Posted in2020 election Donald Trump National politics

Ronna McDaniel shows what’s wrong with the Republican Party

To clarify the title of this blog post, I want to be clear that currently there are lots of things wrong with the Republican Party. For example, the failure to acknowledge the reality that humans are causing global warming and we've got to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as possible to prevent civilization as we know it from being tossed into the garbage can of history. But there's a common denominator in many, if not most, of the flaws afflicting today's GOP: Donald Trump. Trump, who sows discord and destruction with every step he takes, like a malevolent Johnny…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump National politics

Trump’s defenses against Jan. 6 indictment make no sense

Yesterday it filled my progressive heart with joy when I heard that Donald Trump had been indicted by the Justice Department on four counts related to his attempt to steal the 2020 election after Joe Biden was lawfully elected: three of conspiracy and one of obstruction. You can read the eminently readable 45 page indictment via this PDF file.Download Trump Indictment file Today it was amusing to hear the laughable defenses trotted out by Trump's attorneys for why their client is innocent of the charges. Those defenses are so weak, Trump might as well plead guilty tomorrow at his arraignment,…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Let’s imagine President Hillary Clinton acting like Trump

I realize that almost everybody is biased toward the members of their own political "tribe." For sure, I am. I readily admit that I'm more willing to overlook transgressions of fellow Democrat politicians than Republican politicians. But I deeply doubt that most Democrats would put up with all the crap that Donald Trump has done as president and post-president. At least, nowhere near to the extent that Republicans still bow down at the Altar of Trump. If you're a Republican who disagrees with that assessment, here's a thought experiment for you to consider. Imagine this alternative reality... In November 2016…
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Posted in2020 election 2022 election Donald Trump

Anyone who still supports Trump is a democracy-hater

If there was any doubt that Donald Trump is the worst president in American history, the rock-solid findings of the January 6 committee have put that doubt to rest. I haven't watched all of my recording of tonight's primetime hearing by the committee into Trump's 187 minutes of utter inaction following the insurrection at the nation's capitol. But I listened to about an hour while driving around, and looked at some of the hearing when I returned home. It's amazing that there's anyone in the United States who still backs Trump. If any other president had done 1/1000 of the…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Georgia election workers show what a hateful liar Trump is

At this point I'm rarely shocked by anything Donald Trump does or says. But today's televised hearing of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol moved me deeply,  because what Trump did to two Georgia election workers -- Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman -- was so horrible even by Trumpian standards. Moss and Freeman at the January 6 committee hearing He and his lying accomplice, Rudy Giuliani, destroyed the lives of Moss and Freeman by falsely accusing them of falsifying many thousands of ballots for Joe Biden.  It was infuriating to listen to…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Here’s the PowerPoint Mark Meadows turned over to Jan. 6 committee

It took me a while to find it, but I finally located a file of the 36-slide PowerPoint presentation dated January 5, 2021 that Mark Meadows turned over to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the nation's capitol. Here's a PDF file of the presentation:Download Mark Meadows Power Point There's so much craziness in the PowerPoint, it's tempting to not take it seriously. But the presentation found its way into the White House, and it echoes talking points put forward by both Trump acolytes and Trump himself. This is an excerpt from a Washington Post story, "The…
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Posted in2020 election Marion County politics

Salem voters need to realize they’re in Marion County

Aside from West Salem, which is in Polk County, everybody else who lives in Salem is in Marion County. Unfortunately, when it comes to electing the county Board of Commissioners, too many Salem voters tend to forget the reality of this map. For a long time -- I'm not sure how many years it has been -- the three members of the Marion County Board of Commissioners have all been Republicans.  Most recently, in November 2020 Republican Danielle Bethell handily beat Democrat Ashley Carson Cottingham 52-44. Yet the voter registration breakdown for Marion County as of September 2020 showed an…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Oregon politics

Police officers undo GOP lies about January 6 insurrection

Deeply moving. Inspiring. Gripping.  Those words don't begin to describe the testimony four police officers gave today about the Capitol insurrection by Trump supporters who believed the Big Lie that Joe Biden didn't win the presidential election. Their honesty and bravery put into stark contrast the lies and cowardice almost all Congressional Republicans have been displaying since they decided it was more important to kiss the ass of Donald Trump than stand up for our democracy, which rests on the foundation of a peaceful transfer of power after free and fair elections. But it isn't just Republicans in Washington D.C.…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

63% of Republicans believe Biden won because of voter fraud

Today is the six month anniversary of the January 6 insurrection at the nation's capitol where Trump supporters tried to overturn Biden's free and fair election as president of the United States. Chris Hayes marked the occasion on his MSNBC show by discussing with guests the upcoming special House committee that will investigate the insurrection, and the continuing Republican inability to recognize a simple truth. Biden won the election fair and square.  No reasonable person doubts this. The Trump campaign filed about sixty lawsuits challenging the counting of votes in a number of swing states. They lost all but one,…
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Posted in2020 election Salem Police Department

Freedom Celebration won’t include Salem Police Department

KSLM's right-wing radio talk show host Jeff Kropf has been plugging a Freedom Celebration to be held this Sunday, January 31. I've heard that Trevor Womack, the Salem Police Department chief, won't be attending even though he was invited.  UPDATE: I've heard that 400 people have registered for this event. Oregon's COVID rules for an Extreme Risk area (where this event will be held) say that a maximum of 50 people can attend an outdoor entertainment event. So it looks like the Freedom Celebration will be in violation of that rule. And it could be a super spreader event, given…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

After a Trump headache, Biden’s inauguration was my aspirin

I feel so much better today. My (metaphorical) four-year Trump headache has gone away, thanks to the healing power of watching Joe Biden being inaugurated.  It's such a relief to see truth and decency return to the White House. Also, normalcy.  Biden is going to be a great president, I'm confident of that. But even if he turns out to be only an average president, that's hugely better than the sorry excuse of a president Donald Trump was. Most Americans are going to find it easy to admire Biden's warmth, empathy, and concern for both our country and the world…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump National politics

Insurrection at Capitol today caused by the Cult of Trump

This is what happens when people fall under the spell of an authoritarian cult leader. A woman died today in the Capitol building after a mob incited by Trump stormed the building in an insurrection aimed at stopping Biden from being declared president-elect by Congress. Who is responsible for her death? Who is responsible for the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812? Easy answers. -- Donald Trump, of course. He urged his cult members to march to the Capitol today. Trump deserves to be impeached for this act of sedition. -- Everybody who voted for Trump…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Coup attempt by GOP on January 6 is beyond disgusting

If you're a Republican who isn't planning to end your allegiance to the GOP, either you are unaware of the highly unpatriotic coup attempt being planned by your political party in Congress on January 6, or you're OK with this shameful effort to overthrow the lawful result of the 2020 presidential election in favor of a wanna-be authoritarian, Donald Trump. I'm hoping that the former is the case. Maybe you've been busy with Christmas and New Year celebrations and haven't paid much attention to the news. In that case, I'm sharing some Twitter tweets and a Washington Post opinion piece…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Trump’s last-ditch attempt to steal the election is disgusting

Trump's final attempt to steal the presidential election from Biden is based on an absurd legal suit by the Attorney General of Texas that asks the Supreme Court to not accept the electoral votes from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia that Biden won. There's essentially zero chance that the Supreme Court will agree to this, since the suit has no basis in either facts or the law . So Biden will be sworn in on January 20. That's the good news. But the bad news is that -- as shown in the tweets below -- attorneys general in 17 other…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Biden beat Trump by a lot in every part of Salem

lt's always a pleasure for me to get local presidential election results from a fellow political junkie. This person figures out how the candidates did in each ward of Salem. There are eight wards. Scroll down to see a map of them. In 2020 Joe Biden whipped Trump's ass (to use a non-political science term) in every ward, including Ward 4, South Salem, and Ward 8, West Salem -- which traditionally are the most conservative areas of Salem. Here's the results for Salem as a whole, plus Marion and Polk counties, and Oregon as a whole. The county-level results for…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Feeling bad, Trump voters? I’m here to help.

In the Peanuts comic strip, Lucy used to offer psychiatric help to Charlie Brown for 5 cents. Knowing how bad Trump voters must feel right now, I'm undercutting Lucy by offering my therapeutic advice for absolutely free.  l even have some qualifications, having earned a Master's Degree in Social Work back in 1973, a mere 47 years ago. Sure, after becoming a MSW I quickly decided that I wasn't all that social, so went into health services research and planning.  But somewhere in the recesses of my mind there's remnants of what I learned about counseling. So read on, Trump…
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Posted in2020 election Coronavirus National politics

Oregonians need to step back from the brink of Crazy Cliff

A moderate amount of craziness adds spice to life. Who wants to be perfectly rational and reasonable all of the time? But currently there's way too much craziness going on -- both here in Oregon and elsewhere in the United States. So join me in making a heartfelt plea to all Oregonians to take several big steps back from the brink of Crazy Cliff. Going over the edge won't benefit anyone on the left, right, or middle of our political spectrum. I think of myself as an open-minded progressive. As you can read below, I'm fine with criticizing people on…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

Trump ramps up effort to steal election from Biden

Donald Trump has crossed the line from lying about Biden not winning the election to actively trying to subvert the will of the voters. That's sedition, which is illegal. Here's the definition of sedition. That's exactly what Trump is trying to do. Incite his followers to overturn the lawful results of the election.  This is beyond outrageous. Trump is behaving like a third-world dictator, the only difference being that the United States, thankfully, still has enough judges who believe in the rule of law -- not Trumpism -- to stop this coup attempt. Journalists and other informed observers of Trump's…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump Joe Biden

What the hell is wrong with Trump voters?

I've been seeing post-election discussions where some say that Democrats need to do a better job of understanding those who voted for Donald Trump, a group that currently stands at 47% of the electorate, about 73,100,000 voters. OK. That's a laudable goal, so long as Republicans make an comparable effort to better understand those of us who voted for Joe Biden, 51% of the electorate, about 78,700,000 voters. Since I voted for Biden, I'll help Republicans out by sharing my current state of mind about the election. I'm really happy that Biden won. What concerns me is that more than 73…
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Posted in2020 election

2020 election results discussed at Salem City Club talk

Ed Dover, a retired political science professor, gives a Salem City Club talk after every election -- providing well-informed commentary on the results. I always look forward to hearing Dover speak. Today's talk was another interesting tour of the 2020 election landscape. Ed Dover on Zoom  Dover started off by stating the obvious: the presidential election was a referendum on the president. Obviously Trump didn't win that battle, since almost certainly he will end up losing to Biden by exactly the same electoral vote margin Trump beat Clinton by in 2016, 306 to 232. Incumbents usually win, but Trump became…
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