Posted in2024 election Donald Trump National politics

Republicans, January 6 criminals are prisoners, not hostages

It's a good thing that I don't have a blood pressure problem. If I did, I'd ask my doctor to increase my medication until the 2024 election is over in November, because the lies being spread by Donald Trump and his Republican sycophants are making me furious -- and it's just January 7. Which is one day after the three-year anniversary of the despicable insurrection, or riot if you prefer that word, at our nation's capitol in 2021.  Immediately after January 6 of that year most Republicans acknowledged that this violent attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden as…
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Posted inNational politics

GOP insanity: Nikki Haley doesn’t think slavery was the cause of the Civil War

At the risk of having my head explode, I've watched each of the debates between the non-Trump candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Well, except for the last debate, which was on some network that I'd never heard of. Aside from Chris Christie, who I like when he bashes Trump, but not otherwise, the only other candidate who didn't totally disgust me is Nikki Haley. She actually made sense at times, particularly when she talked about foreign policy and the urgent need for the United States to keep supporting Ukraine. Haley is supposed to be the moderate alternative to…
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Posted inNational politics

On abortion and Ukraine, Republicans are dangerously crazy

If our major political parties were to undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether Republicans or Democrats are acting most crazy, there's no doubt who would be committed to a mental hospital for some serious treatment. The Republican Party, of course. There's so many current examples of this -- including the perennial favorite, how the lying, incompetent, democracy-defying, obnoxious Donald Trump is the clear favorite to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024 -- that I'm going to limit myself to two issues that are particularly dangerously crazy. Abortion and Ukraine. Look, I've got no problem with Republicans opposing abortion.…
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Posted inNational politics

Israel is squandering its moral authority with attack on refugee camp

Like most people, after Hamas terrorists brutally attacked Israeli civilians on October 7 my sympathies were almost totally with Israel. Sure, I was aware that Israel has treated Palestinians badly and has done little recently to move toward the two-state solution that is recognized by everybody except for far right Israelis as the best way to assure lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. But I felt that Israel occupied the moral high ground after the Hamas attacks. Now, though, Israel is squandering that moral authority by the brutal way it is conducting war in Gaza, which is run by…
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Posted inNational politics

Choice of House Speaker shows how extreme Republicans have become

Here in Oregon, Republican politicians often try to look moderate because they're in a state that leans Democratic. But don't be fooled. These days, virtually every Republican office holder has to be a MAGA devotee of Donald Trump in order to be elected. So they buy into right-wing craziness, no matter how hard they may try to appear all centrist and reasonable. Case in point is the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson of Louisiana. If you've never heard of him, join the club. He isn't exactly a household name even in Washington D.C., much less…
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Posted inNational politics

It’s a Republican lie that U.S. money fueled the attacks on Israel

It's no surprise when Republican politicians lie. Donald Trump has gotten us used to that, and his love of falsehoods has spread to others in his party. Still, I was shocked when I saw that members of the not-so-Grand Old Party were criticizing the Biden administration for supposedly providing $6 billion to Iran that had been used to support the recent attacks on Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian group backed by Iran. Aside from being flat-out wrong, it bothered me that Republicans would use a horrific attack on Israeli citizens for blatant political purposes. Here's the facts about this lie. …
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Posted inNational politics

McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker is a Democratic dream come true

It was an entertaining day for political junkies like me, especially those of us who are retired and could watch Kevin McCarthy being fired as Speaker of the House in real time. The pleasure was intensified by this being a battle between two truly obnoxious people, McCarthy and Representative Matt Gaetz -- a far-right House member who initiated the "move to vacate" procedure that ended up with the Speaker position being vacant because eight Republican House members and all of the Democratic House members who voted on this wanted McCarthy gone. So today, on a 216-210 vote, McCarthy became the…
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Posted inNational politics

House GOP clown car would be funny if it wasn’t driving to a government shutdown

I heartily enjoy watching Republicans self-destruct. It's so much more pleasant than seeing Democrats do the same thing, which for me is painful, since I'm a progressive.  However, the current Clown Car episode in the GOP-controlled House, though amusing on one level, is deadly serious on another, because Speaker McCarthy and the wacko MAGA extremists in his caucus are speedily driving the federal government toward a harmful shutdown. That will happen at 12:01 am tomorrow night, since that's when the federal fiscal year ends and the current budget is no more. Now, an entirely reasonable question is why Congress has…
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Posted inNational politics

Who lost Russia? New Yorker article says U.S. played a part.

This blog post is a partial apology to a couple of progressive friends of mine here in Salem, Oregon who I've argued with via email about the extent to which Putin was justified in viewing NATO's expansion into the former Soviet bloc countries as a provocation that he used as one of his excuses to invade Ukraine. I vociferously said that the NATO expansion was none of Russia's business, since NATO is all about defending member countries from attack, with Russia being the prime potential attacker. My friends, though, said in strong words that the United States and our allies…
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Posted inEnvironment National politics

Climate change was scariest moment of Republican debate

To preserve my mental health, I've been watching my recording of the first Republican presidential debate in short chunks. So far I'm up to an hour of the two hour debate.  The scariest moment of the debate that I've seen so far -- and I'm pretty sure it will remain on top of my fear factor after I've seen the whole thing -- was the horrendous answers given to a question posed by a young Republican. He said: Polls consistently show that young people's number one issue is climate change. How would you, as both president of the United States…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Georgia indictment of Trump should be wakeup call for GOP voters

A little while ago a Georgia grand jury indictment was unsealed, revealing that Donald Trump and 18 other people have been charged with criminal conspiracy for their efforts to overturn the legitimate 2020 election victory of Joe Biden in Georgia. Aug 14 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump was hit with a sweeping fourth set of criminal charges on Monday when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The charges, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, add to the legal woes facing Trump,…
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Posted inNational politics Oregon politics

In Oregon and Ohio, a good day for democracy

Fans of democracy -- and it's a sad commentary on our politics that this doesn't include everybody -- are heartened by what happened here in Oregon and there in Ohio today. On the home front, I was thrilled when a notification from the Oregonian popped up on my iPhone saying that our Secretary of State had issued the correct ruling on whether ten state senators who took part in a lengthy walkout during the 2023 legislative session could run for office again. Here's an excerpt from "Republican senators who boycotted work can't run for reelection, secretary of state rules." Ten…
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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 inNational politics

Biden is right to send cluster bombs to Ukraine

War is bad. Unless it is a just war. Then war is good. Ukraine's war against Russia is a just war, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and shows no sign of stopping that unprovoked aggression. That's why I support President Biden's decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. Cluster bombs have been banned by over 100 countries, but not by the United States or Russia.  Russia has used them against civilians in Ukraine. Ukraine, on the other hand, only will use them against the Russian military.  Today I heard a CNN interview with Wesley Clark, a retired U.S.…
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Posted inLGBTQ issues National politics

Supreme Court majority acting like politicians, not judges

This week the United States Supreme Court added to its string of outrageous decisions by voting 6-3 to ban affirmative action in college admissions, to prevent the Biden administration from providing student debt relief to those who took out loans, and to allow a Colorado woman to not offer her web site design service to LGBTQ people -- thereby giving religious bigots a license to discriminate. Previously, of course, the court voted 6-3 to reverse Roe v. Wade, the more than 50-year precedent of abortion rights, a decision that had been upheld in several subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court.…
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Posted inNational politics

Hunter Biden guilty of tax evasion and illegal gun possession. Yawn.

Looks like Republicans are going to have to find another Biden other than Hunter to accuse of dastardly doings. May I suggest the Biden's German Shepherd that bit someone on the White House grounds a while back?  For Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has gotten the equivalent of a legal slap on the wrist after a five-year investigation by a federal attorney appointed by Trump and kept on the job by President Biden to avoid any appearance of favoritism.  A Washington Post story describes what Hunter Biden is facing. In short, not much, because what he did didn't amount to…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump’s federal indictment another first for the worst ex-president

Donald Trump likes to brag about himself. Well, today he got another #1 to add to his list of pseudo-accomplishments. Trump is the first former president to face federal charges. A New York Times story describes the well-deserved indictment.  The Justice Department on Thursday took the legally and politically momentous step of lodging federal criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump, accusing him of mishandling classified documents he kept upon leaving office and then obstructing the government’s efforts to reclaim them. Mr. Trump confirmed on his social media platform that he had been indicted. The charges against him include…
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Posted inNational politics

Debt limit deal seems like a good compromise to this progressive

Many of my fellow progressives won't like my opinion, but I'm happy with the debt limit deal reached today between President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy. The deal is going to irritate those on both the far-left and far-right of the political spectrum, so passage of the legislation isn't assured. But the alternative -- defaulting on the nation's financial obligations -- was much worse.  A New York Times story provides some basic facts about the deal. President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday reached an agreement in principle to lift the debt limit for two years while cutting and…
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Posted inNational politics

My debt ceiling prediction: catastrophe. (I hope I’m wrong.)

As early as June 1, the federal government will run out of money to pay all of its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised and more money can be borrowed. The United States has never defaulted on its obligations, so many people believe we won't this time. I disagree. I think there's a better chance of our country entering financial meltdown than of the debt ceiling being raised in enough time to avert a major catastrophe.  Usually I want my political predictions to come true. In this case I want to be proven wrong. However, my reading of the…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Justice! Trump guilty of sexual abuse and defamation

Our legal system served E. Jean Carroll well today. Today a jury took just a few hours to find him guilty of sexually abusing and defaming her. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages that Trump has to pay. A New York Times story starts off this way. A Manhattan jury on Tuesday found former President Donald J. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. More than a dozen women have accused Mr. Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, but this is the only allegation to be affirmed by…
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