george.schnur

The world was outraged when journalist Khashoggi was murdered inside a Saudi Embassy in turkey. Even the CIA assessment stated that the Crown prince was implicated in that murder and knew most of the assassin squad members by name. The Prince had promised a full and transparent investigation of the crime. Recently the perpetrators who had been sentenced to death had those sentences changed to jail time. With that action the Saudi authorities consider the case closed. The Crown Prince eliminated a critic of his regime without any negative consequences to him. His march to bloody total dictatorship continues. The Crown Prince is so to speak: ‘Kim Jong of Arabia!’.

Trump has repeatedly ignored input from scientists when it comes to the coroanvirus. Yesterday in his visit to California to be briefed on the extensive forest fires he did so again but this time it was about the impact of Climate Change. He dismissed any information pointing to Climate Change as playing a role in the fires. Trump hung to the notion that scientists don’t know for sure what is happening. That better forest management would prevent fires and that the cold will take care of the problem. His absolute disregard for scientific studies and associated results is mind boggling. He always demonstrates that anything which goes against his mindset on an issue or problem must be wrong and thus ignored. How much damage must the country endure before Trump realizes that ‘he doesn’t know everything’ or that ‘only he can fix it’ as he likes to claim!

Trump told the nation that he would only hire the best of the best to fill administration positions. Well, here we have Michael Caputo, Press Secretary for the HHS department, making the most astonishing statements. Not only is he accusing the CDC scientists of staging sedition but that they are all representatives in a DEEP STATE plot against the President. Making that dangerous claim was bad enough but he went even further. Stating that there were resistance units busy undermining Trump. Left wing hit squads are being trained for insurrection to spring into action after the election. He urged Trump supporters to buy guns and ammunition since it will be hard to obtain soon. How can you have anyone with such idiotic views be on your team unless it is acceptable to you? Such ignorance of reason and evidence while catering to whims and hunches sets a dangerous precedent. But since Trump isn’t even considering firing this bright fellow, he must be agreeing with the him. Let that sink in!

Here is an example of classic double speak or forked tongue dialogue: ‘Trump is concerned that the truth about the coronavirus will lead to a panic but doesn’t have that concern when he warns us that the suburbs will be over run with looters and agitators if Biden wins the election!’. It was Trump’s responsibility to be honest with us on the dangers the virus posed to all of us. Down playing it gave many people a false sense of security. Now he is still ignoring the virus by holding an indoor rally without mask or social distancing requirements. All of it is a violation of CDC guidelines and not in line with advice of Health Care professionals. I call it a callous disregard for human life which may have many in attendance pay a heavy price down the road! However, Trump said that he himself felt safe since he was far removed from the crowd. Doesn’t that statement just cry out that his follower’s health doesn’t factor in when holding indoor rallies. Note that all of this is happening as we saw more coronavirus dead yesterday than in the previous two months. You can’t reshape reality when all the facts speak against you!

CDC projections leave no doubt that the coronavirus will be with us until a safe and effective vaccine is developed and millions of Americans are vaccinated. During that time the virus will continue to infect people and there will be more fatalities. But while the public has to deal with that reality, the flu season is quickly approaching. The flu is responsible for over 70000 dead in the US as an average but with both health dangers colliding soon, many more people will be at risk to get seriously ill. Anyone catching the flue will be weakened and thus more susceptible to be infected by the virus. The biggest thing Trump can do for us now is to come out and state that everyone should wear a mask and do social distancing. He has been hesitant to do so since it won’t go over well with his dedicated followers. The only reason they won’t follow basic health recommendations is that he has told them that all scientists are wrong. But for the sake of all Americans that must be done. Will he downplay or even ignore this potential calamity at our door steps!

The Helath and Human Services Communications Czar Caputo forced the CDC to submit all of their statements prior to publishing to his staff for editing and re-writes. It appears that he wished to ensure that every line aimed at the public echoed Trump’s messaging on the coronavirus. Caputo’s stated reasoning for doing so is that there are DEEP STATE operatives in the bowels of the CDC who wish to harm Trump. That is actually funny! Again this is WH pressure on an agency that has the responsibility to speak directly to the public without their message being filtered and modified. This is not an isolated case but is a Trump pattern not to have what he views to be negative news reach the public. That raises the whole issue about trust in government entities and their work on our behalf.

Now that the presidential campaign is in full swing, Trump is attempting to distance himself from much of what he said and tweeted. Unfortunately for him, we live in the world of Internet searches and audio and video clips. All that information is now literally in our hands in seconds. Yes, some will not care about the truth but many will. Just as church bells ring out, Trump’s weirdest claims will not remain in obscurity but will be heard by a huge majority in the land. The cornavirus is not a hoax, military personnel aren’t losers and suckers, White Nationalists aren’t fine fellows, Pentagon Generals aren’t war mongers, the administration virus response was not stellar, Putin and other Dictators aren’t our friends and this is a merely a sampling of his words. Everyone ready to cast their vote in November can’t forget misinformation and outright lies told by the incumbent President. For we all deserve better!

On Friday the Judge who was asked to review AG Barr’s request to dismiss the General Flynn case rendered his opinion and it is equal to a judicial earthquake. Judge John Gleeson was requested to review the Flynn case for fairness. He minced no words and stated loudly and clearly that Trump pressured the Justice Department to drop all charges because Flynn is a political ally of his. The Judge went on to say that no US president has the right to orchestrate a pressure campaign to get the DoJ to do what he wishes to be done. He reminded everyone that Flynn plead guilty. In his case twice before two different judges. Judge Gleeson pointed out that Flynn’s guilt is obvious. What also should now become obvious to the American people is that AG Barr is set to protect Trump at all costs and those of his friends who may have incriminating information about the President. That is not according to the US Rule of Law but smacks more of a conspiracy to isolate Trump from potential damaging information. Will we stand for that?

Clearly all WH Press Secretaries have tried to put the best possible spin on all news and that is especially true for bad news.However, the current WH Press Secretary McEnany has decided to play a very dangerous game in yesterday’s briefing. Her whole line of commentary that if the result isn’t known on election day, the voting system is broken makes no sense. The winner in the Bush/Gore election wasn’t immediately determined because the Florida vote count was close and required a review.It appears that the Press secretary is already casting doubt about the election validity before any ballot is being counted. Is she laying the groundwork for Trump to contest the 2020 election result? Let us remember that mail-in voting provides maximum flexibility for voters to cast their ballots in a pandemic.There is also no evidence of wide spread voter fraud in past elections!

On Thursday US officials unmasked Ukrainian politician Dorckach as an active Russian agent. He has been linked to various Russian disinformation initiatives in support of Trump. What is really relevant here is that this agent is a close friend of Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer. He is the one Giuliani has been counting on to provide negative information on candidate Biden. Dorckach had previously leaked parts of a conversation between Biden and the former Ukrainian President to Giuliani. Trump later promoted that leaked information trying to cast Biden in a bad light. And not too long ago Giuliani had encouraged him to find more information on Biden. Somehow the optics of an active Russian agent being the buddy of Trump’s personal lawyer isn’t the best of things!

Each one of the 190000 who lost their lives have lost their voice and can’t speak out. But their family members, their relatives, their friends and all of us can speak for them. We have to make sure that they didn’t die in vain. So let us raise our voices in unison to a crescendo that echos on how we were all deceived by this administration about the real dangers of the coraonavirus. We owe it to all of them and must acknowledge that more died than had to. Many continue to die while Trump mocks reporters for wearing face masks. What kind of leadership is that?

Now that we know that Trump knew all along about the severity and danger that the virus posed to Americans, we must understand that Pence had that information as well. But what did he do as the Head of the Coronavirus task force but go along with everything Trump said about it. Heck, he even thanked the President at every virus press briefing for his great leadership. What a hypocrite!!!Pence too had the responsibility to be honest with the public but he failed us as miserably as Trump did. I am still dismayed that the Trump ministration seemed not to care about the lives of Americans but were only concerned and focused on their re-election efforts. And even now they are spinning that their coronavirus response was excellent. Ignoring the fact totally that over 190000 lives have been lost. How many wouldn’t have perished if we had a well planned response early on??

The shocking revelation in Woodward’s Trump interview tape shows us all that the President failed when called upon to show leadership. He admitted he knew how serious the coronavirus was early on but decided to ‘play it down’ for fear of causing a panic. Now that is the most ridiculous reason when confronted with a national health emergency which requires the public to take preventive measure to control it. Trump elected to downplay the virus, refused to wear a mask which we know is the best protection against airborne virus carriers and suggested odd medications as a cure for it. How may lives could have been saved if Trump had addressed the nation with a ‘Call to Arms’ to defeat the virus early on? Are we wrong in expecting our President to show character, competence and integrity in a national crisis? But what we received from Trump was ineptness, dishonesty and epic dereliction of duty. The American people are strong, determined and can unite against a common enemy. History has proven that repeatedly. But Trump’s confusing messaging made that impossible. His own words mocking those who wore masks and total disregard for public safety in holding rallies will not be forgotten when we vote in November!

Yesterday Trump urged his followers at his North Carolina rally to come out on election day to act as poll watchers. The president is concerned that ‘thieving, stealing and robbing’ will take place. Again he provided no evidence to support such wild claim. The people heading to those election sites are registered voters and none are there to pursue criminal activities. The President may have done so by encouraging his voting base to vote twice! I see this whole sham pitch to his base as nothing more as an attempt to intimidate voters. Just look at the Trump supporter truck caravan in Portland. They were out there to intimidate by looking much like an ISIS caravan with their flags and weapons on display!

In an odd twist of juris prudence, the Department of Justice wishes to have their lawyers defend Trump against the Carroll defamation suit. She claims that Trump lied when he said that he never had met her when she accused him of assaulting her in a department store. But at the heart of her suit is the fact that she is seeking a DNA sample of the President to proof the assault took place. Which implies that she has some clothing of the alleged encounter that has traces of DNA evidence. The fact that Trump appointee AG Barr is willing to use the DOJ in the President’s defense is shocking. Certainly such effort isn’t being undertaken just to defend a lie!

Never has a US president referred to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as being warmongers. Only interested in providing opportunities for defense firms to make exorbitant profits. Never has a President tied the timing of critical medical measures to a promise that they would be ready on election day. never has a President been surrounded by Evangelical Pastors for a prayer and blessing session only later to claim that the whole episode was horse manure. Well, Trump has done all of these things. Should we call it unhinged behavior or is it simply unscrupulous conduct. In the strongest definition of the term it means to have no moral principles. If you wish to be kind you at least term it to be not being honest.

The Atlantic article describing Trump’s attitude about the military has really gotten under his skin. Of course, as usual he has to lash out against someone and in this case it is Laurene Job, majority financial stake holder in the magazine. Trump actually is encouraging his followers to launch a crusade of harassment against her. This is another continuation of Trump’s vindictive behavior against anyone who dares to criticize him. The irony here is that she has devoted her life after her husband’s death to support various philanthropic causes. She donates much of her fortune to make sure “America is great again’! Right now it seems that her efforts are more successful than the President’s campaign promise!

Today Trump unleashed an unprecedented and bitter attack on the Pentagon Leadership by accusing them of fighting endless wars for the sole purpose of enriching companies which stock the military arsenals. That is saying that they don’t serve the nation but are on the payroll of these companies. That is a grievous insult directed at the people working at the Pentagon. But let’s look at some facts: ‘Trump has touted the multi billion Dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia as being very good for our economy. He bragged repeatedly that the increase in the military budget is to upgrade our nuclear arsenal and develop and acquire more sophisticated weapons!’. For someone who tried hard since last Thursday to convince us that he didn’t denigrate the military, his comments today make his denials difficult to accept. For our Commander in Chief to take such heinous action is as close to treason as you can get!

Active military personnel and veterans represent about 12% of the voters in elections. In 2016 trump won the majority of their votes. But since last Thursday Trump is trying vehemently to dispel stories that he repeatedly disparaged the military in general and our fallen heroes in particular. Trump won six swing states in the last election most likely through the support of the military voting block. He knows the stories are extremely harmful to his campaign and a huge risk to his re-election chances. If Trump’s hope is that the issue will disappear from the headlines, I suspect that will not happen. My guess is that much more on that topic will come to light and even some life time Republicans will speak out. Military personnel didn’t like Hilary Clinton. Much of it was due to the reality that they couldn’t imagine a female Commander in Chief. Now things have changed. One is the revelation of Trump’s views of the military and that Biden is a Gold Star father. His son made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. In addition, many will remember that Trump didn’t serve when called upon!

Yesterday Frances Brennan, Trump Campaign Director, mocked former VP Biden for ‘meandering’ at a cemetery. Biden had attended church and then visited the graves of his first wife, daughter and son. He declined to speak with reporters since this wasn’t a photo op op for him but a time to share personal grief. Meanwhile the President was out golfing again while the nation is still facing the virus peril and Americans are dying. The contrast between the two candidates is striking! One goes to church and a cemetery while the other doesn’t attend church and wouldn’t even honor fallen soldiers in Normandy. Another difference is that Biden has a true moral compass while Trump’s is a bit out of line. The choice in November for the electorate will be if morality and ethics remain important traits for a President!

Once this conspiracy center was viewed to be a fringe movement but it has exploded and become a mainstream activity on social media sites. Trump supporters follow it religiously and by in to any conspiracy theory they peddle. Even the President has alluded in some of his tweets to QAnon material. The founders of the movement believe that the Clinton’s, Obama’s and George Soros and even the Pope are seeking to control the world. Forget world powers like China and Russia that may want to increase their influence world wide. In the QAnon narrative Trump is the heroic figure and ultimate patriot who will fight them and take us to new heights of glory. Of course, their aim right now is to get Trump re-elected in November and they will try to discredit Biden and support the wildest conspiracy stories. As an example, they distributed false and dangerous information on COVID-19 which was in lne with Trump’s talking points. The FBI warned that QAnon poses a potential domestic terror threat. Social media platforms have also begun to curtail some of their most outlandish theories.

After Trump’s blistering attack on the FOX News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin, she didn’t back off from her reporting that the President had denigrated the US military. She fired back that her sources were unimpeachable. An interesting choice of words given that the President was impeached! Many FOX colleagues came to her defense and even one GOP congressman had the guts to support her. Leaving the President with weak statement like the Atlantic magazine is dying. He said that many time about the New Times and Washington Post and they are going just fine. Trump’s other complaint is that sources weren’t mentioned but isn’t he who loves to say ‘I have been told’ to start of some wild tale without naming anybody?

FOX news reported that they too had corroborated the Atlantic story that Trump has repeatedly mocked US troops who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the nation. It was a huge step for that network to take since they seldom criticize outlandish comments by the President. Obviously the WH is fully aware of the damage caused by calling fallen heroes suckers and cowards and to the image of Trump as a great supporter of the military. Some administration officials have been called upon to deny it, Melania had to make a statement and Trump wants Jennifer Griffin who confirmed details of the story fired. Now the the question is how FOX will react to Trump’s request to fire her! Will the network remain firm or will it cave in? I can’t see the story itself disappearing soon since it denigrates those who are true patriots and maintain our freedoms at the potential cost of their lives.

Trump has instructed the pentagon to cease publication of the venerable military newspaper Stars & Stripes by end of September. This newspaper traces its origins all the way to 1861. It has always published articles of particular interest to active and former military personnel. The paper always valued the right to speak the truth. Now it is being silenced by Trump who claims to love the military. Not only will the shut down have a negative impact on military families but it is also a blatant attack on the free press. Given all the other news that has come out in the past 24 hours about Trump’s true thoughts of the military and now this action, military personnel everywhere should be outraged!

When Trump was interviewed on FOX on Monday he unleashed another wild conspiracy theory. There are airplanes filled with thugs representing a dark shadow army going to many cities to attack Republican counter protesters to the BLM movement. He stated that an investigation is under way to get to the bottom of it and we will eventually be told what it is. The weird thing is that this so called conspiracy was first raised in June by some ultra right wing group in support of the President. Supposedly this shadow army is being funded by Democrat Billionaires who wish to defeat Trump in November. Even the FOX interviewer was surprised by this outrageous claim!

Trump likes to state how much he loves the military and how much he has done for it. Many have forgotten how he mocked a real hero Senator McCain and made fun of a Gold Star family. He also received 5 deferments based on his bone spurs and avoided going to Vietnam. Tonight the Atlantic magazine published an article basically telling us that Trump sees no value in serving in the defense of our nation since there is no money in it! How he refers to our soldiers buried in Arlington cemetery as losers. The WH issued a brief note disputing the content of the article but now many have come out and corroborated that Trump indeed said those things. Being a veteran myself, I just can’t see any former or current military person supporting a President who as the Commander in Chief doesn’t comprehend and even belittles service to the nation!

A recently written intelligence assessment memo that Russia will undermine the candidacy of Biden by falsely claiming that he had diminished memory capabilities, was stopped from public release by the White House. Now we see that one of the major Trump and GOP Senators attack lines is raising issues of his mental stability, alertness and suggesting he may even use drugs to remain sharp. I wonder how a Russian idea to use that against Biden suddenly became exactly what important Republican are doing?

Some things come into clearer focus as time dashes past us. I now really wonder what Putin is holding over Trump’s head. There is no other way to explain Trump’s fear of criticizing any Putin action. there are no comments by Trump as an anti-Putin critic was poisoned, as Russian forces deliberately ran into a US patrol, as Russian spy planes virtually touch our air space, as Russian agents alluringly offered bounties for Taliban fighters to kill Americans and now they are meddling in the 2020 election. You take the sum of these events and must come to the inevitable conclusion that this protection of Putin is some sort of funny business!

Recently it became obvious that the relationship between Trump and Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx had seriously deteriorated. They were making less appearances on the briefings of the virus task Force. Trump deemed that their cautious advice on controlling the virus ran counter to his ‘Open the country’ message. So the President went out and found himself a new virus guru. Dr. Atlas is a well respected former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford Medical Center. However, he has no experience with infectious diseases or engagement in public health. Dr. Atlas does share Trump’s vision of having students return to school and that college sports should take place. There is no daylight in the thinking of Trump and the Doctor. They are fully aligned! The risk appears to be to the public that the Doctor will merely be a mouthpiece for Trump’s messages and become a dedicated partisan hack!

It is a crime to vote twice in elections and that also holds true if it is only attempted. Now we have the President suggesting to today that North Carolina voters should vote by mail for the November election but then attempt to do so again in person. Trump who loves to spread the fear of voter fraud is now outright encouraging it. Let us look at it from another angle; namely, the person who leads the nation and thus our democracy is advocating that voters purposely commit a crime.

In the past week the Kenosha police arrested 175 people for causing public disturbances and property damage. The odd fact is that 102 of them are from out of town.That includes the 17 year old teenager who killed 2 individuals and is now under arrest. Trump’s visit yesterday focused on surveying property damage and praising the police. He said nothing about the black man being shot 7 times in the back but defended the white teenager’s action. During his round table discussion the 2 black pastors in attendance were asked about systemic racism. Trump didn’t give them the opportunity to respond but quickly declared that it doesn’t exist. I see it as another opportunity lost to show empathy and compassion for the victims and still condemn violence on both sides!

Putin is using all of his intelligence resources to help his friend Trump again in the election. Organized Russian teams are using internet forums, social bots and trolls to attack Biden and support Trump. What a coincidence that right now the Trump appointed Head of National Security has decided to issue only written statements of such activity to select legislators. The fear is that Trump gets to say what goes into those memos. But the real issue is that legislators don’t get to ask probing questions as they would be able to in hearings. The American public demands full, reliable, accurate and up to date information. Meddling in our elections isn’t to be taken lightly or even ignored!

The two candidates seeking the Presidency in the November election are sending different messages to the American people. Biden has a message of unity and healing while Trump’s is based on fear and demagoguery. Biden stressed that any violence tied to peaceful demonstrations is to be condemned and that they are criminal acts. He came out strong for public safety and improved race relations. But the President continues to fan the flames of unrest. He is justifying violence of his supporters and even vigilante behavior. Clearly there is proof that far right and other extremist groups are deliberately interfering with peaceful protests. Trump minimizes all misconduct on part of the Police even though much of that is happening before our eyes. Which message represents our values better is the question of the day?

I was struck by a Sunday tweet by Trump in which he blasts legendary reporter Bob Woodward in his new book ‘RAGE’. The President had not liked Woodward’s previous book ‘FEAR’ on the basis that he wasn’t interviewed for it. Well, the difference is that for the upcoming book Trump was interviewed 17 times and agreed that Woodward could record all sessions. I suspect that the WH was given an early copy of the book and discovered that it contained an unflattering portrayal of the President. So Trump’s tweet attack is his normal response. Now Trump will no doubt resort to his mode of operation of denying words he spoke even when sound bites of it exist. However, the president won’t be able to change what Americans will read and that it does reflect Trump’s thinking on issues!

I see many disturbing actions taken by the Trump administration which are meant to weaken our democracy drip by drip. I will come right out and call them attacks against the heart of our democracy. We have seen an assault on Federal Judges who make rulings opposing the administration’s point of view. GOP controlled state legislatures change voting fairness by closing voting stations and implementing cumbersome registration requirements. Forbidding the Intelligence Community to brief Congress on foreign election meddling. Making allegations that the upcoming election will be fraudulent if Trump doesn’t win. Encouraging conservative operatives and private vigilantism to interfere with peaceful protesters. Asking foreign governments to facilitate the search for negative information on political rivals. The re-tweeting of QAnon unproven conspiracy theories. When you look at all of these actions collectively they paint a picture of a structured and planned attack against democracy!

Trump becoming President in 2016 hinged to a great extent on the efforts of power broker Jerry Fallwell. As a respected leader of the united Evangelical block, he was instrumental in getting them to vote for Trump in spite of his checkered past on several issues. Now that Fallwell had to exit the political stage due to his own missteps, it gives Evangelicals the opportunity to vote based on their own conscience in November. They will no longer be under the influence of someone who yielded much power as President of Liberty University. However, the question is if some of them are concerned about Trump’s erratic behavior and support for child separations and far right groups., If so, it will be an important turning point in the Trump/ Evangelical coalition!

Recently the National Intelligence Agency informed Congress that Russia, China and Iran plan to meddle in our 2020 elections. Now it appears that the Trump administration has put pressure on that Agency to drop such briefings to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The Director of the Agency send both Committee Chairs a letter that briefings will no longer be done. Democrats call it a betrayal to protecting us from foreign power interference in the November election. What is really strange is that not a single GOP House or Senate member has issues with this step. I can’t shake the notion that Trump is trying to keep all ugly truth from us.

When Trump attacked Senator Harris again for being a weak and unqualified VP candidate it wasn’t really about her but his daughter Ivanka. His statement that he wants to see a woman become President is true as long as it is his beloved Ivanka. Trump made a point to point out that his daughter would be a better candidate and everyone is telling him: ‘We want Ivanka!’. I believe that Trump is sending a strong signal to his base that the ‘Torch of Trumpism’ is being handed to Ivanka’. She is his favorite child and his ambition would love to see her be the first female President. Of course, there are others who have their sights set on running in 2024 like Pence, Graham, Haley and even Don Jr. They all must face the truth that Trump would support Ivanka over any of them in a heart beat. Blood is thicker than water and Trump trusts Ivanka more than anyone else.

Emily Miller who took the FDA’s spokesperson position only a week ago was abruptly fired by Commissioner Dr. Hahn. She had been on the job only a week after coming over from the White House personnel office. Given that Trump has interfered with the FDA by leaning on them to provide misleading information on COVID-19 tests, treatments and the vaccine process, I suspect that she wasn’t playing ball the way Trump wanted her in that role. Again Dr. Hahn has shown that he is a puppet on a string held by Trump. In taking the spokesperson position she had declared that she would provide honest and accurate information to the public. I guess that is something viewed to be in contradiction to the way they do things at the FDA now. I always thought that lying in a job would get you fired but never that telling the truth would do it!

The GOP Convention only mentioned the coronavirus in passing and expressed some superficial empathy for the dead and their loved ones. However, Trump knows fully well that the ongoing virus is a heavy anchor on his re-election campaign. That makes him disregard when Scientists tell him that any medication to mitigate the virus will take development time and must follow the clinical trial process. The trouble is that Trump feels that he can’t wait because the election is only two months away. That is why he makes announcements and claims prematurely on potential cures. It all started with him pushing hydrochloroquine as a miracle drug and now that blood plasma is the new breakthrough. Let us be clear about one thing, we all wish for a drug to mitigate COVID-19 but in Trump’s case it may be more of a self serving gesture rather than real concern for us. You can expect him to maintain pressure on the CDC and FDA to publish misleading information. Every time that have done so up to now, they had to walk it back since Scientists and Doctors spoke out against the misinformation. Stay tuned for his next miracle cure announcement!

The last night of the Republican Convention, in using the White House, was the greatest display of self serving propaganda in American history. To call it merely a display of bad taste is insufficient. It showed a total disregard for traditions and broke all ethical boundaries. I falsely believed that maybe we would hear words of unity and hope coming from the President but his re-election strategy is firmly based on fear mongering and deception. Trump showed no emotion and initially delivered many disproven claims of his accomplishments. But then the his rhetoric took an extremely dark turn. For a President to say in his acceptance speech that the election of his opponent would mean an immediate end of our Republic is grotesque. Trump comes right out and threatens us that it would result in anarchy and loss of our way of life. I describe that as a fear tactic to scare and intimate the voters. I believe that Trump is power hungry and his vision for a potential second term is to have unaccountable presidential power. We can’t let that happen if we care for the USA!

Trump gave an interview to a Washington Examiner reporter in which he accused his opponent in the presidential race for taking drugs. He provided no evidence but attempted to justify his outrageous claim by saying that Biden’s debate performance with Sanders was very weak while he, grudgingly admitted, that Biden’s nomination acceptance speech was so much better. So Trump boldly stated that such improved performance could only be achieved if the former VP was under the influence of drugs. Another example that Trump makes ridiculous statement without having any supporting evidence. We should trust him because he has a ‘FEEL’ for such things he claims. The President of the USA shouldn’t depend so much on his clairvoyance but provide evidence and facts for all of his claims. The public expects no less and reporters should call out his bold faced lies!

Four ago ago the Trump made the promise to ‘Make America Great Again’ and only he can do that. But what I see today is no new beautiful health care system, no reduction in drug prices, racial strife, no true justice for all, no reduction of atomic bomb research in North Korea, no guts calling out Putin on the occupation of parts of the Ukraine and his poisoning of anti Putin activists and no response to Russians troops deliberately bothering ours. In addition, we have the coronavirus still causing death while also wrecking our economy. Unemployment numbers are very high and will be for a long time. So the GOP rolls out their new promise that all they need is Trump in office for four more years to fix all our problems. I can understand people falling for a promise once but we are are being asked to do so again. Let us not fall for another hollow promise. I say the last four years were enough of this administration.

Any vestiges of the Grand Old Party and many of their fundamental beliefs are now relics of the past.The party is fully in the hand’s of Trump who has sole control of what it does and its whole membership. No other way to say it but the party has morphed into a true cult. Trump, as their Leader, demands extreme loyalty from his followers to feed his narcissistic personality. Criticism isn’t permitted since the Leader never does anything wrong. As Trump recently said: ‘I take no responsibility for anything!’. Trump cloaks his actions in the guise of healing the country and helping the less fortunate even when he is considering questionable actions. Members of the cult or tribe feel that they are part of a movement to shake things up. The leader keeps them confused by being unpredictable on what he will do next. Once the cult leader sees that members are always in step with him, he feels embolden to seek greater and further reaching powers. Everything I have written is a reflection of this administration.

Now it is crystal clear that the GOP convention has made the decision that some things are ‘Ghosts of Yesterday’ and must not be mentioned since they represent administration failures. Speaker after speaker ignores addressing anything related to the coronavirus and the current economic crisis. That is such a callous and blatant act since we all know that there have been close to 180000 virus dead and unemployment is at 10 percent. The corona virus is not under control, recently opened schools are sending students home and employers still have staff working from home. Economic prospects are of a very slow recovery. Just wait until October when all airlines will announce massive staff cuts impacting thousands with no job return in sight. The GOP should be focusing their energy on these two issues and less on bashing Biden and trying to justify that all is just fine in the country. It is not!

Not to long ago Secretary of State Pompeo send out instruction to all employees in the State Department that they all refrain from any political activity while on the job. But now it appears that he has totally forgotten what he wrote. Pompeo did what sitting cabinet members don’t do and that is to praise his boss Trump at his party convention. That GOP notion that Pompeo was only voicing his personal views is hog wash. He has at least undermined the prestige of the office. I would go further and even say that it was an abuse of power to aid Trump in seeking an election win in November. Of course, Pompeo is a very ambitious person and still has his sights on 2024 and a presidential run. So he must support Trump in order to look good with the cult. Pompeo giving the speech from Israel strikes me as an outright appeal to Jewish voters who are concerned about the anti antisemitism tone coming from Trump supporters. My overall conclusion is that Trump will use anyone and do anything to remain in power!

No sitting President ever used the White House, the American peoples house, for such ridiculous party convention spectacle but, of course, Trump is all about reality television and doesn’t care that using the White House as a prop is a tasteless act. The pardon was bad enough but to select a diverse group of immigrants to be sworn in as new citizens in their naturalization ceremony with Trump, the foe of immigration, is merely an attention grabbing photo op. The two people Trump likes to criticize heavily for their days in office, Obama and Biden, never resorted to such cheap propaganda tricks.

When you are an opposition activist against Putin, you run the risk of one day falling sick and ending up in a coma. That is exactly what happened to Alexsey Navalny a week ago. Even though poisoning was suspected immediately, the WH made no comment about the incident. Navaly was flown to the Charite Clinic in Berlin and on Monday German Doctors confirmed that through tests that he was poisoned. The lethal substance given to him has not yet been identified. That should put to rest any ideas that it was surely accidental. This appears to be more of a targeted hit. Finally today Pompeo issues a statement saying that if the Germans are correct in their assessment, the US will join the EU in investigating this matter. I wonder why the US was to late in condemning this assassination attempt?

The FDA announcement on Sunday night was really the start of the GOP Convention. Trump was so anxious to hit the public with good news on the coronavirus that he forced his buddy Azar and Dr. Hahn from the FDA to mislead us on the benefit of blood plasma. They totally overstated its impact on COVID-19 patients by going on record that it reduced death by 35 percent. It would have been welcome news if that had been correct. However, scientist at the Mayo Clinic and their own own at the FDA now have come out questioning where that statistic came from? It is not mentioned in the Office Authorization letter for emergency treatment nor is it mentioned in the 17 page scientific White Paper. Furthermore, the Mayo Clinic analytical analysis makes no such claim. Serving disinformation to the public in times of a national health crisis borders on criminality!

Some people in the Trump orbit were successful in convincing Trump that his public image is in need of a work over. The only reason he agreed is that his polling numbers for an incumbent President are low. So what we saw at the GOP Convention is the process of forming a new mental picture of Trump for the public by re-imaging, re-forming and altering who he really is. This change in Trump’s identity is attempting to convince us that he is a decisive and emphatic Leader. But there is no way the GOP Convention can escape the still uncontrolled coronavirus pandemic. Too many Tweets, video clips and informal WH exchanges with reporters exist in which Trump outright dismissed the dangers of the virus. The most ridiculous of them was to say it is a ‘Hoax’ and it will do away in warm weather. At least now Republicans acknowledged the pandemic which Trump denied for months existed. There was also an attempt to cast Trump as an emphatic person with the suggestion that we just believe it. We are told he shows this character trait out of public eyes. But to me that is exactly that the public wishes to see.

The GOP announced that at their convention there is no need for a GOP Platform but adopting the motto ‘Party Unity’ is sufficient to its membership. So their unity comes at a time when droves of disillusioned Trump associates have left, moderate Republicans are fleeing in mass and only the base remains which sees Trump as an idol. He is ‘Idol of the Tribe’ because his followers behave like that since they believe anything he tells them. He is ‘Idol of the Tent’ since only his dedicated and loyal followers are permitted to be in it. He is ‘idol of Wall Street’ since he has the FED propping up stock prices in contradiction to the real economic situation. Trump is ‘Idol of Reality Television’ since his followers love his outrageous behavior at campaign rallies. I see no party unity but only a President who wants to be idolized by his clan followers at all cost. Forget the country as a whole, only the tent counts!

Some video clips are difficult to erase from ones mind. I keep on replaying the clips of Biden speaking to a boy with a stutter problem and Trump addressing a reporter with a disability at a campaign rally. Biden shared with that boy his own struggle of stuttering and how he overcame it. He build up the boy’s confidence and self esteem by showing empathy and assured him that he will overcome adversity. In Trump’s case he mocked and made fun in front of a large audience of that reporter who faced physical challenges. Equally disturbing is the fact that his followers seemed to be fine with the President sinking to such low. I take Biden’s behavior to be an example of the traditional American virtue of caring for the less fortunate. In the case of Trump’s behavior I see an example of bullying someone who can’t defend himself against it. Sadly I find that example deeply disturbing. Is that really how a US President should behave??

Kellyanne and George Conway were about s far apart on political issues as any married couple could be. She a trusted WH adviser to Trump and he part of the Lincoln Project opposing him. All the time they stated at their marriage was fine in spite of different political views. But recently their daughter Claudia began speaking up with strong criticism aimed at this administration. That family situation was, as Lincoln once said: ‘A house divided against itself can not stand!’. Both parents finally realized that for the sake of their four teenage children some normalcy had to return to their family. Kallyanne is leaving the WH by month end and George will leave his project duties. With the school situations being what they are for children, parental attention for them is way more important than political activity.

All of us are used to Trump making ridiculous statements but to say that the FDA is the ‘Deep State’ is about as dumb as it gets! Obviously Trump earlier comment that we would have a coronavirus vaccine by Election Day was made without consultation with anyone who knows the drug approval process. Now that he realizes what he promise will not happen, someone needs to be the scapegoat. Presto, it has to be the Deep State in the form of the FDA. By extension, Dr. Hahn, a Trump appointee, in charge of the FDA is painted as being part of the Deep State. I am sure that QAnon finds Trump’s explanation just fine but I find it to be utter nonsense. Dr. Hahn was quick to rebuff Trump’s accusation of a deliberate slow down at the FDA. Moderna came out the state that clinical trial numbers clearly show that there is ‘no way’ a vaccine will be available in November. We all must understand that science dictates the time frame of safe vaccine development! We may not like the time frame but ‘it is what it is!’.

In all my years of presidential elections I find it striking that Trump is being opposed by so many staunch Republicans. It is highly unusual for members of the same party to go against their own sitting President. His critics represent the military, Intelligence Community, former WH staffers and even distinguished Generals who served in his cabinet. It is noteworthy that they don’t oppose him on matters of policy but rather question his character, mood swings, integrity and honesty. Their fear is that Trump’s impulsive nature and knee jerk reactions are a danger to the well being of the nation. In short, he still doesn’t understand his position and the heavy responsibility which comes with it. To phrase it bluntly, he is unfit for the job!

A number of interesting books will hit bookshelves in the next 60 days providing information on the life and deeds of the sitting President. I expect that some content will be colorful, some controversial, may even be a little over the top but most likely much will be true. These books will no doubt get to Trump and he won’t be able to refrain from tweeting attacks on the authors, deny all aspects of the content and claim that everything written is FAKE NEWS. My belief is that Trump tweets will be interesting reading as well!

The Republican party loves to bash everything and anything done by the Obama administration to improve Americans healthcare benefits. Trump has promised us over and over again a most ‘beautiful’ healthcare system so much better than what we have. Now that we are approaching the November election, what better time is there for the GOP to share details of that plan with us. But nothing has come out and I really don’t expect to see it. Even Trump’s comment that he and his party stand for protecting ‘pre-existing medical conditions’ mans little without a published plan which every citizen can study! Isn’t healthcare and it associated high cost an important election issue for many?

Not too long ago Trump chose to run his presidential campaign wit ha group of advisors who were’The Best of the Best’ in terms of integrity, honesty and intelligence. Trump became President by virtue of the Electoral College even though his opponent garnered more than 3 million more votes. Now we know that Rick Gates pleaded guilty to conspire against the United States. Paul Manafort was convicted of bank and wire fraud, general Flynn lied about his contacts with Russian officials. Roger Stone was guilty of witness tampering and obstructing the Russia investigation by denying links to WikiLeaks. Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, paid hush money to silence women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct. And now Steve Bannon has been arrested for stealing money from the citizen ‘Build a Wall’ funding effort. Maybe all the President’s men should be renamed ‘ The Den of Liars’.

So the president is all upset and in a thither because Goodyear has a policy that employees shouldn’t wear blatant political propaganda at work. That happens to include his MAGA hats. Trump obviously got so angry to immediately suggest that Americans should not buy Goodyear products. That is indeed strange since he is the one stressing that we should support American companies and lower the huge trade deficit with China. All MAGA hats are made in China as are his hotel and resort bathroom and bedroom items like towels, sheets and comforters. In addition, virtually everything sold by Ivanka’s company is manufactured in China. Now I am trying to find the meaning in all of that and it appears to be that he wants us to do as he says but he will not do so. He has a dependency on Chinese products he isn’t willing to give up. Trump has spoken like a true Patriot!

Basically the GOP Senators agree with anything Trump does and wishes to do. They walk with the President no matter what. The only Senator who dares to step out of line at rare occasions is Mitch Romney. I refer to hims as the chameleon of the Republican party. Romney’s basic color is RED but at times he can flash some BLUE. And when he does that he immediately invites attacks from the Republican establishment. Mitch had taken the extraordinary step to vote to convict Trump on the First Article of Impeachment. He criticized the President for enlisting election aid from foreign governments. He followed that by marching with protesters declaring that black lives matter. Now he took a strong stance that he sees no proof that mail-in voting leads to fraud as Trump has repeatedly stated. The real question becomes if he will endorse Trump in the presidential campaign or remain on the sideline?

I watched the second day of the Democratic Convention and, in my opinion, three women stole the show. There was Cindy McCain who highlighted the friendship of her husband with Joe Biden. Here were two Senators from opposing parties who formed a strong bond of friendship, who truly cared for each other yet held different political views on some matters of national concern. You don’t see much of that anymore in today’s partisan climate. Then you had Dr. Jill Biden speak about her husband Joe and drew us all a beautiful picture of the man’s faith and heart. Her speech and that of former First Lady Michelle Obama were my favorites. Both Ladies displayed the best qualities of what we hold dear; namely, intelligence, toughness, empathy, grace, strength and, above all, humanity. Both of them re-enforced that the nation can come together and heal with love and understanding. Michelle was a fantastic First Lady and Jill will be as well!

Yesterday former First lady Michelle Obama gave a clear, coherent and powerful speech on the missteps of the current administration. If Trump saw highlights or the full coverage of the speech, I expect that his emotion ranged from anger to absolute fury. Then in typical Trump style he decided to launch an attack on her this morning. He complained that the speech was pre-recorded and that the coronavirus fatality total of 150000 she mentioned was wrong. Thus he failed to remember that in the past three weeks the number of dead has climbed to over 170000. That is 20000 additional dead while Trump was busy tweeting and golfing rather than focusing on this national health crisis. The second ‘Foot in Mouth’ episode was to do so on a day when Susan Anthony, a fighter for women’s right to vote, was being pardoned by him one 100 years after her arrest. So he commends one white woman for overcoming obstacles but attacks a black woman who too had to overcome obstacles to succeed in a big way. You can draw your own conclusions!

Whenever I see Trump tweets it always reminds me of the boy who cried wolf so many times that no one believed him anymore. Recently many of them are repetitions of charges and complaints against the former Obama/Biden administration. For instance, the ongoing tweet topic that Obama’s administration was the most corrupt in history. He cites no specifics, gives no example and only makes himself look silly with those. Then, of course, Trump loves to cover his dismal coronavirus response by attacking Obama’s H1N1 swine flu response for being ineffective. That is comparing 11000 swine flu fatalities to the over 170000 due to the virus and expected to hit close to 200000 by end of September. He also found time to attack a former Intelligence Analyst who resigned from the administration and criticized him for being a disgruntled employee. Isn’t that Trump’s standard tweet for anyone who leaves his administration and dares to say anything negative about it? I fervently wish the President used his ample tweeting times for more constructive endeavors like seriously addressing the ongoing virus spread and the scuttling of the Postal Service. Really, that isn’t too much to ask from a sitting President of the United States.

The White House in Washington DC is the residence of US Presidents but we must never forget that in reality it belongs to the American people. Presidents, either Democrats or Republicans, are merely temporary tenants in it for one or two terms at a maximum. Legally it is within the law for Trump to give his speech accepting the GOP Party nomination from there. However, no President ever felt the need to do so since it seems to indicate an overblown ego. Trump came to Washington claiming to be an outsider with only the single wish to work for the American people. Now that he has been in the WH for almost four years, it appears that he has become intoxicated with power and wishes to flex it at every opportunity. That is also displayed by his statements that he may contest the 2020 election result and refuse to leave the White House. I fear that it sounds like totalitarianism is sprouting in the West Wing!

In the 2016 election Trump benefited greatly by many Democrats becoming crossover voters. Some of the reasons were dislike of Hilary and a buy in to GOP messaging. But I feel that in this year’s election the crossover vote will flow to benefit Democrats. The country is grappling with several severe challenges. The pandemic still rages, unemployment is high, there are destructive changes to the Postal Service and threats to cut Social Security and Medicare in the future. Even Republicans are wondering why the promise of ‘Make America Great Again’ has us in this sad state of affairs? Many voters will do what they did in 2016, they will vote for a change on the grounds that they don’t like where they are. In the 2020 election we will again see many crossover voters but this time it will be on part of Republicans. This movement will also put the GOP majority in the Senate at risk. As always, the voters have the final say on who runs the country.

Just as the sun is part of any summer, so is Trump’s quest for a wonder drug to cure the coronavirus. Recently Trump was updated by Ben Carson and Trump donor Lendell on a dietary supplement called Oleandrin which they claim is potentially an effective treatment for the virus.The President was supposedly very enthusiastic on what he was being told about this new wonder drug. However, health officials in the administration raised concerns since neither the firm nor the people advocating its use could show any date of it being tested in any way. I am waiting to hear this new medical breakthrough being mentioned in a virus briefing by the President!

A Conservative Law Professor questioned Senator Harris’ eligibility of being a VP Candidate based on her parent’s immigration status. A ridiculous claim since the requirement is that the candidate is a natural born citizen, at least 35 years of age and has been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years. Senator Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, CA. However, what is even more disturbing is that Trump failed to repudiate the Professor’s opinion when asked about it. The President seemed to stoke and amplify this baseless accusation. This is a stark reminder that in 2011 Trump promoted such false birther conspiracy about former President Obama. It was a thinly veiled racist statement is 2011 just as it is in 2020.

On July 26, 1775 the US Postal Service was created to connect its residents in all corners of the new nation. Their employees are dedicated and neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night will keep them from delivering mail to us. Suddenly we have Trump openly stating that he will withhold funding for the USPS since he objects to mail in voting. In addition, his appointed Post Master General has begun removing mail boxes, idling sorting equipment and stopping over time to destroy operational service levels. Given the back drop showing that Democrats have a 72% rate of voting by mail compared to 22% for Republicans, all this USPS actions smacks of voter suppression. Clearly the intent is to sabotage the Postal System in a way which will delay ballots being delivered to voters and to have responses miss deadlines. Is that a new WH vision of Democracy?

Personally I like the recent development of more women entering the political arena. Generally they had to overcome many obstacles to become serious candidates for public office. In the process many had to balance their responsibilities of being wives and mothers. In order to succeed in elections they had to convince the electorate that they were up to the task. They have obviously succeeded since we now have strong representation of female members in the House and Senate. As public servants they show great compassion for issues impacting the us all. They address them with a desire and with passion to improve problems. I view women politicians to be less self absorbed than their male counterparts, more willing to compromise and disciplined to reach solutions to issues of national concern. To achieve that they show their other strengths of independence, confidence, intelligence and self awareness. Presidential candidate Biden seems to have chosen such woman to be his running mate!

In this economic downturn the people hurt the most are the ones on Main Street who are unemployed, in low paying jobs and retirees on fixed income. yet at the same time, the people on Wall Street are doing very well with a booming stock market which seems to ignore the reality of the economy. Economists have raised concerns that the wealth gap in the US which is totally getting out of hand. Even Trump mentions market performance at every opportunity but states little on how to help those who really need it. The stalemate between the House and Senate on a the relief will could be settled by the President being an active broker for a fair compromise. The Republican excuse that we have to be mindful of the growing national deficit is a mere smoke screen since the tax break benefiting the rich added almost an annul amount of one trillion to it! I fail to understand why the administration took that action for Wall Street but balks at helping Main Street!

Right wing Republican are now attacking Senator Harris for not being a true Black American. That line of thought is so ludicrous that it rises to the level of absolute absurdity. Yes, her father is an immigrant from Jamaica but she was born in the US and that makes her indeed a Black American. But we may as well highlight her mother’s heritage which is Asian. Virtually every black person residing in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean islands were brought over as slaves from South-East and Central Africa. They all shared a life of being bought and sold, hardship and being considered in standing below anyone else. Recently we had a small group of African immigrants coming to our shores. They too are now Black Americans via citizenship by legal process or birth.

The Republican party used to be referred to as the Grand Old Part or GOP for short. The party’s philosophical roots haven’t changed much over time. The core beliefs are still unbridled capitalism, tax cuts to benefit the wealthy, conservative social policies, limited expansion of federal civil rights legislation, controlled federal deficits and opposition to Russian global expansion. But what hasn’t changed at all appears to be the make up of the GOP membership. It still is predominantly a white organization with only a small minority representation. That is in total contrast to the changing demographics of the country. If the Leadership of the GOP doesn’t find a way to address that fact in a meaningful manner, the Grand Old Party is bound to draw less and less voters to their slate of candidates in future elections. To ignore major social trends is never a great idea!

Former VP Biden’s announcement of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election has captured the news cycle. His selection made history since Senator Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants and thus became the first Black/Asian woman in such prominent role. It has captured the media news cycle all over the world since it clearly reflects the demographic make up of the USA. We know that Trump likes to control the news cycle and will try to recapture the headlines in days to come. His immediate Twitter attack on her will not do it. There fore I wonder if he may take drastic action like cutting Pence from the ticket and substituting a woman like Nikki Haley who is more of a mainstream Republican. Of course, it would be a serious shift for Trump since he repeatedly praised Pence for doing a fantastic all around job. Such move could possibly offend many Evangelical voters he counts on. But Nikki has come out of the shadows lately profusely praising the President on Twitter. Certainly his favorite media and bound to get his attention. The next 10 days will be interesting!

Simply put nepotism is the practice by people in power to favor relatives and friends in jobs they control. Trump has made his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, White House advisers. They seem to lack credentials in terms of education and experience for such important positions. I really can’t come up with anything of substance by Ivanka in that role which is worth mentioning. Jared’s appointment included responsibilities such as driving the Middle Est Peace initiative, streamlining government functions, being a liaison person for Saudi Arabia and China and recently was placed in charge of addressing the critical shortage of virus supplies. Given that Middle East peace talks haven’t gone anywhere and virus supplies are still an issue while the virus rages, I take him to be an epic failure in his WH capacity. I oppose to nepotism of any kind but when it is done, at least give the jobs to someone who can do them!

In 1941 a huge rock carving was completed in the Black Hills of South Dakota to honor Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and T. Roosevelt. All great American Presidents. Since then no other additions were made. Recently stories emerged that the White House inquired about the feasibility of adding Trump to that illustrious group. The GOP Governor of that state had a mock up made of what the mountain would look like with the Trump addition. Now I just have some doubts believing that story. After all, Trump stresses that he is as great as Lincoln and I feel that he would like to see him on a mountain all by himself. Since work is in progress carving a statue of Chief Crazy Horse, maybe there is a another huge block of granite that could be saved for Trump. In a serious vain, I believe that the only President since T. Roosevelt who rates such honor would be Franklin Roosevelt. He brought us out of the Great Depression with bold actions and received full support of the American people. In addition, the steered the nation through the difficulties of WWII.

Trump has consistently displayed that he takes any criticism of his administration or him as a personal attack against his ‘Stable Genius’ status! His past behavior has always been to immediately and in the most vindictive way attack those individuals who were the critics. The latest example of Trump’s fragile personality is his attack on former WH Communications Director Anthony Scarmucci. We know that many former Trump allies have been placed on the ‘Fools and Loser’ list after leaving the WH. I do agree with much of what Anthony mentioned as GOP failings. The Republican base is shrinking since it really doesn’t reflect the diversity of the population. That fact alone will make it extremely difficult for them to win elections in the future. The other important point made by Scarmucci is that Republicans, at least those in the leadership hierarchy, have totally embraced upside versus downside economics. Their programs appear to favor the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. I would add that Trump’s lack of a central and state wide unified coronavirus action plan impacts today’s political landscape as well.

Trump went on record to say that he will hire only the best and brightest people to be in his his White House. Well, I don’t believe that Peter Navarro fits that mold. In an interview yesterday he stated that GOD and the Founding Fathers created the executive order powers. Let us all be clear on one thing right away, the Constitution only states that executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States. Which means that Trump represents one third of our democratic structure while the House and Senate are the other two. In addition, the other two branches contain provisions to check and control the President from any attempt to exceed his powers. The ultimate check of a President is him being impeached.

I was so glad to see a reporter challenged Trump in his press briefing on a huge lie he keeps repeating. His nonsense that no one was able to pass Veterans Choice legislation in 50 years and only he was able to do so is a blatant lie. The Veterans Choice Program was signed in 2014 by former President Obama. Trump has repeated his lie over 150 times in his attempt to gain military personnel votes in November. The Trump administration did enhance the program in 2018 by expanding eligibility levels for the program. My point is that for too long Trump has been able to tell and repeat huge lies without being fact checked by reporters in his briefings. Given that we are in the campaign phase for the November presidential election, the public should know the truth on issues. Misinformation, falsehoods and lies must be challenged by reporters immediately in briefings. If Trump storms out when this happens, we can draw our own conclusions! It will be commendable activism and serve for the benefit of the public.

There is no doubt that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election by spreading disinformation about Hilary Clinton since Trump was Putin’s preferred choice to become the next President. Now our top US Intelligence Official in charge of election security stated that Russia is up to their old tricks again in 2020. Bill Evanina clearly and boldly went on record that Putin linked operatives are again trying to boost Trump’s chances to win in November. The full assembly of Kremlin actors has been mobilized to implement various measures to denigrate candidate Biden. They will use social media platforms and camouflaged TV ads to be their tools. When Trump was asked to comment on Evanina’s information, he stated: ‘I don’t believe it. I am tough on Russia!’. But how can we be so blind to ignore this warning when we remember that Trump stated that he trusts Putin over our own Intelligence Services previously. Now let that sink in! The words of a Dictator, who represents a country with ill intentions toward us, is believed over the words of American officials who follow their oath to protect us.

Kanye West filing with the Wisconsin Election Board to be placed on the November ballot was prepared by Lane Ruhland. This lawyer missed the 5 PM filing deadline but the GOP controlled Board accepted it anyways. It happens that MS. Ruhland works for Trump’s campaign and represents them in a lawsuit against Northwood TV for running an anti Trump add. Certainly a most frivolous lawsuit since it has no merit under the free speech guarantee of the Constitution.But what is truly amazing is that this lawyer also represents the GOP party in Wisconsin and is a former campaign staffer got Republican Governor Walker. This whole episode strikes me as a Trump attempt to siphon off some black support for Biden by having a black GOP candidate on the Presidential election ballot. That GOP collusion is a superb example of DIRTY POLITICS!

The city fathers of Sturgis, a town of 7000, have decided to go ahead with their annual motorcycle rally in spite of the continued spread of the coronavirus. It is expected that 250000 people from across the whole nation will attend this event. The city administration has not issued any mandate for visitors to wear face coverings. Bars and restaurants will be open and, I am certain, well attended. Basically it is left to the individuals at the rally to act responsibly while they are in Sturgis. That idea doesn’t sound assuring that city residents will be protected since it has been proven over and over again that many fail to see the seriousness of the virus. Individual selfishness under the guise of exercising personal freedoms and outright ignorance on how the virus is spread will prevail. That all may lead to many individuals getting infected by the virus. In short, the motorcycle rally has the potential to become a COVID hot spot leading to others as visitors return to their home states. I hope that I am wrong!

Former VP Biden has suffered many tragedies in his life but never did he give up on his religion or GOD. He remains the Lord’s faithful servant. For Trump to attack him viciously as being against the Bible and against GOD is morally too low to describe. Trump of all people, you used the Bible for a photo up and didn’t even know how to hold it properly, is not fit to criticism anyone on religious beliefs. After this despicable assault on Biden’s faith, I suggest that Christians look at their upbringing, their church experiences and be honest with themselves if they are OK with that. I am very anxious to hear what his VP Pence will say about Trump’s religious attack on his election opponent. After all, Pence likes to come across as being super religious. How can he square in his conscience such distasteful rhetoric!

Everyone should watch the full video of Trump being interviewed by reporter Swan. I have never seen any US President being so confused and rattled by simple questions. His tactic of deflection and attempts to change topics didn’t work with Swan. He was persistent and had follow up questions when given some weird answer by Trump. Of course, the GOP establishment knows fully well that Trump’s performance in that interview was dismal, so they are trying to create a smoke screen that the president was tricked in some way. Seeing the video I see only a reporter asking questions on issues dear to the public. The interviewed did an outstanding job while the interviewee floundered about! Am I wrong to think that we should all expect more from a sitting President???

The Trump appointee in charge of the Census Bureau directed them to reduce the data collection effort by a month for resident addresses with no response. If anything, during an ongoing pandemic the data collection follow ups should be given more time and not less! The census is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution to take place every 10 years and count every person in the country. That count determines the number of seats states have in the House of Representatives. It also determines the federal funds communities receive for schools, hospitals, roads and public works. The 2020 census is projected to show an increased diversity of residents. Any attempt to cut short data collection will end up misinterpreting demographics of the US population. This will be true since minority groups tend to have lower mail in response rates. The in person follow up to their places of residence is critical to get an accurate census data base. I fear that this administration is deliberately attempting to manipulate census data for some self serving purpose!

With each passing day it becomes more obvious that Trump lives in an alternate reality. Very similar to his alternate facts theory. To hear him say that he has done more for blacks than President Johnson who signed the Civil Rights Bill is a whopper. Then to state that the coronavirus is under control just isn’t the case. Of course, he reiterated his belief that hydrochloroquine is an effective virus medications. he also again had to minimized the Contribution made by John Lewis in the civil rights movement by saying he was one of many but failed to mention anyone. Such stream of of incorrect comments by the President is an indication that he is divorced from reality!

Much of what Trump states are obvious falsehoods since he repeatedly fails to provide proof or data in support of his statements. He constantly uses his favorite line about the evils of mail in voting. He cites that the 2020 election will be the most corrupt in history. Trump mentions Russia and China as parties who would love to see him lose but Russia never had a better friend than Trump and China couldn’t care less. With 50 state elections boards using various different ballots, his comment is ludicrous. Then there is that bragging about the Health Care Plan which has been mentioned for ages without anything ever appearing to share with the public. Today he mentioned that the anticipated eviction crisis will be stopped by him via some powers he sees in the Executive order mechanism. Put that one aside as a pipe dream. Given all these bogus claims, I choose him to be the Supreme Spinner of Falsehoods ever to occupy the White House!

Every day it becomes clearer that Trump’s comment in regards to the coronavirus ‘we get rid of it, we’ll beat it and it will be soon’ is nothing but a dream. Over the weekend Trump’s own administration health experts are ringing alarm bells that they can’t predict the duration of the virus and the anticipated death toll. Admiral Giroir reiterated that hydrxychloroquine, Trump’s wonder drug, isn’t effective against the virus. While all of this is playing out in full view of everyone, Trump is fixated on ‘tweeting and golfing’. The apparent inability of his administration to develop and implement a COVID-19 response plan is frightening. Daily coronavorus statistics are now worse than they were in March and April but we are now in August. One must wonder if paralysis has gripped the administration and they really don’t want to do what experts are suggesting or there is a fatalistic attitude to just let it run its course. Neither approach brings comfort to the public!

Every American must look into a mirror and ask themselves why, with only about 5 percent of the world’s population, are we having such difficult time in reigning in and controlling the coronavirus. The virus is now aggressively moving from urban to rural areas leaving devastated families behind. Obviously, it isn’t a lack of qualified scientists, doctors and nurses. Or a lack of hospital infrastructure and associated medical equipment. So what is the problem? Is it confusing messaging about its severity coming from out administration leaders? Is it that many hearing the message to take precautionary actions fail to believe the warnings? Whatever it is, we must be honest with ourselves and recognize that only we can stop its spread. And we must be united in our commitment to do so. The past few weeks have shown that half baked measures are insufficient to do it. So let us attack it as being what it is, a threat to the health of every American and thus to our economy and overall well being. There is general agreement that five simple things will contain the virus. We need to wear face coverings, practice social distancing, avoid large crowds in close quarters, wash hands frequently and stay home if we feel unwell!

An unfortunate byproduct of the coronavirus appears to be rude and unsocial behavior. It call it the virus of incivility since it is spreading unchecked. Its initial breakout began with people not staying at home, avoiding social distancing advice and refusing to wear face coverings as suggested by medical professional during this ongoing national health crisis. Then it took form in harassment and slander of people wearing masks and now we have reached the danger stage of physical harm to many. People wearing masks, where they are mandatory, have been shoved, pushed and thrown to the ground for reminding people to do the right thing. Scientists and Doctors and other Health Professionals providing advice on television are having their lifes and that of family members threatened. This incivility is by far more prevalent and a serious problem in the US than anywhere else in the world. Since when has it become an American thing to lash out to such extreme toward people whose beliefs don’t line up with yours? We are bombarded daily around the clock with messages about the coronavirus. It is upon us not to fall victim to herd mentality and not listen to things which make no sense by any definition. But my parting words are: ‘When in doubt how to behave, think back for a moment to what your Mom and Dad said to you when you miss behaved!’.

Senate majority Leader McConnell again thought that a long weekend is in order in spite of a crucial unemployment benefit running out today. Somehow I don’t see the GOP Senators demonstrating the same urgency to help the common man as they did pushing through the huge tax cut for the wealthy. They feel that everyone is foolish enough to buy into their ill conceived relief package which has funds for the FBI building and military weapons but leaves untold Americans high and dry! I can’t call that governing in any definition of the term but gross negligence and incompetence does come to mind. We, the people, deserve better from elected Senators. Frequently I wonder when they lost their way to do the right thing for the public to further the common good?

Former Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama attended the funeral service of civil rights hero John Lewis in person. President Carter, due to his age and health, send in a letter to be read by the Pastor.They all praised the life long struggle of Representative Lewis for freedom and equality in powerful and compassionate words. The only President who remained virtually silent since the passing of the American icon was Trump. The eulogy delivered by Obama was stirring in its tone and message. He did not stop at only high lighting the life time work of John Lewis but pointed out the issues still prevalent in our society. What a contrast to the message coming from the White House that the November election should be delayed.

The individual dressed in black with an umbrella breaking store front windows in Minneapolis has now been identified as a white man. The Police department has linked him to the Hells Angels, Aryan Cowboys and possibly other White Nationalist groups. That individuals intent was to incite violence and unfortunately he succeeded. Prior to the window breaking episode the demonstrations were peaceful.Some may claim that the Umbrella man’s action is an isolated incident but I don’t believe so. We have too many fringe groups in the country interested in destabilizing race relations. I can see many of them using this tactic to cause unrest. I hope that I am wrong but I fear that I am not!

The far right Conservatives have found a new Doctor they fully embrace. She is DR. Stella Immanuel, a Pediatrician from Texas. She is convinced that Alien DNA is being used in medical treatments, supports use of hydroxychloroquine and states that masks offer no protection against the coronavirus. But she has even stranger beliefs than that! For instance, people may suffer voodoo like spirit possessions in which they have sex with witches and demons. That Jesus will attack and disable social media servers of companies which block false Trump campaign advertisements. In spite of all that nonsense, Trump seems to feel she is a counter balance to what Dr. Fauci tells us. Dr. Immanuel tweeted yesterday that she is in Washington and would love to meet the president. Let us all stay tuned to the next chapter in this story.

Here I thought that the 1.75 billion for the FBI building was the only item the GOP is trying to hide in the new virus relief bill. That is only the tip of the iceberg. There is 2 billion for F-35 planes, 1 billion for surveillance planes, 375 million for armored vehicles, 360 million for missile defense and 283 million for Apache helicopters. I fail to see why military expenses are being hidden to the public. The military has its own generous budget already. Did the GOP Senate Leadership really belief their smoke and mirror act would go unnoticed and we, the public, would not find out about it? It looks a lot like this administration has a side agenda and the detail of it is none of pour business. But that is not how transparency in a democracy works. We are entitled to know the game plan!

Many Americans are in a tough economic situation due to to continued coronavirus outbreak and its crippling impact on the economy. After much internal GOP bickering and no input from Democrats, some information emerged yesterday. IT appears to provide another one time payment to many citizens, continued enhanced unemployment benefits at a much reduced amount and support for small businesses through another boost to the Paycheck Protection Program. There were additional funds in the bill for schools and even 1.6 Billion for construction of a new FBI building at the current site. I fail to see why FBI building funds are in a stimulus package. I can’t even come up who was so foolish as to propose it and why the Republican Senators went along with it. But the real issue is that much time has been lost to get to where we are now. Since the Senate leader McConnell called it a negotiation starting point, I wonder how long it will still take until Americans in dire need of economic relief will see it? Whenever politicians stress urgency it should never be taken seriously since they really never act that way!

Civil Rights Icon John Lewis lies in state at the US Capital. Many members of the House and Senate are paying their respects to a brave man who has scars to show for his fight against segregation. He constantly reminded all of us that segregation is a stain on the national fabric which no longer can be tolerated. His words were always well chosen, measured and delivered with passion to appeal to our conscience. I find it unbelievable and truly sad that President Trump stated that he won’t pay his respects to John Lewis. Trump could have done so today and even tomorrow. I was going to write much more but words fail me to understand the President’s position. There are things that I could say but today is not the time to say them!

The President really loves photo-op opportunities so it was surprising when he announced yesterday that he was postponing his appearance at Yankee stadium to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game. That was scheduled to for August 15. Trump tweeted this information with the explanation that he will be too busy dealing with China, the coronavirus and the economy. That is indeed good to hear that he will do all that but for a busy person he sure plays much golf. The issues Trump mentioned are serious and one would think that he was focused on them all along and such announcement is unnecessary!I tend to believe that the real reason for the postponement isn’t his workload but the simple fact that throwing out a ball in an empty stadium with only a few cardboard cutout people present would look as poorly as low attendance at his Tulsa campaign rally. And even if the postponement lasts until spectators can attend games, New York is potentially a place where he would be greeted with a chorus of boos. Heck, some baseball players may even kneel when the anthem is played. Who all remembers Trump boasting that as President he would work so hard for us that would have no time to play golf? I feel that he has been on the links at his properties more in almost 4 years than his three predecessors combined. The burning question in my mind is if ‘golf interferes with work or is work interfering with golf’?

When the WH announced that Trump would resume to personally update the public on the coronavirus, I had great expectations and thought that finally the decision was made to present us with the unvarnished truth. Once the briefings started it immediately obvious that a very scripted event was to take place. Much was said that had to do very little with the virus and the question and answer period was brief. But what is surprising since the intent was to showcase the President as being the ultimate person in charge, that after only three meetings they were stopped. I wonder why! Is the WH again revising their update strategy? Is Trump uncomfortable reading what was written for him? Have the disastrous virus numbers of the last 4 days overwhelmed the administration and left them speechless? Maybe it is time again to let Doctors and Scientists provide meaningful information to the public. It may be blunt but if it reflects where we are, we all need to know that!

Anyway you slice the news, our nation is facing difficult times right now. The battle against the coronavirus is continuing and the admission by Trump that wearing masks and social distancing help in its containment are appreciated. But more needs to be done. The drive for another stimulus package to aid those severely impacted by the economic slow down has stalled in the Senate. The valid effort open schools in the fall lacks a clear national plan which would guide school districts facing great challenges and costs. No doubt solutions to these issues are in the national interest. But in parallel with the virus issue we are confronted with the administration’s plan to send federal troops to cities to control, arrest and detain suspected unsavory forces. Clearly crimes committed by individuals hiding among peaceful protesters should be punished according to the law. But I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t an attempt to distract the public from the pain of the coronavirus. Are today’s protester being portrayed the same way that immigrants were being cast in the campaign of 2016? in other words, a huge potential danger to the well being of the nation which requires a dedicated and absolute response. In my opinion, I fear the loss of life and economic instability caused by a failure to check the virus to be more of an imminent threat than the limited negative fallout from peaceful protests!

Am I the only one who finds Trump bragging the last three days for passing the cognitive test given to the elderly embarrassing? Folks, this is not a intelligence test but merely one to determine if you are still able to function on your own without home help. I am 77 year old veteran and had to take it in my local VA hospital. It is not a difficult test or anything worth mentioning in countless interviews on TV as Trump has done. If that is the best example he has to convince the public that he still has all his marbles, I fear he has really lost them! For someone who has painted himself to be a Stable Genius, that test result is inadequate proof that he is. I suspect that it is another deflection on Trump’s part to steer us away away from thoughts that he is incompetent and not fit for the highest office in the land!

Thee is no doubt that citizens want crime rates decreased and are for locking up looters who take advantage during times of peaceful demonstrations. They also are opposed to de-funding police departments but feel that an honest look at police operations is in order! Have the changes of the last few years made the police look more like a para-military force? Have laws like “stand you ground’ increased police violence? These are all legitimate questions and shouldn’t just be dismissed under the label of ‘no respect for police officers’. However, let not forget the third leg of the Law and Order stool and that is equal justice for all. We repeatedly have cases like a black woman sending her child to a school outside her district being sentenced to a long jail term while someone lying to the FBI is avoiding jail time altogether. Why is a black teenager given a long prison sentence for a minor theft while a privileged white teenager is given only a short sentence for raping a girl. These inequalities must be addressed. I am all for the guilty to suffer the consequences of their actions. But the punishment must be the same and ignore the color of the perpetrators skin! That is what the USA should be about. Furthermore, if there are civil disturbances in some cities, the Governors of those states are responsible for sending in the National Guard to restore order. Only if that effort should fail, should federal troops get involved. Sending in federal troops prematurely is ill advised and tries to paint a picture that the nation is under a State of Martial Law. I don’t see how any citizen can believe that this is the state we are in right now. However, the administration likes us to believe that it is so. In my opinion, they are wrong and we all know better!

One of the signature campaign promises during Trump’s 2016 election run was to build a wonderful, beautiful wall at our southern border. The plan was to complete 500 miles of it but only 200 miles have been completed and what exists is plagued by shoddy construction. The Pentagon was pushed by the WH to award the wall construction contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel, a company with no experience of that kind. The contract was for 1.7 billion and was given to the firm over Pentagon objections. Those funds were actually diverted from other more important planned Pentagon projects. By sheer coincidence, the CEO of Fisher is a great Trump supporter and was a generous donor to his campaign. Recently Trump inspected the wall and immediately bashed the inadequate design and poor construction of it. It must have been a low blow to him that is vanity project was in such sad shape. As tax payers we all should be concerned that much money went to a project mired in large scale corruption and gross incompetence.

John Lewis marched with Martin Luther King for civil rights. He was always a voice of reason and compassion. He reminded us to do the right thing and that ‘good trouble’ is sometimes required in order to have our voices heard. Now he is indeed free in the Arms of the Lord. Words of praise for him are sounding in all corners of the world and they remind us not to forget his legacy and to continue his fight for freedom and equality. Right now only Trump and the WH have failed to comment on the passing of a great American. It appears that nothing must interfere with the President’s Saturday golf sessions!

VP Pence is in charge of the Coronavirus Task Force and it safe to assume that Trump receives briefings on their work.The Task Force has received a solicited document, yet unpublished, that 18 States in the ‘Red Zone’ of the current virus outbreak should roll back their reopening measures and refocus on insisting on the wearing of face masks, social distancing, closing of bars and gyms. Of course, that goes against the virus direction proposed by Trump who even calls for all schools to open next month. However, we see school districts, GOP Governors and major businesses discarding the Presidential suggestions and doing what they believe is the right thing to do. I find it to be a scary thought that an important document with helpful information for all is being withheld from the public! Why even solicit input from health professionals if you ignore their advice!

The coonavirus continues its march, GOP Governors are getting concerned, the Republican Convention is being scaled down and the average citizen wonders when will it all end. But Trump and his daughter don’t appear to be concerned about that since they had time to push the Goya product line especially their beans. Worthwhile to remember that the CEO of Goya is a huge fan of Trump and his outspoken support ended up with many Hispanics boycotting Goya groceries. There is no doubt that Donald’s and Ivanka’s bean recommendations were a thank you for the CEO’s endorsement. It shows us all that the whole Trump family are basically salespeople and they try to sell anything from lies to beans. They will do whatever it takes to clinch a sale!

The WH directive to all States that their daily coronavirus data should no longer we send to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) but some WH affiliated function labeled HHS (Home Health Services??) is not a comforting thought! We know that the daily reported virus numbers don’t reflect the WH wish of showing that it is under control. The CDC Director Redfield has made comments in the past week which were not in line with WH talking points. In my opinion that move opens up the possibility that what is going to be released to the public will no longer be the actual data but some finely scrubbed information to paint a rosier picture. I really hope that I am wrong but I have seen this administration deflect, distract and spin other facts!

Lately I have been wondering if this administration could possibly become crazier than it is. Now based on their latest strategy to discredit anyone disagreeing them them on the coronavirus the answer is a clear people is YES! The fist step of the strategy was to attack the sincerity of DR. Fauci and cast him as a person who doesn’t deliver a constant message on the virus. Now there are blistering attacks against health professionals from Doctors to Nurses by claiming that their TV appearances are only being done to hurt Trump’s re-election chances. Then there is the claim that even FOX commentators have been swayed by liberal forces to turn against him. Now I ask you, is that just being ridiculous or is it delusional behavior? You can’t sink lower than attacking all those professionals who risk their own lives while trying to save people from the ravages of the virus. To smear the integrity of thousands of dedicated people is blatantly wrong and must be condemned by everyone. Even by his followers!

Trump strongly expressed his wish that children should return to school in the fall. Secretary of Education DeVos immediately follows his orders and repeats the same demand over and over again. But she totally fails in providing any guidance on how that can be safely accomplished while coronavirus still rages. She admits that children will get infected and that .02 percent may even perish. The percentage, although small, but when taken as a number comes to 14000 children. I just don’t think that most parents are willing to take that risk. Many teachers will not report to work. Small class sizes due to social distancing will require major changes to school schedules. There isn’t sufficient time to really come up with a workable plan in the few days before school normally begins. I am convinced that school boards everywhere are working on potential solutions on how to get children back to school but there are no easy answers

Trump wearing a face mask yesterday while visiting a VA hospital was the right thing to do. It has been long over due for him to do so but better late than never. It is difficult what motivated him to take that step but better late than never. Was it just another photo opportunity or finally a sign of serious concern about the virus? It really doesn’t matter if his devoted followers and admirers now do the same and finally wear face masks in public. If their action saves even only a few from getting infected or possibly passing due to the virus, we all will have gained a lot. The truth is that it requires us all to tame the run a away coronavirus before it virtually becomes impossible to control!

In my opinion Trump right now is in a state in self pity and uncontrolled anger. He clearly sees his political future at risk due sinking poll numbers but fails to grasp the reason for it. He must know that the reason is his inadequate response to the coronavirus. For him to acknowledge that would be fatal with his cult like base. Instead Trump decided to focus on misdirection, distraction and airing of old grievances as his best campaign strategy. His hot issues now are Confederate statues, a cultural war, the Mueller investigation, Obamacare, Clinton emails, Roger Stone, the Deep State and various hoaxes. However, Trump forgets that you may fool the public once or twice but endless repetition of the same technique eventually fails. That is where he stands today, lost in his own make belief reality!

Given how Trump pardons and commutes sentences of people in his orbit who were convinced in courts for lying to Congress and the FBI, I make this prediction: ‘If Trump loses the election in November his last days will be focused on making a list of people he will pardon as he exits the Presidency. In my opinion he will place himself on that list first and then follow it with names like Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Donald Jr., AG Barr, Manafort and others who may face legal challenges for some past shady dealings. Even up to now Trump has pardoned some people of very questionable reputations so I see no reason why this pattern will stop.

Republican Conservatives have for a long time spun the tale that a DEEP STATE exists within the government for the sole purpose of under mining Trump. At one time or another they pointed their fingers at the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Department, Democrats, Immigration Services and Homeland Security to name a few. However, the height of their twisted thinking was Lou Dobbs, a FOX commentator, suggesting yesterday that the Supreme Court of the United States is part of the DEEP STATE. Now we all know that five of the nine Judges of the Court are Conservatives and Judge Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were Trump nominees and approved by the GOP controlled Senate. Today after much thought, it is my opinion that there is indeed a DEEP STATE but it is active in Barr’s Department of Justice and strictly focused on protecting Trump and his friends from the law. A Federal Prosecutor in NY looking at potential Trump tax evasion is forced to retire. How else can you explain that Flynn and Stone who both repeatedly lied to the FBI are now free men. The Supreme Court ruled that Trump is not above the law but as long as he enjoys the protection of AG Barr he will not be held accountable for anything.

While Israel was still struggling to contain the coronavirus, their government decided to open their schools. What followed was an immediate rise in children getting seriously ill. Many were diagnosed with corona infections which they most likely passed on to other family members. The government then decided to close all schools since they had become super spreaders of the virus. Our government should take that into account as they consider the opening of our schools. Here the challenge is even greater than in Israel since they have a very centralized education system while ours is pretty much under each state’s control. But we should take what happened in Israel as a serious wake up call not to act impulsively!

We live in a world where prominent individuals and powerful lobby groups make political endorsements for their preferred election candidates. Yesterday I noticed one which made me wonder why it went to a particular person. The endorsement was from former Grand Wizard David Duke of the KKK and was for Trump and suggested that Tucker Carlson would be a fantastic VP. Since people react to a candidate’s political platform and messaging it tells me that the KKK membership and aligned groups of White Supremacists and Nationalist approve of them. There must be much in what is being said by the administration that has appeal to them. Is it the clap down on immigration, highlighting Confederate statues and implied grievances of white folk. What ever it is, no one in the GOP party has ever strongly spoken out that such fringe group support isn’t welcome. Rather, we have Trump calling them fine people!

I always thought that Judges on the Supreme Court should have courage to make tough decisions on cases before them. Today they ruled on two cases involving the release of Trump tax documents to the State of New York and the House. I both cases they ruled 7:2 that Trump is not above the law and is not immune from subpoenas. However, they failed to order the immediate release of all documents. In other words, they punted and didn’t make a conclusive decision to put the whole matter to rest. Sending both cases to lower courts for further review and discussion means that they failed to act as true decision makers when called upon. It probably means that Trump, who repeatedly said that we would see his tax returns, but then fought their release tooth and nail will be able to keep them secret past the November election.

The return to normalcy in education this coming fall is a Catch-22 situation. University Presidents and School Superintendents throughout the country face difficult circumstances for which there are no easy solutions. They face federal, state and city pressure to find an acceptable way forward. Forgotten is the fact that we are dealing with mutually conflicting and dependent conditions. We want all students to be in a safe and healthy environment while the coronavirus still rages and causes infection rates to spike. It is easy to say that schools must open in the fall but more difficult to achieve. We all agree that online classes have their shortcoming and actual physical school attendance is a more rewarding experience. Since Universities and school districts are pretty much autonomous entities it makes little sense for them to independently pursue solutions. Development of a strategy blueprint is vital which can be implemented with minor customization. How to fund changes will be a huge issue since school budgets are already a concern to citizens. There is little time left between now and the fall to develop meaningful answers. The simple call: ‘return to school in the fall’ will just not do it!

I find it difficult to believe that Kanye West woke up one morning with the burning desire to run for President. After all, he is a close personal friend of Trump and is even a beneficiary of a huge chunk of bailout money. A cynical way to look at it is that it is no more and no less than a Trump campaign ploy to attract some black voters. The GOP knows that Biden has a great advantage over Trump in the black community. They hope that with West on the ticket Biden support may decrease. Personally I don’t believe that this cynical ploy will work. It does show that the WH is extremely concerned about their re-election chances in November.

The Small Business Administration offered the PPP program to provide small companies financial relief through business loans. If 75% or more of the loan funds went to pay employees, the loan is forgiven. Now under closer inspection some glaring unsavory facts come to life. Over 50% of loan applications were approved in GOP controlled states while in California and New York the approval rate was only between 15 to 18%. Furthermore, some people in the administration and large Trump donors benefited greatly from the program. The Kushner family companies, Devin Nunes wine business, donor Milton at Nikola Motors, Pruitt of Hallador Energy, Streebin of EasyPort and even cabinet member DeVos had a company pocketing federal funds. In many cases these individuals collected substantial sums which really could have kept true small family owned businesses afloat. All I can say is that the swamp under this administration is doing well!

Not too long ago the United States was the undisputed leader of the free world and took its responsibility to keep Russia and China in check seriously. Now we have the world looking at us and wondering if we can even keep our own house in order. Russia still occupies part of the Ukraine and Putin casts his eyes on other countries formed after the split up of the Soviet Union. China continuous to flex its muscles in the South Seas and totally controls its minority populations. But here we are with Trump heaping praise on Putin and Xi at every opportunity. Maybe on foreign policy he believes in isolationism but domestically things are also falling part. The coronavirus is still going strong,WH support of the long ago defeated Confederacy confuses everyone and any call for national unity is missing. If such stae of the country is being interpreted as having ‘Made the America Great Again’, I beg to differ. It appears that my old dictionary lacks the modern view of that expression!