Posted in2024 election Joe Biden National politics

Why I’m a depressed Democrat (it’s all Biden’s fault)

What a difference a debate makes. Prior to June 27, 2024 I was an optimistic Democrat, looking forward to watching President Biden kick Trump's lying ass face-to-face.  After the debate, along with many millions of other members of my party, I was deeply disturbed by the inescapable reality that Biden not only didn't do any ass-kicking, he appeared befuddled during much of the debate and at times couldn't express a coherent thought.  Some three weeks later, my mood hasn't improved. If anything, I'm even more depressed now. Politically, not clinically, thankfully. (I've experienced actual depression; it's way beyond what I'm…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump National politics

It’s good Trump wasn’t killed. Now let’s defeat the S.O.B.

Let's not learn the wrong lesson from yesterday's attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. The biggest problem facing our country isn't toxic political discourse. It is Donald Trump. To believe otherwise is to deny some evident facts. That's why I disagree with the basic premise of Biden's speech to the nation today.  President Joe Biden used a rare Oval Office address on Sunday to condemn political violence and plead with Americans to turn down the temperature in the increasingly toxic political system after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. ...Speaking from the Resolute Desk, Biden decried that the political…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Here’s what I predict will happen with Biden. It doesn’t end well.

Everybody deals with stress in different ways. Being a compulsive writer, now mostly in the form of my three blogs, I feel better when I get things off my mind and onto a computer screen, then into cyberspace. So that's what I'm going to continue to do with my #1 stressor, President Biden's all-important campaign against Donald Trump for the presidency.  I can't do what I heard Michael Steele and Joy Reid pontificating about on MSNBC as I drove around this afternoon. Steele was super annoying, and dead wrong, as he loudly proclaimed that the only people who want Biden…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

More bad news for Biden. He needs to withdraw, or our country is screwed.

Recently on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, President Biden phoned in to announce that he's not going to withdraw as the presumptive Democratic nominee, no matter what the "elites" say, because Biden claims to know that the average Democratic voter wants him to stay in the race.  As evidence he cited what people were telling him at campaign events following his debate debacle. Wow, what a non-shock: most of those who take the time and trouble to attend a Biden rally support his candidacy. Next Biden should attend a Kansas City Chiefs home game. He'll probably find that most of the…
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Posted in2024 election Joe Biden

Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos showed why he shouldn’t run again

President Biden's debate with Trump was painful to watch, since Biden looked lost and confused, and often couldn't speak coherently. Yesterday Biden had a second chance, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, to reassure Americans that he was capable of both beating Trump this November and of serving competently for another four years as president. He failed again, though in a different fashion than at the debate. Debate Biden appeared senile. Interview Biden appeared like an old man who has lost touch with reality, yet wrongly believes there's nothing wrong with him. It was fortunate for me that…
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Posted in2024 election Joe Biden

I’m a Dem eager to see Biden withdraw. Tell me why I’m wrong.

Maybe obsession for what I'm experiencing is too strong a word. But maybe it isn't. Because I can't stop thinking about how much better it would be for the country, and also for Biden, as I argued in a recent post, if he withdrew from the presidential race. My anxiety about Biden losing to Trump, which is looking increasingly likely, as I'll describe below, only increased after yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that basically said a president can't be held criminally liable for official acts during a presidency. I have zero worries that Biden will get all gangster'ish. I have a…
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Posted in2024 election Joe Biden

I abhor the cult of Trump, and I won’t join the cult of Biden

As I said in my preceding blog post a few days ago, "Why Biden should withdraw from the presidential race (but he won't)," along with countless other Democrats I consider Biden's debate performance to be an unmitigated disaster, so much so, another candidate should be chosen to replace him. Over the weekend I've seen nothing that would make me change my mind. If anything, I'm even more committed to dumping Biden from the presidential ticket, though unfortunately that requires the willingness of Biden, since at the moment he's the Democratic nominee. I'm irritated that so many Democrats are behaving just…
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Posted in2024 election Joe Biden

Why Biden should withdraw from the presidential race (but he won’t)

I recorded the Trump-Biden debate last night, as I wanted to go to my Tai Chi class. When I got home at 7:30, about when the debate was over, it wasn't a good sign when my wife told me, "Got a text from a friend. She says it's a train wreck." Optimistic me thought Laurel was referring to Trump being his usual lying belligerent self. But no, it was Biden's poor performance that elicited the train wreck judgment. Which, when I watched the debate myself, I heartily agreed with. So much so, this morning I sent this message to the…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

With the presidential debate looming tomorrow, the race currently is a toss-up

Suddenly the 2024 presidential race is seeming real. Well, make that much more real, because I've been fretting about the race for a long time.  But tomorrow's debate between Biden and Trump marks the genuine kickoff of the campaign to lead our country. Until now, there just have been skirmishes between the major party candidates. The debate will be an all-out war.  Being a Democrat, I worry a lot.  Will Biden stumble and fall on his way to the podium? Will Biden make some faux pas that will lead undecided voters to decide that he's senile? Will Trump summon up…
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Posted inCity Council

Here’s a great message from Trevor Phillips, departing Ward 3 city councilor

Trevor Phillips, the Ward 3 Salem City Councilor, didn't run for re-election this year. Instead, he endorsed Nathan Soltz, a fellow progressive, who narrowly lost to Shane Matthews in the May election. On June 20 Phillips posted a message on Facebook about Matthews' win and a look back at what Phillips was proud of accomplishing during his time on the City Council, and what he regretted: the decision to impose a employee payroll tax on Salem workers to meet a budget shortfall.  I liked the message a lot. Honest. Nicely written. Substantive. You'll be missed on the City Council, Trevor.…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Why liberals have more to fear from the 2024 election than conservatives

Last Saturday my wife and I hosted the monthly meeting of a Salon discussion group that we've been part of for many years. Everybody in the group leans liberal, some more than others, naturally, because us liberals, like cats, are notoriously resistant to being herded. One thing that we all agreed on is that it's going to be tough to maintain a semblance of calm between now and the 2024 election this November. President Biden is roughly tied nationally with Donald Trump, but Trump has the edge in some of the all-important swing states. I tried to be as understanding…
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Posted inLand use Trees

Giant Sequoia in NE Salem at risk from developer’s tree variance request

The City of Salem is unduly proud about being awarded a Tree City USA designation, given that more than 3,400 cities have that title, which doesn't require very much: Become a Tree City USA Community Maintaining a tree board or department. Having a community tree ordinance. Spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry. Celebrating Arbor Day. Where Salem has fallen short historically is the folks at City Hall not doing enough to protect street trees from being cut down for no good reason and allowing developers to remove trees that should be preserved. The most egregious example of…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Land use

Bush Park baseball stadium expansion moves forward with Parks Board vote

The Salem Reporter is doing a great job keeping our community informed about plans for improving the Willamette University baseball field at Bush Park, which would host summer games for a new Salem for-profit team that would join the West Coast League. Yesterday a story was published about a Thursday meeting of the Parks Advisory Board where the baseball project moved forward. Here's an excerpt from "City parks board advances plans for Spec Keene Stadium." Members of Salem’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Thursday voted in support of an updated agreement with Willamette University advancing plans to use a…
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Posted inCity Council Land use

Expanded baseball field in Bush Park draws opposition and support

"If you build it they will come." Most people think this was a famous line in the movie Field of Dreams, as regards a baseball field, but actually the line was "If you build it he will come." One person, not lots.  Here in Salem, there's both a lot of anxiety and a lot of excitement over a proposed expansion of the Willamette University baseball field into Bush Park (yeah, its official name is Bush's Pasture Park, but few use it). Opponents worry that if the stadium is built, they will indeed come, causing noise, parking, and other problems for…
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Posted inDonald Trump

Trump would never write the message Eisenhower did in case D-Day failed

Today I heard MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell read the message that General Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the D-Day allied forces that invaded the beaches of Normandy in France on June 6, 1944, wrote the day before the invasion -- to be shared if D-Day failed. (Eisenhower wrote the date as July 5, rather than June 5. Hey, the guy had a lot on his mind. His writing isn't highly legible, so I've shared the text below the image.) "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a convicted felon. I’m so happy.

Yesterday I was putting my socks and shoes on after an acupuncture treatment when the acupuncturist, who either knew my political leaning or made a good guess, stuck her head in the door and said, "Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts!"  I said, "Thanks so much for telling me. You've made my day." Also, my week, my month, and if that well-deserved felony conviction ends up helping Biden to beat Trump this November, my entire year. Lifetime, even, because if Trump is elected, I fear that our beloved democracy is in mortal danger. A day later, I'm still…
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Posted inInternational issues

Salem City Council approves even-handed resolution on crisis in Gaza

Way to go, Salem City Council. You did the right thing in your meeting last night, passing a resolution on a 5-4 vote that calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, along with calls for no more U.S. offensive aid to Israel until a ceasefire occurs, unrestricted humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, the release of all hostages and detainees, a two-state solution where Palestinians and Israelis live in peace, and condemnation of antisemitism, anti-Palestinian anti-Arab bigotry, and Islamophobia. The full resolution can be read here. I've also copied it in below. I wish the resolution had…
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Posted inCity Council International issues

Salem City Council to consider Gaza ceasefire resolution. Hope it passes.

Next Tuesday, May 28, the Salem City Council will consider adoption of a resolution drafted by the city's Human Rights Commission regarding the Israel-Hamas war. It calls for: An immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to the hostilities, the free flow of humanitarian aid and the release of all civilian hostages. Hard to see how any member of the City Council could object to that, though I bet some will (Mayor-elect Julie Hoy, for one). The only viable argument against the resolution that I can come up with is that Israel should be able to continue going after Hamas fighters…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump

Here’s 241 scary words about what another Trump presidency would be like

I've read lots of TIME magazine cover stories. None has scared me as much as the May 27, 2024 issue, which featured "If He Wins" by Eric Cortellessa. The "he" is Donald Trump. Though the cover story is lengthy, at the beginning of it Cortellessa summed up the main things he learned Trump plans to do if he was elected to a second term as president this November. Here's those scary 241 words. How any patriotic American could vote for Trump after reading them baffles me. Everything that Trump wants to do is either illegal, morally wrong, or ethically dubious. …
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Posted in2024 election Chris Hoy City Council

Looks like Chris Hoy has lost to Julie Hoy in Salem Mayor race

The initial results are in for today's primary election in Oregon. Final results will take a while, since mail-in ballots are counted so long as they're postmarked on or before election day. "Primary" doesn't apply to Salem mayor and city council races if a candidate gets 50% of the vote plus one, because then they win outright and are unopposed in the November general election. So it sure looks like Julie Hoy will be the next Mayor of Salem. This is the combined initial result for Marion and Polk counties. Not a huge surprise. Julie Hoy outspent Chris Hoy by…
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