to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden. I was furious when Trump, at the time of Putin’s Ukraine invasion, complemented his friend the dictator as being very smart. Now I am enraged that a former American president has no empathy for the human misery unfolding in Ukraine. Shame on you Trump for not calling Putin out on his savagery he brought upon a peaceful Ukraine.

Many Republican legislators, Trump himself and many who voted for him are totally out of touch with reality. Their continued focus on Hunter Biden’s laptop, the perceived stolen election and removal of critical historical information paces them outside of majority thinking. Right now the world is concerned about multiple events they seem to ignore. Many still see Putin as a genius and great statesman. Putin’s war in Ukraine resulted in the spike in gas and commodity prices. Add to the that the wave of corporate greed sweeping large corporations. There are the incriminating text messages send out by Ginni Thomas urging a take over of the government. We have a Supreme Court Judge who appeared to vote to block documents to shield his wife from potential prosecution. There is the involvement of key legislators in the apparent planning of the Jan 6th, 2021 insurrection. There is the shameful treat of a woman in her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. There is the stream of weird tales by far right GOP House members. But maybe the one of them holding orgies is true. There is the yet unexplained gap in Trump’s phone records on that historical day. Republicans should objectively look at these events and stop whining about a laptop and unproven election fraud scenarios.

Gaps in critical documentation like tapes and phone records will always arouse suspicion that some illegal action is being covered up. That is why the news from the Washington Post and CNN news that Trump’s phone records show a gap from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Jan 6th, 2021 is disturbing. It is impossible to believe that Trump didn’t receive any incoming calls or made any himself while the mob was attacking the Capital. Oddly the phone records list many calls being made prior and after the gap period. We should not forget that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had indicated that they had spoken with Trump urging him to address the rioters and asking them to step down. Both individuals are now refusing to cooperate with the Select Committee. However, the belief is that other individuals who have interacted with the committee may have provided information of phone calls made during the gap interval. There is no doubt that Trump saw the Capital violence as helpful to his effort to delay the electoral count since it placed pressure on VP Pence and some lawmakers to bless his coup attempt. The Watergate affair had missing tapes and that send sitting President Nixon into retirement. Now we have the phone gap fiasco and that should cause the Department of Justice to take a hard look at Trump and his group of cronies for potential criminal behavior.

In the twenty years Putin has been in power, he had never previously called for a campaign of self-purification. Now that he started that ill advised war in Ukraine it has become a responsibility for every Russian. His call that Russia must rid itself of all ‘scum and traitors’ is designed to warn off those who may be considering protesting his war. It is nothing more than a nation wide crackdown on possible internal dissent. Putin tries to cover up that message with hallow words that it is a natural and necessary self-purification of society which will strengthen Russia. He considers that any Russian willing to be part of the program to be true patriots. Where did I hear similar words spoken? In any case, Putin is really suggesting that Russians become spies for the government and turn in anyone they feel isn’t buying into Putin’s message. We knew such action was taken in Germany in WWII and is probably happening in North Korea now. No longer can anyone find a shred of decent behavior in Putin. He is an absolute dictator and will do anything to remain in power. I expect that his actions against his own people will become more bizarre in days to come.

When you look at what drives dictators and those who want to become that, you see stark similarities in the way they think and operate. Looking at Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Aliyev, Khameni, Assad, Kim and Putin you can say that they have much in common. That also holds true for wannabe dictators like Trump. First of all is that they have an unquenchable thirst for absolute power. Secondly their character profiles are very similar since they tend to be narcissists, extremely ego driven, leaning towards grandiosity, singleness of purpose and show signs of paranoia. Trump who was willing to ignore the Constitution in order to remain in power has the same profile. Thirdly, all their actions are from the same playbook. They seize power by force or fraud. They align themselves with a particular social group to form their core support. They proclaim that only they have a true vision for the nation. They rule by decree and ignore the rule of law. They generally establish a cult of personality and their followers will believe anything being said to them by the leader. They repress all political opponents and often assassinate and jail those who dare to speak up. They use all forms of state media to spread their message through powerful propaganda. Their most effective method to stay in power is intimidation and brutal terror. We have seen dictators throughout history and today is no exception. My fear is that wannabe dictators are gaining momentum in democracies like the US, Hungary and the Philippines.

On 12/5/1994 Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine agreed to terms of the Budapest Memorandum and these newly independent nations promised to return to Russia their nuclear arsenals. They all had substantial nuclear weapons stockpiles from their days of being part of the Soviet Union. At that time Ukraine was the third most powerful nuclear nation with an estimated 1600 warheads. Russia in return agreed to never use military force or economic sanctions against these countries except in self defense or in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. Unfortunately history has shown that dictators show little regard for international agreements signed by their nations. The most grievous example of this is Putin’s war in Ukraine. His only reason for the war is his ambition of Russian territorial expansion. Putin has a closed heart to the suffering of his own military and the People in Ukraine. Western countries are doing their best to stop his ambitions but will it be enough?

The press conference by a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry was a series of lies that even most Russians will take as being nothing more than propaganda. He proclaimed that Phase I of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine was successfully completed. That their military forces would now focus on strangling all opposition in the Donbas area. He confirmed that soldiers had died but gave a low number of about 1300. The truth is that the Russian campaign has been an unmitigated disaster. Their combat losses are estimated to be in the range of 10000 to 14000, many have been taken as war prisoners and a large number has suffered battlefield injuries. Russia has lost much military hardware from supply trucks, assault vehicles and tanks. Its air force las lost fighter planes and helicopters to determined Ukrainian fighter pilots and anti aircraft missiles. But the real blow appears to be that their military command structure has lost 7 generals and the colonel leading their Marines in only one month of fighting. For Moscow to wrap that all in a flag of victory is clear sign that discontent is brewing among the troops and the civilian population. We know that Putin is frustrated and has begun replacing senior intelligence and army personnel since he lost faith in the ability of those that planned his folly incursion into Ukraine. The unfortunate fact for Ukraine and the world is that a brutal dictator will not admit to failure and taking a diplomatic off ramp is not what they do. I can’t predict the outcome of this war but for the foreseeable future the toll of military and civilian casualties will continue.

The wife of Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas has been a far right political activist for some time. The suspicion has circulated that she was involved in working with White House staff to keep Trump in power in spite of his election loss. Now it has come out that the suspicion is a fact based on text messages she had exchanged with WH Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. There was a barrage of text exchanges between them from 11/4/20 to 11/24/20 and one on 1/10/ 2021. But she was also in communication with lawyer Sidney Powell who advanced the baseless claim about voter fraud, Representative Louie Gohmert and Jared Kushner. This evidence only came to light after the Supreme Court in a 8:1 vote overruled Trump’s attempt to block the release of that information to the Select Committee. The only Judge voting against releasing the information was Judge Thomas. We now know that Ginni Thomas attended the Capital rally on Jan 6th, 2021 and that Mark Meadow was deeply involved in its planning. Given that the Judge and spouse have been participants in many political conferences and she has often stated that they both share similar political views, Judge Thomas probably should have recused himself from that case. The Judge had always rejected such suggestions when they were made. The fact that he opposed the release of information which he realized was going to be harmful to the reputation of his wife places his legal objectivity in doubt. A sitting Judge with such ominous cloud over his head doesn’t deserve the trust of the public. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas should do the honorable gesture and resign from the bench.

For years western politicians tried to convince everyone that Putin could be brought into line with empathy and friendly accommodations. Some even gave full throated support of him by declaring him to be a great statesman and clever leader. But now the war in Ukraine has opened the eyes of many. They are experiencing a stunning change of heart as they witness the misery unfolding on the ground. What we all see daily in our media channels about Ukraine has transformed millions. A new Iron Curtain is being established for all of us to see. The Russian military is deliberately inflicting more casualties on the civilian population. The war which was unleashed starts with Putin and Putin only. He is the warmonger and aggressor in Ukraine. The world has finally learned who Putin really is. Now there are those who call for Putin to end the ‘conflict’ but they are cowards since they refuse to use the word’ war’. The facade that Putin had created to mask his real personality is now exposed. He is a brutal dictator.

The confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for Supreme Court seat is turning into a sad and bad faith scrutiny event on part of Senators Graham, Cruz, Hawley and Cotton and the majority of their Republican colleagues They are making a shameful mockery of such an important occasion. Their questions were contentious and her answers frequently interrupted. Many appeared to be nothing more than meritless allegations, heavy on sexist overtones generally applied to women, noticeable race baiting and perceived Republican grievances from past hearings. Judge Brown-Jackson must be complimented for her strength, calmness, demeanor and grace in the face of brutal and baseless attacks. Some of the questions by Republicans border on fear mongering, others indicate their chauvinistic attitudes but all are blatantly disrespectful of a well qualified Judge. The most despicable Senator of the bunch is Graham. He had voted for Judge Brown-Jackson in three previous confirmation hearings but suddenly finds her to be lacking in qualifications. It would be too easy to write off their behavior as a disgrace or plain grandstanding seeking political attention. It was more the action of fools who should not be in the US Senate. Sometimes I do wonder how such ignorant and borderline racist politicians get elected? That is the real travesty in our democracy!

As soon as Putin gained full control of the Russian government this former KBG agent cast himself as a defender of Russian Orthodoxy. Churches and cathedrals destroyed in the nineteen twenties were rebuild. Church services were permitted and many Russians returned to their Orthodox roots. Certainly he has given the church a more prominent role in Russian political life. Putin is shrewd in using Christianity for political effect. He has cast himself as a supporter of traditional family life. I do suspect that Putin lacks true religious sincerity and is more interested in restoring former Russian Imperial power. The Orthodox church played a huge role under the Czars. Putin has found a willing ally of his vision in Russian Patriarch Kirill. The Patriarch shares Putin’s desire for territorial expansion and rails against western debauchery. Belarus has been a Moscow puppet state since the break up of the Soviet Union. Putin’s war in Ukraine is an attempt to tighten his grip that country. If he succeeds then Moldova, Georgia, Estonia and Latvia may become his next targets. But the people of Ukraine have shown that they aren’t willing to be swallowed by the Russian bear without a determined fight.

In February 1943 when German forces surrendered in Stalingrad is was a great victory for the Soviet army and a turning point in WWII. When the Germans advanced toward the city they decided that they would weaken the resolve of the defenders with a heavy bombing campaign. Virtually every house in the city was destroyed. However, all that rubble gave the defenders a great advantage of cover and forced the Germans into house to house fighting which negated their superior weaponry. The German army was never able to take the city. When the Red army counterattacked in November of 1942 and encircled the German 6th army, the Soviets discovered that defeating the German in the city was no easy task. The Germans ended up surrendering in February 1943 having run out of food and ammunition. Now the Russian army intends to encircle Kyiv while bombing it as they advance. The Russian military leaders seem to have forgotten the lessons of Stalingrad. If they plan to take the city, given the fierce resistance Ukrainians have put up and will continue to do so, they will suffer great losses. If they chose to besiege the city it will take time and the world will see the carnage and hold Putin responsible for it. The Fuehrer wouldn’t acknowledge in 1943 that the war was lost and I suspect that Putin can’t admit that his unprovoked attack on Ukraine is a huge mistake.

Russians are now streaming into shopping malls desperately trying to purchase rapidly dwindling western items since international firms are leaving in droves. Even local products are becoming scarce. There are reported shortages of milk, yoghurt, sour cream, flour and buckwheat. Putin has promised to ramp up production to replace western goods. He claims that sanctions will only strengthen Russia. He has made such statements many times before but the opposite has always happened. The Russian public doubts his promises and storms to stores to hoard anything they can get their hands on. An immediate result has been a steep increase in prices of food and consumer electronics. The trade in Dollars has been prohibited. Credit cards aren’t functioning. Interest rates are rising. Russians working for foreign companies are losing their jobs. So if you look at the impact of Putin’s war on Ukraine and Russia, here is what you see: ‘In Ukraine people die, in Russia the standard of living. In Ukraine blood flows, in Russia the Ruble melts. In Ukraine millions flee from the Russian army, in Russia you will soon have an army of the unemployed.’. Putin’s war is bringing ruin to Ukraine and Russia.

The expression ‘a pot calling a kettle black’ shows the Russian hypocrisy on who really is engaged in chemical and biological weapons research. Russia signed the Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention agreement but in spite of it allegedly maintains three research facilities devoted to the development of additional chemical warfare capacity. These research laboratories have never permitted access to anyone from the western world to conduct an inspection of these facilities. But Russia had the gall to call a special meeting of the 15 member U.N. Security Council in which their delegate floated the wild assertion that the US and Ukraine were conducting chemical weapon research. Member countries called the claim to be utter nonsense and a serious lie. The truth is that these Ukrainian laboratories are studying various microorganisms which can cause serious diseases. US officials had suggested that pathogens be destroyed since indiscriminate Russian bombing of buildings could hit a research laboratory and release harmful bacterium. Only the official state controlled Chinese press joined Russia in these false accusations. It seems that Russia may do what it is accusing us of doing!

Well coordinated and world wide sanctions against Putin’s regime are beginning to impact the lives of Oligarchs and and citizens of Russia in a serious way. The Oligarchs amassed their great fortunes by the grace of Putin and continue to be careful in criticizing him for his Ukraine adventure. Everyday Russians are beginning to feel the pinch of empty shelves and the disappearance of western goods. But right now they are still unwilling to buck Putin’s disinformation wall. It is doubtful if these two factions represent a danger to Putin’s hold on power. The real power within any dictatorship always rests with the military and intelligence services. As long as Putin continuous to have them on his side, he will be safe from being dethroned. However, as the pressure from sanctions continuous to mount and the Russian economy grinds to a halt, they may act to protect their interests. Certainly the military and intelligence community have skilled operators and necessary tools to carry out a successful coup. I wonder if that thought has Putin sleeping poorly some nights?

Putin’s murderous war in Ukraine has to be condemned in the most harshest terms. It has driven a sovereign country into chaos and misery. This war will not make Russia greater, richer or stronger but leave it poorer, dejected, isolated and weak. Eventually his unprovoked military conquest campaign will come to an end. None of us know right now how it will end but all wars do come to an end. The question we must ask what will Ukraine look like at that time and what form of government should it have to ensue some lasting peace in that region? The answer may be in looking at Switzerland as a potential model for the Ukraine. The Swiss political system is based on the principles of democracy, wide spread application of public referendums in the government’s decision making process and a consistent policy of neutrality. Russia’ fear of NATO would be off the table and if Moscow decides to claim other parts of Ukraine territory a public referendum would settle that issue.

The high level meeting between Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Kuleba ended without any progress to the Ukraine war. There is no cease fire, no rapprochement of the two nations and no end to the war in sight. Foreign Minister Kubela stated that the talks were difficult because Lavrov kept on repeating all the propaganda lies Putin has been using as his talking points. Insisting the Ukraine government is fascist and has suppressed the Russian minority in the contested areas. But the real big lies Lavrov saved for his press conference after the failed meeting. He accused the US of operating weapons laboratories in Ukraine which conduct research on biological weapons of mass destruction. He claimed that Russia didn’t bomb the children’s hospital and that it was a deed committed by Ukrainian fighters. Such grotesque accusations made at a press conference are ample proof that Moscow isn’t serious about a diplomatic solution to the war. Both Foreign Ministers plan to meet again but even the greatest optimists doubt that positive developments are possible given Putin’s unbending position. Meanwhile more bombs, artillery shells and short range rocketry devastate cities and villages and civilians continue to perish daily. The negotiation I consider to be a failed summit of hope.

Russia and the US have by far the largest arsenals of nuclear weapons. They are of the strategic and tactical variety. Intercontinental missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads fired from land or from submarines plying the world’s oceans are considered strategic weapons. Over the years there have been treaties to limit the number both countries have. The world has lived with the understanding that this nuclear parity was the required insurance that neither country ever pushed the RED button to unleash nuclear Armageddon since it would mean the end of mankind as we know it. However, nuclear tactical weapons are designed to attack a specific area without causing widespread destruction. Here nuclear warheads with smaller payloads are part of artillery shells, short range missiles, land mines, torpedoes and depth charges. Russia nd the US both have them but Russia is estimated to have over 1600 deployed while the US has substantially less and supposedly has removed them from ally bases. That brings me to Putin’s statement that he has raised the level of nuclear readiness for his military. I seriously doubt that he is considering to using the strategic nuclear option but with his military is unable to subdue the courageous Ukrainians he may resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons. A nuclear artillery shell has an estimated blast radius of 4 miles and produces a radioactive blast wave of 180 metric tons of force which travels with a speed of over 160 MPH. Its destruction would be horrific and the radioactive fallout pattern is unpredictable. Given that Putin’s mood has been described as being one of extreme anger and frustration he may give the order to use them selectively. The world should hope that he hasn’t descended into that level of irresponsibility. But we can all only hope!

In every dictatorship a major principle is that access and what is being reported must be totally controlled. That was the case in Russia under Communist rule and has been the case under Putin all along. Initially he permitted some independent reporting but as criticism of his regime began to mount, non state print and television stations were shut down, reporters were harassed, jailed and some died under suspicious circumstances. That explains why his approval rating is still estimated to be between 60 to 70 percent. This indicates the effectiveness of his state media apparatus. Putin has been able to convince, especially the elderly since they primarily depend on newspapers and television for news coverage, that all negative reporting is propaganda driven by the west. Russians see none of the destruction we see daily in our homes, military casualty counts are minimized and pictures of destroyed weapons can’t be shown. Even though to us media distribution via mobile devices is wide spread it is limited there to the young and has been limited to a trickle. That is why we don’t see protest waves in major Russian cities and the few who have dared to raise their voices have been jailed. In democracies the public has access to left and right wing news from multiple sources 24 by 7 and yet they all have large number of people who buy in to false narratives. All we have to do is look on what has happened in the US. In spite of extended reporting on the 2020 election., the DOJ declaring it fair and Trump’s own campaign staff and White House layers telling him that there was no election fraud, thousands of his followers have chosen to believe it because he kept up the drumbeat of the Big Lie. Add to the list those who believe that the Jan 6th attack on the Capital wasn’t a failed insurrection and we have reasons to be concerned in our country. Even without state controlled media we are being driven apart by partisanship which has overcome common sense citizenship.

As the world demonstrates outrage at Russia’s war in Ukraine, China and India have refused to publicly issue statements of criticism and in the United Nations abstained from voting on a resolution critical of Russia. The leaders of India and China have in the past referred to Putin as a very good friend and even a bosom buddy. But we too have many politicians who have considered Putin to be a friend and praised him effusively but have now changed their opinion of him as they see the bloodshed on the ground. So I asked myself the question on why China and India are taking such soft posture on the actions of the Moscow dictator? The best I can do is to say that China is protecting its positive trade balance with Russia and is unwilling to jeopardize it. Especially now that Russia will not be able to obtain some crucial merchandise from the west and will have to purchase them from China. Of course, China will not accept Rubles for payment and will insist on hard currency for payment. That will eat into Russia’s rainy day reserves as the conflict continues. With India it may not be the traditional import/export ratio of normal merchandise that calls the shots but India’s dependence on sophisticated Russian military equipment. Over the years India has bought so much Russian weaponry that it is now over 50% of their arsenal. India is always fearful of Pakistan’s intensions and maintains a strong military structure in its defense. They seem to believe that in order to maintain the flow of spare parts from Moscow they can’t effort to upset the Big Bear. However, as the world continuous to see the suffering of civilians and the endless flow of refuges, I wonder if China and India can continue to uphold their silence.

Who and when began the organized effort to label all embarrassing and inconvenient facts and sweep them under the FAKE NEWS blanket? Certainly right now Moscow is trying to convince its people that the invasion and war in Ukraine as shown on social media platforms and the world wide press is not to be believed since it all is FAKE NEWS. Putin’s government announced yesterday that calling what they term to be a ‘special military operation’ a war or invasion will carry a penalty of 15 years of imprisonment. Access to all western media platforms is curtailed. In all of Russia there shall only be one voice of reporting to what is happening in the Ukraine and that is only by state media. But as international sanctions devastate the Russian economy its people will begin to ask why a small military operation is causing so much pain? All along I am wondering if Putin is the originator of the FAKE NEWS tactic and served as mentor to someone previously in the White House since it was a common theme of the past administration. Of course, the other side of the coin is that someone in the White House could have counseled Putin that it is an effective tactic based on their experience. However, I am convinced that any attempt to block the truth anywhere is a short term and futile effort. Truth can never be suppressed for long since it definitely has a longer life than FAKE NEWS!

When Russia was waging war in Chechnya they suffered great losses and were only able to quell the rebellion when tribal leader Ramsan Kadyrov joined them. Putin rewarded Kadyrov in 2007 by making him the the supreme leader of that province. When Putin invaded Ukraine his forces immediately received support from Chechen troop under Kadyrov’s command. He has his own private army of 80000 men. He rules with an iron hand and is a devout Muslim who follows customs of his faith. I can’t help but wonder if he sees the conflict between Russia and the western countries as something of an opportunity for himself. Putin will be in his debt and Ramsan will expect some something in return for his support. It is also possible that he feels a measure of satisfaction that the world is in turmoil.

Putin’s terms for a cease-fire amount to nothing more than blackmail by a bully. He even told the French President today that he will not be stopped by anyone and he will achieve his goals no matter what. The terms he is demanding would pretty much make Ukraine a servant state of Russia. Ukraine must become a neutral country and agree to give up all defensive military capability. Thus Ukrainians would be easy prey when Putin decides to invade them again. Furthermore, he demands that Ukraine must recognize the Crimea and two areas in the Dombas as being part of Russia. Under no definition can you call this Russia-Ukraine meeting as being negotiations in good faith by both parties. Basically Putin is saying to the Ukrainian President Zelensky, give us everything we want or get brutally crushed by our forces. Just like in Chechnya, Putin doesn’t care how may civilians die or what misery is being created. This is a farcical negotiation and would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious. This negotiation sounds and looks a lot like the one between Germany and Poland leading up to WWII. Every dictator is basically a thug at heart who will do unspeakable things to get his way. History has proven that time after time.

Russian President Putin has been in power since 2000 which makes him the longest serving Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Stalin. Initially the world viewed him as a new breed of Russian leader since he dressed impeccably, spoke well and participated in international political conferences. But it seems that his public relations image was carefully crafted over years. We must not forget that he is a former KBG agent and so are many of his friends and advisors. Putin considers the collapse of the Soviet Union the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. He has always resented NATO expansion to the edge of Russian borders. He is liked by elderly Russians because he returned Russia to stability after the break up of the Soviet State while younger Russians oppose wide spread corruption and his heavy handed ways of dealing with critics of his administration. Reporters have been jailed, some killed under mysterious circumstances and some in foreign countries have been assassinated. Putin’s war in Chechnya was waged in brutal fashion and thousands of civilians were killed. Now we see him having raised the stakes by invading Ukraine in an equality brutal manner. But this time the world reacted to his power grab and we must wonder if Putin will take a diplomatic exit ramp or double down and outright launch massive attacks against population centers? I see dictators being most dangerous when they are cornered since their true nature comes out at that time.

Generally State of the Union speeches aren’t soaring oratory masterpieces and yesterday’s was no exception. But what we saw and heard was a decent, sincere and honest President who deeply cares for our country addressing Congress and the American public. He reached out to Republicans by not going after them for the many false and erroneous statements they have made. I thought it was right to begin his speech focusing on Putin’s war in the Ukraine. It was nice to see members of both parties applauding at times. I know that Americans focus on international events isn’t as high as in other countries but the message that democracy everywhere is worth defending should strike a chord with those who deem it unimportant. The section on the Corona virus was important since we honestly are doing better but full victory can’t be achieved since the future actions of the virus can’t be predicted. I feel that President Biden should have provided additional details on how the administration plans to move forward on the economy and how to address the status of 13 million of illegal immigrants in out nation who have been here for many, many years. Overall I was pleased with his speech. The Republican reply was given by the Governor of Iowa and if she hoped that her speech would raise her national profile I would say it will not. Her speech was basically a long list of every grievance and PowerPoint bullet Republicans have uttered in the past 13 months. She offered no solutions on how the nation can move forward in a partisan way. I would be amiss if I didn’t point out the strange behavior of Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Greene while the president was speaking. Republicans must realize that they create more harm than good for the GOP.

Many have wondered and are wondering now why Trump has always taken Putin’s side in the past five years. That is true even now as Russia is besieging Ukraine and causing misery among the civilian population. I believe the answer lies in reviewing some Ukraine related actions Trump took while president. Trump froze military equipment deliveries to them even though they had been appropriated by Congress. He removed the experienced and competent US Ambassador to the Ukraine because she sought greater support for that nation from the White House. The subsequent transition period was a missed chance to build a better relationship with the Kyiv government. Trump jumped on the Russian disinformation campaign that Ukraine was responsible for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump refused to grant President Zelensky a White House meeting which would have given him prestige and international recognition. The final really confusing action was to place his personal lawyer Giuliani in charge of the US-Ukrainian relationship but maybe his real aim was to find dirt on the Biden’s. Republican leaders in the House and Senate never criticized Trump for these highly questionable administration orders. But I am convinced that Putin in Moscow thought that they were extremely helpful to his plans for the Ukraine that he was hatching.

There is no doubt that Putin was expecting that some countries would levy economic sanctions against Russia. As a result, it is believed that Russia had build up over 700 billion in foreign currency reserves to bridge what they thought would be a temporary financial inconvenience. That was a huge mistake since they totally misjudged the response to their aggression by the nations around the globe. Current sanctions applied by the US, Great Britain, Canada and the European Union are the deepest ever made against a nation. Russian foreign reserves are frozen everywhere. Assets of Russian leaders, oligarchs and their families are frozen. Russia’s access to the SWIFT international payment system is almost completely shut down. Restrictions have been applied against Russia’s two largest banks. Western oil companies which have propped up the only really profitable industry in Russia with their consulting and technical expertise are selling their interests. These economic actions have lead to the Ruble being virtually worthless, the Russian stock market crashing and the Russian government being unable to touch their reserve safety net. Moscow is lashing out by telling foreign oil companies that they can’t divest their stakes in Russia’s oil monopoly now. My opinion is that whenever to take desperate measures they most likely won’t do much for you. What we are seeing is that a united world wide approach to economic sanctions is in reality an effective economic war. Yes, it too causes harm and has victims but we don’t see the property damage and carnage that always accompanies a military conflict. I don’t know if it changes Putin’s mind to give up on his ill advised incursion into Ukraine but his country will feel the economic pain he brought on them for some time.

Russia’s attempted military takeover of the Ukraine has produced many heroes. These are ordinary citizens performing extraordinary deeds. They may not have the super strength of Thor, flying capability of Superman, technical gadgetry of James Bond or the speed and agility of Spiderman but they are all super heroes in my book. They have a President who refused to leave his country and joined his fighting forces in the streets of the Kyiv. The Klischko brothers are determined to fight for freedom. There are elderly men volunteering to join military service as are young women. You have teenagers filling bottles with gasoline to use as Molotov cocktails against Russian tanks. You have Moms staring down Russian soldiers and asking them what they are doing in their country? We are seeing citizens showing no fear in the face of brutal aggression. I am impressed by the strength they have to become heroes. But they are also driven by the power of democracy. After years of Communist oppression lasting several decades, they became a free and democratic country and now they are determined to fight for it. I applaud the citizens of the Ukraine for their courage, heroism and unwavering belief in freedom.

When Putin placed his nuclear military component on the ‘READY’ priority level it is his ultimate intimidation tactic. Dictators always believe that bullying is an effective way to get their way. They forget that it doesn’t always pan out. In this case I believe that he is bluffing to gage how the world will react to his threat. In all corners of the world the response has been stark and heavy criticism of his heavy handed nuclear declaration. But that is not all. The European Union has closed its air space to Russian aircraft. The US and France is urging its citizens to leave to leave Russia quickly. The full assembly of the United Nations is meeting tomorrow to debate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most likely the majority of about 200 countries will judge the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty to be an attack on them and lead to greater isolation of Russia on the world stage. I actually view Putin’s nuclear threat to be an effort to deflect attention from his failing military success in his war.

I don’t understand why many politicians still defend Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and many in the former administration attempt to convince us that they would have been able to stop him from doing so. They are wrong on both accounts because dictators don’t behave in a rational manner. Certainly Putin knew that his war in the Ukraine would result in military casualties on his and military and civilian casualties on the Ukrainian side. Furthermore, he realized that the world would condemn his actions and sanctions would be levied against Russia. But knowing all of that didn’t interfere with his plan of territorial expansion. Dictators see themselves as special people and in their minds they form the idea that they must accomplish a certain mission. I believe that for Putin it is the re-creations of the Czarist Empire. Putin has the personality and capability to do it. He his good at intimidating opponents, ruthless in his actions and is supported by a real world power military. It is virtually impossible to anticipate when they will strike but in the Ukraine case our intelligence services has issued serious alerts. Those were made public in the hope to deter him from moving ahead with his invasion. But to no avail since Putin was hell bent on doing it. Clearly neither Putin nor the western countries wish this to become a greater theater of war. Moscow’s offer now to begin negotiations is a sign to me that Putin feels that he will win concessions. If that happens it will be a disturbing sign that it is extremely difficult for the world to stop a dictator with a nuclear arsenal.

In times of national crisis there are always some leaders who step up to the challenge confronting them while others shrink and hide from it. The Ukraine could not have had a better person at the helm then President Zelensky during Putin’s invasion of their country. He is urging his people to oppose the Russian forces but has joined them on the streets of Kyiv to steel their resolve to do so. While Putin is making hate filled speeches about the Ukrainian people and their government by accursing them of being NAZIS and committing genocide, President Zelensky stated that Ukrainians had no quarrel with the Russian people. He stressed his willingness to alleviate any Russian fears they may have. He even told Russians if they protest Putin’s war they should do it in a peaceful manner. Yes, there is nothing extraordinary in his background that indicated that he would be a true forceful leader of the nation when destiny called on him but he will now go down as someone who did and shall rank now as a Ukrainian hero.

Reporters, political analysts, media channels and members of social platforms around the world must let the Ukrainian people know that we stand by and with them against Russian aggression. They must share our values of freedom and democracy. They must report the destruction, loss of life and impending refugee crisis brought about by the actions of the Russian military forces. They must remind western politicians every day and every hour to condemn Putin’s authoritative regime and remember their responsibility to speak out in the defense of a free Ukraine. The Ukrainian people must hear us loud and clear that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them. To the people of the Ukraine I say that you have shown absolute resolve to stand up to the Kremlin even when faced with superior forces. Your hears should swell with pride for your courageous actions. Stay strong!

All the sanctions against Russia for their invasion of Ukraine will fail if they don’t include expulsion of Russia from the SWIFT system. The Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) handles trillions of Dollars with millions of daily payments across 200 countries with the participation of 11000 financial institutions. Right now only Iran and North Korea are blocked from participation. Britain is advocation the removal of Russia from SWIFT, the US and France consider it only as a last resort and Germany, Italy and Hungary have blocked a motion in the European Union to do so. The fact that western countries are divided on the SWIFT option on Russia indicates that there is no uniform front opposing their aggression. European countries fear that by disrupting oil and gas payments to Russia may impact their deliveries while US and French companies who are owed money from Russia would have to depend on alternate channels of payment. But their concerns pale in comparison to Putin’s fear of Russia being kicked out from the SWIFT worldwide network. That would be a crushing blow to the Russian economy and he knows it. If the major countries of the world fail to use this powerful tool at their disposal then all their crippling sanctions talk is meaningless. Putin and his Oligarchs will be laughing all the way as they collect funds at their banks!

When the Putin and his Kremlin leadership team decided to destroy targets in the Ukrainian capitol Kyiv they showed the world that their plans aren’t just to protect the Russian majority in the Donbas region but a prelude to a potential annexation of the Ukraine into Mother Russia. Russian propaganda is spinning that their intentions are merely to achieve demilitarization, de-Nazification and to prevent genocide of ethnic Russians in Ukraine. That position is as ridiculous as it sounds. Poland shares a border with Russia and is a member of NATO and Russia never made that an issue. However, Poland has been an independent nation since the end of WWI and was not part of the Soviet Union while most of what constitutes the country of Ukraine now formerly was part of the Russian Czarist empire and the Soviet state. That is why I believe that Putin’s real aim if to bring Ukraine back into the Russian fold. I am sure that in his mind he believes that he has the full support of the Russian people and if he can force the annexation of Ukraine, he will forever be Russian hero. I am convinced that China has not objection to what Putin is doing. It serves their long term goal of seizing Taiwan. The US and the rest of the world is outraged but economic and financial sanctions may not be sufficient to get Moscow to retreat from their plans. The Russian and Chinese governments may even cooperate with each other to negate some of the sanctions adverse impact on the Kremlin. I do wonder if Republicans will now stop praising Putin and realize that he was never a friend of ours. Only a day ago we heard former president Trump refer to Putin as a genius for his invasion of Ukrainian territory. And recently his Secretary of State Pompeo called Putin a great statesman. While many others in the GOP preach that we should just keep our distance from the Ukrainian conflict. If we do that, there will remain only two strong voices on the world stage; namely, Russia and China. That would mean that the USA is returning to an isolationist position and in this day and age I don’t believe that it is a realistic one. Republicans should forget about being fond of dictatorships, repeated bashings of Hilary Clinton, tales of the Big Lie and focus on positive legislation for our nation.

Considering that China is withholding all strong criticism of Russia’s aggressive seizure of Ukraine territory, I suspect that Putin’s attendance at the Olympics wasn’t to view the opening ceremonies but to discuss his invasion plans with the Beijing Leadership. Both countries share a history of being Communist dictatorships and even now they can’t be considered to be democracies. We know that China views Taiwan to be a runaway province and definitely wishes to reannex it to China. That is why they are probably watching to see how the world reacts to Russian hostility toward Ukraine and if sanctions can stop their political ambitions. If Russia gets it way without any serious economic and financial repercussions, I see China being emboldened to try a Taiwan land grab in the future. When you only have three real world powers and two align themselves against the interests of the third it will always spell major trouble for all of us.

The civilian version of the US military assault rifle is the AR-15. It is considered to be to be the status symbol among gun enthusiasts. But is is also the weapon of choice for mass murderers responsible for school shootings. Now the manufacturer of the AR-15, the WEE1 Tactical company owned by Eric Schmid has introduced an assault rifle which was especially developed for children. It is the JR-15 and was presented at the ‘Shot Show’ in Las Vegas. The company advertising proudly hails that the weapon will permit adults to interest their children to the shooting sport. The JR-15 is a miniature version of the AR-15 as it is lighter and smaller. The boys version can be bought with a pirate skull while girls will have a skull with blonde strains of hair. However, the manufacturer stresses that the gun functions just like Dad’s and Mom’s. Any parent can buy one for $389. That all strikes me that the US weapons industry will stop at nothing to propagate their healthy profits at any cost. When I read about this shocking development I took it at first to be a cynical joke. Now I realize that it is a grotesque new marketing strategy. I do wonder what kind of parent believes that such gun is a great gift for their child?

Very few people have heard of the Marrakesh treaty since it isn’t about military alliances, international trade or the celebration of a war ending. Yet, it is important to those who can’t use printed information world wide. The treaty was signed in 2013 in Morocco. In it more than 100 countries agreed to modify copyright laws to simplify information sharing across borders. It is expected that additional nations will join as they see the advantages of the treaty for their country. In a nutshell, it has established a online clearinghouse of audio and Braille versions of printed materials for those having impairments which make it impossible for them to utilize them. As a result, our Library of Congress is at the forefront of the development of increasing its digital inventory from sources around the world while it shares its own items for audiences around the world. Now libraries in treaty member nations can provide their patrons easy access to literature, science and music.

The Mazars letter to the Trump family and organization that is severing their association with them is being covered in the media but I feel that its impact is being understated. The verbiage in the letter probably is a shock wave hitting Trump’s legal staff. The statement that Trump’s financial information provided to them from 2011 to 2020 can’t be relied on for being accurate is a gold mine for the New York Prosecutors Office. No doubt it has also caused much commotion in board rooms of banks and insurance firms dealing with the Trump Organization. Their immediate position that the firm will do no additional work for the Trump empire is a clear break of their long relationship. This is demonstrated by their unwillingness to finish Donald’s and Melania’s tax returns which are due in 4 days. They did state that they will provide a seamless transfer to a newly selected tax accounting firm. Without question the Mazars notification complicates Trump’s legal woes substantially. By implication the accounting firm is confirming that prosecutors investigating Trump are serious about his case and have all reasons to stay on it. They are also hinting strongly that the NY AG may call on them to provide witness testimony and request documents. Another blow to Trump is when a NY judge ruled that Trump and his son Donald and daughter Ivanka have 21 days to testify in a civil deposition on potential fraud in the Trump Organization. The last 2 weeks are showing that the wheels of justice grind slowly by they don’t ever stop.

For a couple of days Trump loyalists took the stage after some ill advised ambiguous comments from Special Council Durham’s which can certainly have more than one meaning were made in his filing. They were convinced that it proved that Trump was spied on. But suddenly Durham felt that he had to make a statement clarifying what he meant. He has now admitted that the White House linked data lookup had occurred under former President Obama and not during the Trump administration. That means that Durham is distancing himself from fiery and false reports made by far right media outlets. His quote is: ‘The media has overstated, understated or otherwise misinterpreted facts!’. It seems that Durham had implied that Rodney Jaffe, who had helped to maintain WH network servers, had searched internet traffic in order to collect derogatory information about Trump. The truth is that Jaffe never worked for any political party and was under contract to identify potential cyberbreaches or threats against the federal government. I believe it makes sense for Special Counsel Durham not to wade into politicizing his investigation. He should follow Special Mueller’s (a fellow Republican) example and refrain from speculations, control leaks and publish reports based on facts.

The most watched event at the Winter Olympics is women’s figure skating and it is followed by countless millions around the globe. Their performances are full of grace, perfect technique, superb balance and extreme athleticism. But over time the competition between great female skaters has been overshadowed by judging controversies and doping accusations. This year it became an emotional and unexpected spectacle out and inside the ice ring. The Russian skater Valieva became the center of controversy whether she was innocent or guilty of having failed a drug test. The Olympic Committee made questionable decisions by ruling that she would be permitted to compete but if she won there would no medal awards ceremony for her. So when she took the ice the spotlight was on her and her performance was marred by mistakes and falls. Given the circumstances it isn’t surprising that this 15 year old succumbed to pressure. But the drama wasn’t the failure of her performance but the way she was treated when the left the ice. This broken child who ended up crying was not consoled by her coach but brutally dressed down as being a loser. KamiIa Valieva was the victim while her coach was the villain. It will forever be remembered as a sad chapter in Olympic history.

Europe is in a tough spot because 90% of the continent’s oil and natural gas supply must be imported. Russia is by far their greatest supplier of energy with a 43% market share. As a result, whenever there are political tensions between Moscow, Europe and Washington as we have right now over the Ukraine, the question comes up if Russia will use the energy faucet to bend Europe to its will. Russia hasn’t increased natural gas supplies to Europe even though prices are at a 13 year high. Europe has half heartedly attempted to reduce Russian energy dependence by importing more liquified natural gas mostly from the US. However, that effort is stymied by tight supplies and logistical challenges. Since Europe is at Russia’s mercy on energy it is vulnerable to Russian pressure. Gazprom is the supplier of Russian energy to Europe but it is a state owned company and I am sure that it does what Moscow tells it to do. Right now Russia’s aim is to force Europe to complete the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic sea. Environmentalists oppose it for fear of potential leaks while many politicians oppose it since it increases energy dependence on Russia. The US opposes it on the same grounds but Germany looks at it as a business deal and may pass it soon. Europe is in an uncomfortable position and there is no short term solution for their problem. Moscow will be able to squeeze them for years to come.

Civil disobedience has a tradition in the US and its noblest efforts were protests against institutionalized slavery and the fight for civil rights led by Reverend King. Civil disobedience is protesting against and possibly refusing to comply with certain laws in a public and non-violent manner. In the past far right elements have called people participating in civil disobedience criminals, rioters and anarchists. But recently that all changed and now they embrace civil disobedience in furthering their agenda. Protesting truckers are viewed as freedom fighters. Anti-vaxxer protests are considered efforts to reclaim personal freedoms. Individuals seeking various ill advised medications to combat Covid fighting with Doctors should get their way. When those who made the cancel culture an issue are now marching to ban books that is totally acceptable. The GOP leadership and their party members now all hail civil disobedience and support it with words, money and laws. They have the opinion that those who protest for their ideology aren’t criminals or rioters but true patriots. I shall only say that in everything, without doubt, the truth will always have an advantage over imitation.

My guess is that many have not followed the US/China trade activity since Trump announced the epic deal with China in January 2020. At that time Trump bragged that it was proof of his superior deal making abilities. Heck, he stated that the deal was historic and only he could make it happen. He proudly proclaimed that China would purchase an additional 200 billion in US products over 2 years. That time has now elapsed and we can measure the success or failure of that negotiation. Well, US exports to China are barely at the level before Trump started his trade war. Many US companies never recovered from the sales losses they suffered. That trade adventure did cost American tax payers in form of farmer bail out funds, pass through of additional penalty taxes and price increases to products American consumers depend on which are manufactured in China. It shows us that in an interlinked world economy any attempt to win a trade war will not be effective.

The term trickle-down economics was first used by American humorist Will Rogers during the Hoover administration. He was a Republican president. The term surfaced again under Reagan as his administration’s core economic philosophy. The logic of it appears to be that prosperity for the rich meant prosperity for the poor as well. Over time trickle-down economics has been referred to as supply chain economics, reganomics and laissez-faire capitalism. It can’t be denied that it helped the wealthy investors, businesses and entrepreneurs but has offered little benefits to the lower rungs of the population. A look at the US wealth distribution will clearly show that when Reagan took office about 10% of the nations wealth was in the hands of the majority. Since then that percentage has declined at an ever more rapid rate. In the same period the wealth of the top 1% has gained substantially. Another example is to look at corporate profits versus worker salary increases during the pandemic. Virtually every American 500 corporation has enjoyed explosive profit growth which makes worker wage gains pale in comparison. So maybe the better term for trickle-down economics is really to call it hands-off economics where tax cuts will always benefit the rich the most while workers must settle for their small share. I see the widening income inequality as a class problem but even as a greater national issue.

Permit me to remind everyone that for years mail-in voting has been advocated by Republicans. They had championed it in many state legislatures and urged its wide spread use. The GOP opposition to it only began after the 2020 election when Trump claimed voter fraud and mostly blamed it on mail in ballots. Result being that virtually all red states implemented updated election requirements under the ruse that they were pursuing their quest for fair elections. In Texas new voting requirements as specified in State Bill I are already impacting the primaries set for March. In Texas mail-in voting is only for those age 65 and older. That group of voters is confused about the new requirements since information of those hasn’t been widely circulated.. Many of them feel that the new changes are basically discouraging them from voting. Some of them will just not bother to cast their ballots and that shouldn’t be the intent of any new bill. The sticking point in the bill is the requirement that the mail-in ballot has to include an identification number which matches the voter registration form. Most of the elderly voters appear not to know what it is or what it may be on their registration form. As a result, their ballots are rejected. The bill includes penalties for providing false information on the form and for poll workers who are viewed to interfere with partisan poll watchers. The later has severely impacted election boards ability to recruit poll workers. That fact in itself is harmful to the election process we all hold dear. Certainly we are all for fair elections but there must be common sense and valid reasons for modifying existing election laws. Tinkering with them to appease a former president or to deliberately gain an unfair advantage for one party isn’t my version of a democratic process.

Many people including politicians frequently use freedom and democracy interchangeably when they are really not synonymous. Freedom is about individualism while democracy is about people as a group. Our individual freedoms most commonly mentioned are free speech and press, our right to vote for the candidate of our choice and equal justice under the law. But our freedoms also include freedom of thought, our right to have political opinions, free to chose a religion of our choice and our individual pursuit of opportunities. Our democracy provides structure and procedures for our government, establishes laws, outlines how to elections should take place and provides checks and balances to keep the Ship of State on the right course. In the US we are proud to say that we live in the land of the free but many have become cynical, alienated and ill informed on its true meaning. It never meant that you could do whatever you wished. Freedom in a civilized and democratic nation isn’t absolute since a component of it is also the social responsibility we have for each other. On the topic of our democracy it appears to me that some of us have lost trust in it. Days of partisanship when amendments and laws were passed to simplify voting and make it available to all citizens are now confronted with hyper partisanship which is again establishing barriers to fair elections. We see more gerrymandering and recommendations for stricter voting laws in many states. Some of them strike me as so severe that I view them to be a slide into authoritarianism. The only way to avoid troubled waters is for us to think for ourselves, promote good citizenship, celebrate fair elections no matter which party candidate wins and pursue civility by respecting other individual opinions.

Like all Olympics these winter games will have event favorites who falter when the spotlight is on them and underdogs who surprise everyone with their showing. Triumph and tragedy are part of any Olympic games. But the 2022 Winter Olympics will also be remembered for their political overtones, past failed drug tests by some athletes and the shadow of the Omicron virus. In ancient Greece, were the Olympic idea was born, the games were social and cultural events filled with passion. It was not only about athletic achievement but also about poetry and writing. Even politics has to take a break. For instance, when Persia invaded Greece in 480BC, the City States couldn’t agree on forming an allied army because too many people wanted to attend the scheduled Olympics. Now in modern times we had Olympic games boycotted by western and communist countries with each attempting to make political statements. The losers ended up being the athletes who trained for years only to miss their opportunity of a life time. But this time some are missing out on their participation because they test positive for Omicron while in the Olympic village. Yes, the events go on and they are covered on television but somehow I have been lacking my normal enthusiasm for these games.

Both parties can be accused of redistricting efforts in order to have the best shot of gaining control of the House of Representatives. Gerrymandering isn’t just a simple ploy of grabbing a seat here and there from the other side but also a focused approach to protect the seats you hold. Once the current redistricting process is completed it will determine control of the House for the next ten years. Since Republicans fear losing close elections, they are trying their best to minimize election results by fine tuning congressional districts in such a way that they clearly favor them. Tennessee and New Hampshire have already passed bills to erase Democratic seats. In Kansas, South Carolina and Texas Republicans are determined to reduce competitive seats as much as possible. For example, in Texas alone there were 12 competitive seats in the 2020 election but there will only be one in 2022. The only good news is that in Michigan and Colorado commissions have drawn fair and balanced congressional district maps. Now the Supreme Court has entered the fray on behalf of Republicans on redistricting plans. Five conservative Judges appointed by GOP presidents ruled to restore an Alabama congressional map that a lower court deemed not to accurately reflect the states racial diversity. I take that Supreme Court decision to mean that the court is no longer politically neutral. My conclusion is that the Supreme Court majority feels that control of the House should no longer rest with the electorate but with partisan legislators who only seek to protect their party interest.

When Colin Kaepernick as an NFL football player began protesting against racism and police brutality by kneeling when the national anthem was played, he was heavily criticized for doing so. The charge against him was led by Trump when Kaepernick’s actions led to wider protests by players. Trump declared that NFL owners should fire players who protest. Republican as a whole were outraged that players were kneeling before the flag. They were accused of being unpatriotic. Forgotten was that kneeling is a sign of respect since it is done in churches and even for fallen soldiers. Now compare that to Republican statements concerning the rioters who attacked the Capital. They were true patriots. They were tourists visiting the Capital. And now the Republican national Committee went so low as to call the actions of the rioters mere legitimate political discourse. In viewing the treatment given to both parties, we can’t ignore the fact that Kaepernick and the NFL players were almost all black while the rioters were virtually all white. Kaepernick was unceremoniously booted out of the NFL while rioters are still being praised by many Republicans. I consider that these two situations point out the hypocrisy of the Republican party.

The Republican party has always bragged that it stood for the Constitution, Law and Order and fair elections. But recently there has been much infighting within the GOP between Trump loyalists and the moderate wing of the party. The flash point being the events surrounding the Capital attack. Trump continues to go on record that his Vice President could have rejected the electoral college vote which Pence didn’t do and categorically states that he didn’t have that power. Then there is the draconian step Trump was willing to take by seizing the voting machines in swing states he appeared to be losing. Or Trump’s willingness to declare martial law. There is also concern about GOP legislators embracing rioters and conspiracy theorists. But the real crack in the GOP was caused when the Republican National Committee issued a statement that their own House Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are basically traitors for going against Trump and that the Capital event was plain and simply legitimate political discourse. The message to the Republicans across the country is that you have to be a team player by shutting up about your opinions on everything. So even if you believe that many lies are being told by your party’s leadership you have a remain silent and accept is as a clever political manipulation. But some middle of the road Republicans are beginning to question the requirement of blind obedience to Trump. They fear that the reckless behavior of the leadership spells doom down the road. I believe that fear is real since I am convinced that daily more people are questioning what the GOP now really stands for. Is it still the party which is in touch with the Constitution or one in search of power at any cost. I feel that a party without a moral compass relegates itself to absurdity. The GOP has lost its way and appears to blindly wandering in the the woods!

Recently we have seen a wave of book bannings advocated by Republican educators in conservative areas across the country. The main argument put force by Republicans is that all education materials must be subject to parental controls. That especially applies to books which may include bad words and display nudity. Now the GOP book banning crusade has caught up with a Pulitzer prize winning novel ‘Maus’. The story recounts the chilling experience of the author’s father during the Holocaust. It is a moving story because it is brutally honest about the treatment of Jews in a very dark period of European history. In the book Jews are portrayed simply as mice while the Nazis are menacing cats. To ban this book on the basis that it uses cuss words and depicts the undressing of victims is absurd. Its true value is that it reminds us that there was a dark period in European history when individuals were killed for being who they were. It serves as a wake up call for young and old that this shameful part of history should never happen again. The novel serves to inspire students to think critically about past history. I can’t help but wonder what those who ban books now are planning for us in the future?

We all have been told in our youth the proverb that a small lie will lead to bigger lies. Well, Jim Jordan seems to be entangled in a Web of Lies. A document given to the Select Committee by the National Archives indicates that he received a 10 minute call initiated from the White House residence on the morning of Jan 6th, 2021. Jordan when asked about calls to Trump on the morning of the Capital attack denied that one took place when questioned on it on the House floor. At other times he couldn’t recall how many times he spoke with Trump that day. He even claimed that he couldn’t remember what things they discussed. Can you imagine speaking with the president and not remembering the topic of conversation? That morning call is important information since Jordan spoke for 5 minutes in the afternoon pleading that Biden’s electors from Arizona to be rejected. Trump’s speech to his followers asking them to march on the Capital and he would join them was after that call with Jordan. Of course, there is no record of the actual phone conversation between these two men but it certainly is suspicious. We must keep in mind that many other Republicans seem to be in the early stage of dementia as well since they too fail to remember much of what they did that day.

The Ukraine crisis is still a powder keg which can explode unless cooler heads prevail. Moscow is firm on its position that Ukraine can’t be permitted to join NATO while Washington is steadfast that Russian forces violating Ukrainian’s borders is unacceptable. There are probably forces urging Putin to seize Russian speaking territory just as they are encouraging President Biden to take a tougher stance. What seems to be totally forgotten in the present stalemate is the tentative Minsk II agreement negotiated in February of 2015 between Russia and Ukraine and facilitated by Germany and France. It guaranteed an independent Ukraine which would not join NATO and that the Russian speaking Donbas region would have full autonomy in the Ukrainian federation. The European Union and the United Nations found that compromise to be a fine solution to the issues. However, the Ukrainian government refused to accept autonomy for the Donbas region and Russia balked because it was pushing for changes in the Ukrainian Constitution to formalize autonomy. So now six years later, I don’t believe that the US and NATO countries are willing to go to war over Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of the Donbas region would spell devastating economic costs to them and Europe. Germany and France are working behind the scene again to get the main players back to the negotiation table in hope that Minsk II can be resurrected and modified to be acceptable to the Ukraine and Russia.

Republicans legislators with their far right activists in many red states are recommending and even passing legislation which aims to ban any educational material which they believe denigrates the United States and its history. Their strange claim is that the integrity of history must be maintained. Of course, I have a problem on how you can guarantee integrity if you control what information can be published and released to students. The favorite expression of Republicans is that the ‘cancel culture’ results in students being indoctrinated with wrong view points. I never viewed obtaining knowledge based on facts being harmful to my development. I feel that the words cancel culture themselves express an implicit negative connotation. Certainly those who advocate it appear to be erratic and share no coherent ideology. Cancel culture really isn’t a movement since it has no leaders and membership. In a sense, it isn’t even a new development and has existed in rumors, whispers and smear attacks over the years. Now the speed and anonymity of social media platforms facilitates the spread of the cancel culture message. We must not permit any whitewashing of our actual history. Yes, there was slavery and its associated pain to many. Yes, we did have groups like the KKK which pushed white superiority as their doctrine. Yes, we did acquire Indian lands by dubious means during the period of westward expansion. These are proven facts and to remove them from books and class rooms not only weakens the integrity of our history but indicates that we are too weak to face our own shortcomings.

Over the weekend Trump made two startling statements. He declared that if he ever became President again he would pardon all individuals arrested for attacking the Capital. He then followed that up with controversial statement with his erroneous belief that Pence had the authority to keep him in the White House by reversing the electoral state counts. Trump has expressed his displease with Pence on many occasions. That makes Pence the right person to rebut Trump’s false claims. Pence may be in hot water with the far right Trump crowd but he is still viewed positively by most Republicans and their elected officials. He owes it to our country and the public to set the record straight by outlining in plain and direct language that Trump is wrong. Pence has to act quickly and decisively since Trump’s statements indicate that he has no regard for our constitutional principles and his only interest appears to rile up his loyal base. That in itself is a serious danger to democracy since many of his extreme zealots appear to be willing to hit American streets heavily armed in potentially violent protests.

There was a time when every Republican strongly opposed anything that Moscow was peddling in terms of propaganda or foreign policy. But when Trump announced that he would seek the US presidency and became the GOP candidate, the Kremlin decided that Trump was much more to their liking than Hillary Clinton. That initiated Moscow’s efforts to boost Trump by basically spreading false and misleading information about Clinton. After Trump had won the election in 2016 much evidence began to surface about the Russian disinformation campaign and that many in Trump’s inner circle had frequent contacts with their operatives. Immediately all Republicans closed ranks and considered such apparent evidence to be false and networks reporting on it were pushing fake news. Now five years later Moscow is taking aggressive steps against independent Ukraine under totally false pretenses. I am sure that Putin’s actions places Republicans in an awkward situation now since they either support President Biden on his strong stance against Moscow or attack him for it. One thing is for sure, playing the ‘I am neutral card’ on this charged political issue doesn’t seem to be an option for them. I see their former love for Moscow at least turning into dislike!

Even a full year after President Biden took office, former president Trump felt the need to issue another statement that VP Pence had the power to overrule the Elector College results and proclaim him President. It seems his family members and allies are unable to convince him that clinging to that belief makes him look like a fool. Clearly VP Pence was constrained by the Constitution, federal laws and history and couldn’t declare Trump the winner of the 2020 election. Trump further claimed that Pence had the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors. That is also incorrect. It is a mute argument since there were no fraudulent electors since they had all been certified by their respective states. All of Trump’s theories on the topic of stonewalling President Biden’s election win are somewhere between his misinterpretation of the Constitution and living in his own fantasy world. Prior to Trump no one has ever stated that a Vice president had the power to be a Kingmaker. Fortunately for the nation, Pence realized his this and certified the election result.

I am convinced that as we approached the 2020 presidential election Trump’s campaign team cautioned him that in swing sates he was not a lock to win. That began Trump’s rhetoric that he may not concede the election if he lost and the initial utterings of potential election fraud. Then when he did lose the election, Trump and all of his allies really began aggressively spreading the falsehood of the Big Lie. And as we know, the majority of his loyal supporters and many in the Republican party really believe it. This tactic of upending the truth with a bold faced lie is viewed by him to be an effective strategy to counter any attack against him. Now Trump finds himself at the center of many law suits for potentially corrupt business dealings and aiding and abetting the Jan 6th invasion of the Capital. Since he knows that they have strong cases against him backed up by witness testimony and documents, he is running scared. So it is my conclusion that he decided that it is time to resurrect his tactic of fighting these charges with another Big Lie. Yesterday at his Texas rally he decided it was time to share it with his followers. Trump proclaimed that justice authorities going after him are using criminal methods and must be stopped. He outright asked his followers to initiate public protests in support of him fighting these charges. I can’t believe that everyone is so naïve as to fall for a tale of a Big Lie again.

We all know now that there was an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election result with the FAKE elector ploy. But new emerging documents give us a clearer look on who was involved in the critical swing states. Fourteen individuals have now been identified representing the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania who falsely tried to declare Trump winner of the 2020 election in their home states. Many are prominent Republicans in their respective states such as Republican Party State Leaders. We have further learned that a full month after the election meetings in these states were held discussing the eventual submission of fake Electoral College votes for Trump. These fraudulent electors went as far as claiming in their cover letters to be authorized electors and didn’t hesitate to sign them. These fake electors have now been subpoenaed by the Select Committee to provide testimony at what level their efforts were planned and authorized. Given that Trump rigorously fought in courts to block the release of these documents, a reasonable conclusion is that he was fully aware of the cheating scheme. May be it is now time for Republicans to stop their whining and crying over the investigation of the committee and face up to the truth that their ploy is nothing less than a despicable attempt to steal and election.

It is by the grace of God that we have been blessed throughout mankind’s history with curious and intelligent individuals who labored to keep us healthy. Even in early civilizations there were medicine men who studied symptoms of illnesses and the healing power of plants to provide cures. Over the centuries humans achieved many medical breakthrough which eradicated diseases like the black death, scurvey, dysentery, influenza, whooping cough, measles, cholera, typhoid fever polio and many others. To achieve such awesome results it took efforts by scientists, doctors, nurses and patients to take part in clinical studies. Now during the COVID pandemic we have way too many who suddenly wish us to ignore past successes and wish to return to the dark days of medical ignorance. They refuse to wear masks or to receive vaccinations. That is extremely selfish behavior and does great harm to the well being of society. It is only by the grace of God that there numbers are small!

All of you you read the comments in my blog page clear-political-fog.com are invited to follow me on Twitter as well. Search for @Jura1942 THANKS, GEORGE

In Germany investigations into child sex abuse within the Catholic church brought to light that former Pope Benedikt made some false statement when he was the Archbishop of Munich. It appears that he failed to take action against four priests accused of sexual misconduct. We probably all believed that a Pope is a devoted servant of God and protects children at all cost. But now we know that the former Pope is simply a human being who felt that he must protect the church at all cost. However, the policy of sweeping indiscretions within the church under a rug can’t be done anymore in this day and age. It is possible that he told God the truth during his confessions but we are also entitled to know it. How many times did he fail to help the victims by looking away?

The 2020 elections introduced a small group of Republicans with extreme views and positions into Congress. Since then they have made many unhinged comments threatening our nations security and cohesion. Individuals who only a brief time ago would have been labeled as deranged crackpots were indeed elected. To me it represented a strong GOP shift to the far right and it appears to be gaining additional momentum. Recently we had a number of Republican candidates announce their 2022 election runs. Many of them are individuals spreading the debunked Big Lie and are friends with members of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and White Nationalists. Furthermore, they aren’t concerned at all that our democracy was attacked by their party head who tried to remain in power by supporting fake electors, was willing to have our military seize voting equipment and appeared to give his followers approval to invade the Capital. This strange phenomenon is not only happening at the Senate and House level but is occurring in state races for virtual every position from Attorney General to school and election boards. I must admit I fear for our democracy since these candidates have shown that the rule of law is a meaningless statement to them. Their minor criticism or silence on the Capital invasion signals that in the future they may not take a stance against such incursion against our Temple of Democracy. We citizens can not permit them to be successful in the upcoming elections. The danger to our nation is to great to have such extremists being represented in Congress.

There is now a noticeable split taking place among former allies of Trump. You have his die hard loyalists on one side who refuse to cooperate with the Select Committee and those willing to be interviewed. The most important and dangerous defector from Trump’s inner circle may be former AG Bill Barr. Before Barr’s resignation on 12/14/2020 he had emphatically refuted Trump’s claim of widespread voter fraud. At that time Trump didn’t lash out at Barr as he tends to do whenever someone opposes him and that may have been due to the fact that he knew Barr had more tales to tell. Well, that is true since Barr can provide information to what degree Trump leaned on the Justice Department to go along with his various plans to remain in power. The polar opposite of Barr is Mark Meadows. He initially cooperated with the committee and even turned over some critical documents. However, after Trump publicly stated his displeasure with his actions, Meadows refused further cooperation. Other key players in the Trump camp like General Kellogg, Kayleigh McEnany, Mike Pence, Giuliani, Hannity, Eastman, Alexander and Patel all are aware that they have important information of value to the Select Committee. Right now it is difficult to ascertain who or how many in that group will step forward as patriots to shed light on the sordid affair to block the peaceful transition of power in our country. I feel that Trump’s Teflon armor has begun to crack and will soon break up totally.

The only positive thing I see in attempting to deescalate this crisis is that the USA and Russia are holding discussion on it. But the reality is that the discussions have not led to any meaningful breakthrough. There is no withdrawal of Russian troops, an end to the possibility of war and certainly no serious negotiations. It appears that Putin has full control of the agenda. he makes demands of NATO and requests phone calls with President Biden. That shows me that to deal with an autocrat like Putin is not to cajole him but move on to power politics. By that I mean that you don’t give in or back down but remind him firmly that any reckless actions by him will indeed result in severe economic consequences for his nation. Both parties have cards in their hand and it is Putin’s turn to play his hand.

The Senate activities yesterday proof once again that we are moving every day further and further away from sound democratic principles. That is the case when you have 48 Democratic Senators supporting to end the filibuster in order to pass voting rights and they represent 32 million more Americans than the 52 Senators (20 Republicans and 2 Democrats in name only) opposing it. Here is what I find disappointing in our current political climate: ‘I don’t know how many more times Republicans have to show the American public that they don’t believe in voting rights for every citizen, have no compassion for those in need and yearn for the days when the national fabric was whiter! That is the sad shape of our Ship of State!’. I don’t have a crystal ball to predict when these attitudes will change but for the sake of the country they must or we shall face years of disunity and distrust of each other!

Yesterday the Supreme Court denied Trump’s assertion of Executive Privilege over White House documents related to the Jan 6th investigation. To the court it was clear that President Biden had the right to declare that some documents could be released to the Select Committee. So starting today the National Archive will turn about 800 documents over to the House Committee. The judges voted 8:1 to deny the Trump motion with Judge Thomas being the only one opposing the denial. The court’s ruling has sweeping implications beyond White House involvement since now other witnesses who refused to testify because they were told that Executive Privilege pertained to them will have no choice but to appear before the committee. I am convinced that Trump saw the court with three judges having been appointed by him as being on his side but in this case they certainly placed country above party loyalty. As judges with integrity should always do. Now we can expect that the Select Committee will receive substantial additional information to address which elected officials knew and in some way supported the plot to interfere in the 2020 election results. We must then recognize that individuals thus identified failed to live up to their oath to the Constitution and their responsibilities to the nation.

Every Attorney General in every state has the responsibility to investigate potential business financial fraud. So it should be no surprise to anyone that the New York Attorney general is looking closely at the Trump business empire since their financial statements lack details supporting their stated values and his personal wealth to banks and insurance companies. Trump and his son Eric and daughter Ivanka have been requested to explain obvious omissions in those documents. Many witnesses have been summoned already with some cooperating with investigators while others claim the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination and some appear to have faulty memories. All along Trump lawyers have been trying to scuttle the investigation on the basis that it has political overtones. But they must remember that financial fraud is a serious offense with stiff penalties when determined to exist. I expect that a sidebar to this investigation will be a comparison to the information provided in IRS tax returns. If they have similar omissions and misstatement of facts then it could lead to an additional legal challenge.

Today we honor Reverend Martin Luther King for his dedication in being an activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Many politicians in the Democratic and Republican party will make complimentary statements to celebrate his life. However, given the political divide in the country, I believe in the sincerity of Democrats much more than that of Republicans. My reasoning is simply based on the fact that the GOP makes no effort to refute election conspiracy theories advocated by their far right members. Furthermore, all their House Representatives voted against the fair voting act and thus gave their blessing to reduce voter participation and indirectly support of partisan election boards. In addition, the Supreme Court is filled with super conservative judges who misinterpret the Constitution and seem to only support GOP policy doctrines. I believe that all these actions are contrary to the way our democracy should function. Republican politicians should remember that carefully worded speeches of praise for Martin Luther King are of little value when all their actions indicate they are doing everything they can to undermine the Civil Rights gains which were won over time with peaceful protests, the sacrifice of many and a democratic administration that signed crucial legislation. As I always say: ‘Words are nice but actions speak louder than words!’.

If it wasn’t bad enough that John Eastman had proposed that the 2020 election should be overturned by states submitting second electoral certificates proclaiming Trump won and Jeffrey Clark in the DOJ telling Georgia election officials to appoint new electors, we now have additional bomb shell news. Information has come out that in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia officials were creating forged electoral certificates at the request of the Trump campaign. That proof exits because their paperwork had been send to congress and the National archives. The White House master plan failed only because VP Pence certified the correct and proper certificates submitted by the state election boards. That should make it clear to every American that we were close to a sitting President willing to usurp power and ignore the will of the people. I will condemn all those involved as being part of a criminal conspiracy which can’t go unpunished. It shouldn’t matter who they are and what position they held in the past administration. If they are identified as being planners and executers of any aspect of the plan, they deserve court appearances and its potential consequences. At one time, I am convinced we all thought that such conspiracy would never happen in the USA. But now we know that the evil plan almost worked and should tell us all that we must exercise vigilance in the 2024 election.

Five days ago a man who was not eligible for a traditional organ transplant had successfully a pig’s heart transplant. Certainly this represents a transformational moment in medicine but also raises ethical issues. However, the reality is that there are thousands of individuals waiting for heart, lung, liver and kidney organs throughout the world who are facing death without them. Even though many of us are agreeing to be organ donors upon death, the demand outstrips the supply. Mankind has been breeding and raising animals for a long time to be a ready food supply. So if this pig heart transplant proves to be a success over considerable time it may open the doors to seriously consider animal organs as an alternate source. The heart is a really only a pump which forces blood throughout the body of animals as well as humans. We tend to affiliate the heart with emotions like love and compassion but those are basically driven by our brains. This medical breakthrough gives hope to many that their lives can be saved but is a door which should be opened?

In 2012 when Americans were killed in the Benghazi attack, the perpetrators were foreign nationalists. However, the perpetrators who attacked our Seat of Democracy in 2021 were home grown terrorists. So how did the Republican leadership respond to these events? The Benghazi event resulted in at least four Committees investing the cause for that attack. They were all chaired by Republicans and were the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Judiciary and Oversight groups. The House Committee subpoenaed Hillary Clinton and she took a seat and answered all questions she was asked for eleven hours. The conclusion reached was that the attack was most like preventable if firmer actions had been taken. Now let us compare that to the Republican posture on the Capital attack. They overwhelmingly decided that there was no need for any committee to investigate that event at all. As information has come out about possible involvement of Republican lawmakers up and during the attack, those individuals are refusing to appear when subpoenaed. Many of them are the same politicians who in 2012 cried out that we must get to the bottom of what had happened in Benghazi but they are willing to totally ignore an attack on our soil. My dear politicians, you just can’t pick and choose what needs to be investigated. Do your job, live up to your constitutional duties and the oath you swore to protect our nation.

I find it difficult to comprehend that our nation which has weathered domestic terrorism, natural disasters and even presidential assassinations in the past is now so divided. Experts in social science will look at racial resentment, economic inequality, proliferation of weapons and political discontent as potential reasons for our division. Each side blames the other for lacking the spirit of patriotism and a true commitment to the Constitution. Unfortunately, some Americans even express hatred for those who don’t share their views. Why are we forgetting that we supposedly are the land of opportunity for all and an immigrant nation and were never a land exclusively for whites? Doesn’t that mean that we shouldn’t deny opportunities to anyone, not shut the door to immigration and appreciate our diversity? A nation’s unity can only be maintained if false conspiracy theories are condemned, both of our parties adhere to the principles of the Constitution and unscrupulous men trying to subvert the Will of the People are stopped.

On this day we must remember that last year’s attack on the Capital wasn’t a tourist excursion or peaceful march by American patriots. It was a willful and direct attempt to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power in this nation. That day will leave a shameful mark on the cloth of the nation forever. Mostly because so many individuals knew it was wrong but in their lust for power were willing to be part of the scheme to seize control of the government by over riding the electoral state results. All of these individuals are closely linked to former president Trump. The list is long and features names like Hannity, Carlson, Giuliani, Bannon, Navarro, Jordan, Gaetz, Nunes, VP Pence, Eisenberg and Meadows. You may call them the ‘All the King’s men’ but they are really a ‘rotten lot’. Not only did they buy in to the insurrection plan but also became willing partners in the ‘BIG LIE” that the election had been stolen. Even though even in RED states no such evidence was uncovered. You might as well refer to them as an anti democratic force willing to ignore the Constitution, tradition and past precedents. How many of you are wondering why Trump boasted even before the election that he wouldn’t concede even if the lost at the polls. Doesn’t that indicate that he knew and hoped that the over throw plan would succeed? Now that we have learned from witness testimony and available text messages how involved this group was in the coup attempt, how can their actions go unpunished? They are all not above the law and that includes private citizen Trump. I feel that their repeated attempts to disavow subpoenas and loose claims of executive privilege carry a strong stench of guilt!

The Republican Governors in the state of Florida, Iowa, Arkansas and Tennessee have elected to make unemployment payments to individuals who leave their jobs because their employer insists on them being vaccinated against Covid. Now these are the same politicians who endlessly promoted the line that the unemployed take advantage of the system and are slow to re-enter the work force. Personally I believe that anti vaxxers are foolish, selfish and lack social responsibility in this period of a national health crisis. Yes, they have the right to reject vaccinations but their actions are then open to consequences. Walking away from a job is their decision. It indicates that they are unwilling to accept the conditions set forth by their employer. However, I don’t agree with the premise that these individuals should be rewarded for their stance by being paid unemployment benefits. That strikes me as a harebrained, irresponsible and thoughtless policy being implemented in these states. It is not surprising to me that these are states controlled by Republicans because a vast majority of them have been lukewarm in supporting reasonable health mandates. I see it as nothing more but political pandering to a base which these politicians are afraid to offend.

I haven’t lost hope or my optimism in people and the coming new year. Here are my simple wishes:

1. I wish that the public would fully trust and follow the advice of medical professionals and researchers.

REMEMBER: Didn’t we all lined up and do that when they called on us to combat polio. It was a new treatment with limited tests but we all decided we had the social responsibility to protect us all. As a result, polio isn’t a concern to us anymore.

2. I wish we would do everything we can to relieve the day to day pressures facing our health community professionals in this pandemic.

REMEMBER: It is unbelievable that some of us see fit to insult them, protest against their efforts, throw tantrums in hospitals and request weird unauthorized treatments for kin.

3. I wish that every citizen of voting age will have the opportunity to cast their ballots in the coming year and always.

REMEMBER: In many states efforts are underway to make it extremely difficult for people to vote which is certainly against every principle and value that our nation was build on.

4. I wish that members of different party associations would put aside their political differences and remain friends and good neighbors.

REMEMBER: We always had Democrats, Republicans and Independents with their political aims which often differed but it never came to the point that we labeled them to be unpatriotic or enemies of the US.

5. I wish people would led go of spreading unfounded and ridiculous conspiracy theories which do nothing but undermine our unity.

REMEMBER: In all the court cases challenging the 2020 presidential election result no proof of fraud was ever submitted and they were all thrown out of court. A stupid suspicion isn’t credible proof!

6. I wish people would stop going to grocery and department stores armed to the teeth with military style weapons or see it as appropriate to post family Christmas pictures with every member brandishing weapons.

REMEMBER: Even in the late fifties and sixties when all the most popular TV shows were westerns featuring gun play, you didn’t see such immature displays. There were no cries that the government will take your guns away but we also had gun owners who saw no need for automatic weapons and super large magazines.

7. I wish that people will realized that the Jan 6th attack on on our seat of democracy wasn’t a peaceful protest but a coordinated attempt to violently interfere with the peaceful transfer of power in our nation.

8. I wish that respect and common courtesy toward each other makes a return and that we refrain from bullying and insulting each other.

REMEMBER: When was it considered to be a sign of a decent up bringing to bully and insult the people around you. Now it is even being done by members of Congress.

9. I wish people would practice their religious beliefs without the need of trying to convince us of a different faith that only theirs is the true one.

REMEMBER: I guess it plain offends me when religious zealots preach that only they know how to interpret religious scriptures correctly. But many of them seem to ignore true religious values of helping the poor and providing comport of those in need.

10. I wish that even though we are a nation of various races, ethic backgrounds and religions, we are all the same with our aspirations, dreams and views of the future.

REMEMBER: Don’t we all want our children to be happy, be educated and live their own happy lives.

I also wish you all great health and success with all your professional and personal endeavors in the NEW YEAR!

An exceptional human being has left the world stage. Archbishop Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, creator of the rainbow nation term and reconciler of the South Africa apartheid regime. Even when faced with hate, terror and imprisonment, the Archbishop never wavered from his beliefs. Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Light is stronger than darkness. Life is stronger than death. His greatest achievement is the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Racists could openly discuss and share acts of violence they had committed in the name of the government without facing punishment. His idea was that forgiveness is better than retribution. It is clear in my mind that his actions prevented revenge, hate and associated bloodshed. I hope that we don’t forget the echo of a this true hero. The Archbishop was a good human being, a strong voice for justice and conciliator. Our history books will list his name along with Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

At one time it was inconceivable to believe that democracy in our nation could ever be overthrown. That our country which is viewed as a bastion of democracy and respected by countries around the world would be in danger by elements determined to undermine constitutional authority. I fear that the Capital attack by Trump followers was an insurgency test which has led to us to now being in a conflict phase. That I would define as being a time when many voices rise in support of democracy but many are critical of it by latching on to claims that elections can be stolen. The final stage of what is see in this country now could be an open armed rebellion breaking out after the 2024 presidential election. The academic group Bright Line Watch reports that 17 percent of Republicans support violence to restore Trump to power and 39 percent are determined to obstruct all efforts by Democrats to govern effectively. Those findings seem to indicate that many Americans have forgotten that democracy is the core foundation of what we are as a nation! That also explains why Republicans are placing road blocks in the path to free and equal elections while Democrats are fighting for them. An open rebellion against constitutional authority would pit citizens against citizens, lead to violence on the streets, feature acts of domestic terrorism and even assassinations of perceived opponents. The world has seen that scenario play out in places like Columbia, Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. I never though that the US could ever be added to that list of countries but my fear is that it could happen if we don’t protect our democracy!

Just because we haven’t heard of any major ransomware attacks lately, the danger is still there and as dangerous as ever. Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates reminded us all this week when he stated: ‘Cyber crime is the most dangerous weapon in the world – politically, economically and militarily!’. Let us not forget that ransomware attacks are master minded by skillful and sophisticated criminal gangs and various intelligence services of nations not aligned with us. There must be close cooperation with High Tech companies, corporations and government agencies to effectively combat such threats. I suspect that corporations and our government are inadequately staffed with cyber security experts to maintain vigilance and stop threats before they cripple critical enterprise operations. It would also be helpful if there was more intelligence sharing among countries of their methods to fight bad actors who keep on propagating cyber crime.

As we lean more about the House select committee’s trove of documents and their content, a very disturbing picture emerges of the Jan. 6th Capital attack. We now know that as the mob was defiling and looting the Seat of Democracy, close supporters of Trump were contacting Mark Meadows to have Trump call off his mob. Donald Trump Jr., Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade and probably others were concerned that things had gotten out of hand. Trump hesitated for a long time and when he finally released a video it contained no serious condemnation of the event but focused on his obsession of the lost election. Even though the FOX media personalities at that time recognized the seriousness of the storming of the Capital, they then began downplaying it for the next eleven months. They fed their audience lie after lie that the actions of that day were minor even though they had appealed to Meadows to have it stopped. A federal judge has just ruled that any attempt tp obstruct the electoral vote count in any way is illegal. Since that was the procedural event scheduled for the House that day, anyone involved in planning or participating in interfering with that process should be criminally prosecuted. Further releases of document content will most likely mention prominent Republicans and lay bare their involvement. All of those who are guilty must be punished for their actions. The time to minimize and accept excuses for what happened that day are misplaced. The truth must be revealed to ensure that such event isn’t repeated in the future.

It seems no day goes by without another key player being identified in working with the White House in the attempt to cancel the results of the 2020 presidential election. The new actor in the election drama is a retired colonel by the name Waldron. He went on record to say that he had met repeatedly with Mark Meadows to discuss a PowerPoint presentation outlining details on how the election result could be over turned. The cornerstone of the plan was to replace electors in toss up states that Trump lost with hard core Republican electors and call out the National Guard to seize ballots in key states. These meetings make clear that every day we obtain more information of Meadows role in obstructing the peaceful transition of power in our country. A parallel effort to the plan was to press senior DOJ officials to initiate investigations of alleged voter fraud since that would create the back drop to actions proposed in the plan. One can’t minimize the role by Colonel Waldron since he participated in various meetings with Trump allies to discuss the plan. He had met with Trump and Pennsylvania legislators in the Oval Office to discuss their election result. He attended a meeting with Trump lawyers Giuliani and John Easton and briefed Senator Graham on how to restore Trump to power. Now I wonder what surprising news tomorrow will bring on the shady plan to invalidate the votes of millions of citizens.