Tag: Biden

How Will Trump’s Felony Convictions Affect Voters?

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events, Social Issues

5-31-24
   Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies. He is a criminal by any definition. In addition, we also know that he is an habitual liar, has authoritarian tendencies, and is more than willing to undermine America’s democratic values for his own personal benefit and quest for power. Millions and millions of Republicans have continued to blindly follow Trump despite the clear evidence of how dangerous and unqualified he truly is. Now, the question is how will his felony convictions affect voters’ decisions.
   One thing that is extremely obvious is that if Trump was a Democrat, Democratic voters would have rejected him a long time ago. Don’t believe me? Consider Al Franken, the popular comedian who became a Democratic Senator. When photos emerged that had been taken years before showing him on a USO tour pretending to touch a sleeping female colleague’s breasts, Democrats turned on him very quickly which resulted in his resignation. What he did in the photos was clearly inappropriate, but it does not appear that he actually touched the woman. He was pretending to as a joke. While in particularly poor taste, it pales in comparison to things Trump has said, done, been accused of, and now convicted of, yet Republicans continue to blindly follow Trump. Here’s another example of what I’m talking about. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York was a very popular Democrat that many Americans turned to for leadership during the COVID Pandemic. It seemed that his political future was quite promising. But after allegations of sexual misconduct came to light, Democrats rejected him very quickly. High ranking Democratic leaders even recommended an investigation of him. His political career was over.
   Most Republicans have continued to blindly follow Trump despite everything he has said and done. The truth is, most Republicans have shown themselves as much more likely to be blind followers as compared to Democrats. The way millions and millions of Republicans continue to blindly follow Donald Trump is overwhelming proof of this. So it leaves the question: how will the fact that Donald Trump is now a convicted felon affect how people vote in the November election? The scary and extremely dangerous fact is that the vast majority of his core followers are going to believe Trump’s lies and vote for him in overwhelming numbers. Even though Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies by a jury of 12 ordinary Americans (who had been agreed upon by both the Prosecutor and the Defense), MAGA supporters will devotedly believe Trump’s lies making ridiculous, outrageous conspiracy claims and other nonsense.
   The big question will be if and how Trump’s convictions affect Independents and other swing voters. How many of them will think twice about voting for Trump? How many of those who were leaning towards voting for Trump will now reconsider that possibility? At this point, nobody knows. The United States is in uncharted waters. An American President, or former President, has never been convicted of a felony before. Plus, we are dealing with a severely divided nation politically and an authoritarian style leader whose mass of hard core supporters have proven themselves to be blind followers.
   Troubling and scary times indeed.
   It’s that much more reason why those of us who see how dangerous Trump is need to get out and vote against him in overwhelming numbers. We also need to be smart about our vote because like it or not, the next president will be Trump or Biden. That is reality. It’s also why we must get out and vote for Joe Biden in overwhelming numbers, even those of us who have legitimate concerns about Biden, because voting for a third party candidate, who has zero chance of winning, or not voting at all is helping Donald Trump. That is cold, hard reality. And this country cannot afford another 4 years of Donald Trump in the White House, especially now that he’s a bitter, convicted felon.

Undemocratic, Closeminded Efforts By Republicans Threaten US Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Bi+/LGBTQ Issues, Current Events, Social Issues

October 30, 2022
   I’m going to begin this by telling you that I’m an Independent politically. I don’t belong to any political party.  That said, I’m also going to tell you that this country cannot afford Republican control over governments at any level. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
   In many ways, the Republican Party is now the party of Trump, a party that is willingly following a narcissistic, lying authoritarian figure. Despite the fact that overwhelming evidence shows the 2020 election was fair and that Joe Biden legitimately won, the majority of Republicans believe Trump’s lies instead. And a significant percentage are actively promoting those lies. Many Republicans have gone so far as to push for laws and policies that are clearly undemocratic. Want some examples? Here you go: In several states, Republicans have proposed bills that would allow state legislatures to overturn election results and allot electoral votes themselves, literally ignoring the will of the voters. There are also proposals by Republicans that would make it very difficult for election officials to deal with partisan poll watchers who are intimidating and interfering with voters and election workers. Republicans in numerous states are also trying to get Trump following election deniers into positions (like secretary of state) where they would oversee future elections, thus increasing their ability to interfere with (and possibly overturn) legitimate election results they don’t like. These are not exaggerations. Republicans around the nation are also trying to make voting more difficult because they are afraid high voter turnout may increase the chances of Democrats winning. Tactics include things like making voter registration much more difficult, enacting stricter voter ID laws, and trying to limit or eliminate early voting as well as mail in voting. What’s especially disturbing is how these efforts are particularly targeting people (such as African Americans) who are more likely to vote for Democrats. Again, I’m not exaggerating here. I wish I was, but I’m not. This is really happening.
   Also consider this. The Jan 6th, 2021 assault on the US Capitol Building was a terrible event that was caused by outrageous, dangerous, false rhetoric being spread by numerous people. Whatever one’s political beliefs, understanding what happened and why it happened is vitally important. Yet most Republicans oppose Congress investigating the events and are continuing to blindly follow the dangerous rhetoric that led to the assault in the first place.
   Want some more examples of why we can’t afford Republican control over governments these days? Here you go. Republicans are actively attacking female reproductive rights despite the fact that most Americans are pro choice. Some Republicans even want to ban abortion nationwide. Around the country, Republicans are also pushing for very anti-LGBTQ policies and laws that blatantly discriminate against Queer people. The “don’t say gay” laws being promoted in states around the country are examples of this. Such laws are targeting LGBTQ youth, individuals who already have to deal with far too much intolerance and prejudice from others. Many LGBTQ minors live in homes where they face discrimination from their own parents. This is why it’s common for many Queer students to turn to teachers and school counselors for support and help. But this important resource is being taken away from many due to “don’t say gay” laws. With these laws, many teachers and counselors will be unable or too afraid to help. This in turn will increase the suicide rates of LGBTQ youth.
   The behavior of much of the Republican Party is the sort of thing that leads to authoritarianism and even full blown dictatorships. History is full of examples. Look at what happened in Germany during the 1920s and 30s when people chose to ignore facts, evidence, and even decency in order to blindly follow a brutal, narcissistic dictator instead.
   Whatever your political beliefs or party affiliation, people need to speak out against the lies spread by Trump and others. It’s time to stand up for democracy, honesty, decency, tolerance, kindness, open-mindedness, and the United States Constitution. We must vote in elected officials who do the same because if people don’t, future historians may look back on this time as the beginning of the end of American democracy.

The Toxicity Of The Trump Era Needs To Be Put Behind Us

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events, Social Issues

1-16-21
   25,000 National Guard troops are in (or on the way to) Washington DC in order to protect the transfer of power from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration.
   Think about that.
   Thousands of soldiers needed to protect the Inauguration of President Elect Joe Biden.
   It’s disturbing and sad that our country has sunk to this level. And it’s clear that Donald Trump along with those enabling him and blindly following him brought our nation to this twisted, deeply troubling state of affairs.
   Divisions, lack of understanding, intolerance, hate, prejudice, and so on were already problems in the United States when Trump started his campaign for the Presidency. The thing is: Trump took advantage of these problems and exacerbated them with his outrageous, hurtful, vicious, and often totally false rhetoric, actions, and lies. Instead of trying to unite people, he worsened divisions  and hate creating such a toxic atmosphere that prejudiced hate groups felt emboldened to become more brazen and vocal.
   And then we come to the 2020 election.
   He began attacking the election before it even had a chance to get started as he viciously went after mail in voting for months prior to a single ballot being sent out to anyone.  Once he lost the election, he quickly began spreading ridiculous, totally false claims and conspiracy theories in his quest to try to stay in office, even though Joe Biden clearly and legitimately won.
   And throughout all of this, numerous Republicans in important positions as well as millions of every day Americans have enabled Trump’s horrendous behavior by always going along with him, not standing up to him, and flat out blindly following him. And now we are having to endure the results of this sickening situation. We watched in disgust and horror as an angry mob of Trump supporters (incited by Trump and others) literally assaulted the US Capitol Building with the purpose of trying to stop Congress from certifying the free and fair 2020 election. This was clearly a form of undemocratic insurrection seeing how they used violence to attempt to stop Biden from becoming President.
   It’s disgusting, horrifying, sickening, and disturbing seeing how low things have sunk to. It’s also scary how many people are still blindly following Trump despite the fact he incited insurrection.
   We have to be strong and stand up for decency, honesty, compassion, science, caring, and democracy. It’s time to put the hate, narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and viciousness of the Trump era behind us and strive to make this a better place for all.
   It won’t be easy. We as a society and a country are battered and bruised. Healing will take time as will bridging the deep divides that have been tearing this nation apart.
   But we will get through it. Our democracy will endure and if we work at it, the United States will get closer to being the shining beacon we want it to be.

A Number Of Congressional Republicans Are Threatening US Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

1-2-21:
   In a few days, January 6th, Congress is due to certify the 2020 Presidential election. Normally, this is a simple formality, but this time, it has become much more complicated.
   There was no widespread fraud in this election. As with all elections, there were a few isolated problems here and there (which is normal), but nothing systematic or widespread and nothing that would change the outcome of the election. State government officials (both Democrat and Republican) have certified the election. There were Democratic, Republican, and Independent observers in all the ballot counting rooms.  There were even International Observers from multiple countries monitoring the election as well. The conclusion from all these people is that it was a free and fair election.
   Joe Biden won, and Donald Trump lost, fair and square.
   But dangerously and pathetically, Trump is making totally baseless accusations of fraud that he has no evidence for. He has lost lawsuit after lawsuit because he has no evidence.  It’s clear that his claims of fraud are completely false and self-serving, yet he continues spewing out this utter nonsense, apparently for his own twisted reasons.
   Trump will not steal this election as he is apparently trying to do. Joe Biden will be inaugurated January 20th.
   But it is extremely disturbing how numerous Congressional Republicans are going along with Trump’s disgusting, unAmerican behavior. Some are threatening to object to Congressional certification of the election despite the fact that the election was free and fair. This terrible, cowardly behavior is undermining our democracy.
   And you know what: History is going to treat the actions of Trump and those going along with him very, very harshly. And they will deserve the harsh treatment because they are going against (and even trying to overturn) the will of the American people who have already spoken by voting.
   Think about it. The actions of Trump and those going along with him are threatening the very foundation of our country, Democracy.
   We must never forget what is happening.
   We must never forget that elected officials are knowingly and willfully hurting our democratic way of life.
   We must remember who these individuals are and vote them out of office when they come up for reelection themselves.
   And we must all strive to do better in the future in upholding and defending our democracy.

Trump Continues Undermining US Democracy With The Help Of Blind Followers

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

12-3-20
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election fair and square.  There were no widespread irregularities. Biden won, and Trump lost.
   But Trump is continuing to undermine American democracy making outrageously false claims of fraud even though he has no evidence to back it up. His court challenges keep failing, again because he has no evidence. But Trump continues making bogus accusations, and what is more disturbing is how so many of his followers seem to believe him despite the fact he is clearly spreading lies and false information. It is additionally disturbing how most of the Republicans in Congress are still being extremely cowardly as they placate and go along with Trump’s dangerous farce. All of this enables and encourages Trump to continue his deplorable behavior.
   What is also concerning is how it appears that Trump is not going to go into a calm retirement like other modern presidents. Nope. It looks more and more likely that Trump wants to continue running the Republican Party as much as he can get away with. He may try to control what elected Republicans do and how they vote by wielding the threat of turning his followers against them. This means someone who is not in an elected position would be maintaining a significant amount of control over what elected Republicans are doing and how they are voting.
   Think about that folks.
   This goes completely against our democratic values and sinks further towards the dark world of authoritarianism.
   It is way past time for people (particularly Trump followers and elected Republicans) to open their minds and speak out against Trump’s abhorrent behavior. Stop blindly following him, placating him, and going along with him when he is clearly in the wrong. Get information from a variety of independent, reputable sources (not sites that just tell you what you want to hear). Stand for democracy and the United States Constitution.
   It’s time to get back our Democracy!  

Trump’s Lies About The Election Are Endangering America

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events, Science

11-17-20
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the presidential election. That is very clear, yet Donald Trump has thus far refused to concede and is making baseless, destructive accusations of fraud. In addition to that, Trump is refusing to allow the Biden transition team the access it needs to prepare for the peaceful, safe transfer of power from the old administration to the new.
   All states are reporting that no significant irregularities occurred this election. International observers monitored the election as well and are also reporting that no widespread irregularities happened. As a matter of fact, an international observer report has criticized Trump for making baseless claims against the election.
   The United States is deeply divided to a scary, unhealthy degree with people, organizations, and political parties not trusting each other and often even hating one another. It’s hurting our nation. Donald Trump has exacerbated these divisions throughout his time in politics and the presidency.
   It’s no surprise that Trump is making unfounded claims of fraud despite having no evidence for it. He has been sending clear signals for months that he would act like this if he lost. Thing is, Trump’s childish behavior making baseless attacks upon the election is hurting our democracy. Even when Trump is clearly lying, millions of Americans still choose to believe him. This means that even though there is overwhelming evidence that the election was fair, millions of Americans think the contrary.
   This is dangerous and is really hurting our nation.
   Elections and the peaceful transfer of power is part of the very foundation of the United States. It’s a major factor in making this nation great. But Donald Trump (along with the millions of Americans going along with his dangerous behavior) is undermining the entire process with false claims of fraud and in doing this is undermining the United States itself.
   By impeding the transition process as he is currently doing, Trump is endangering this country’s national security as well as increasing the likelihood that more innocent people will needlessly die from COVID. Biden should be receiving intelligence briefings like Trump does, but Trump is blocking this from happening. Biden officials should be coordinating with Trump officials in the various government departments (such as the State Dept, Intelligence, Defense, Health, and so on) to ensure a smooth transition so that things don’t get screwed up and fall through the cracks. Again, Trump is blocking this. The production and distribution of new COVID vaccines is a monumental, complex operation that will go well beyond the date of the inauguration. Biden’s COVID officials need to be coordinating with Trump’s to avoid confusion and delays that would cost lives. But Trump is preventing this from occurring as well.
   People need to open their minds.
   Joe Biden won in a free, fair election, and Donald Trump lost. Time for people to accept this and move forward.
   To be blunt, stop blindly following Donald Trump! Don’t blindly follow anyone. Look at the facts using varied, reliable, independent sources for information. Don’t use sites that just tell you what you want to hear.
   There is no evidence of widespread irregularities. None.
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election fairly.
   Time for people to accept that and move forward. Demand that the transition process proceed. Put pressure on Republican officials to demand this as well.
   And for goodness sakes, quit blindly following Donald Trump’s outrageous, dangerous lies and rhetoric.  Don’t contribute to undermining democracy, people’s health, and the security of this nation because that is what Trump’s actions are doing right now.
   Stand up for truth, honesty, democracy, helping one another, and trying to do the right thing.
   We need to start working together so that we can begin healing this nation and get through this pandemic.

Time To Start Working Together To Heal This Divided Nation

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

11-10-20
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the presidential election. That is very clear, yet Donald Trump has thus far refused to concede and is making baseless, destructive accusations of fraud.
   The United States is deeply divided to a scary, unhealthy degree with people, organizations, and political parties not trusting each other and often even hating one another. It’s hurting our nation. Donald Trump has exacerbated these divisions throughout his time in politics and the presidency.
   It’s no surprise that Trump is making unfounded claims of fraud despite having no evidence for it. He has been sending clear signals for months that he would act like this if he lost.
   Thing is, it’s really hurting our nation.
   The severe divisions and hate plaguing our country have been going on for too long and have gone too far. The United States needs to begin the process of healing. People need to start listening to one another again. Talk to one another calmly, respectfully, and rationally.
   Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election fair and square. Donald Trump needs to concede that he lost and work with Biden in the process of transitioning from the Trump Administration to Biden’s.  Donald Trump’s supporters need to accept that Trump lost legitimately. No one stole the election.
   It’s time for everyone to start working together so that we can begin healing this nation.

Trump Proves Over And Over How Unqualified He Is As President

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events, Science

10-25-20
   Let’s get one thing out of the way. I’m an Independent politically and don’t blindly follow anyone or anything. I look at the evidence and make the best decisions I can.
   It’s very clear how horrendously bad a president Donald Trump is. His outrageous hurtful rhetoric, colossal scale of lying, authoritarian tendencies, xenophobic behavior, and gross mishandling of the COVID pandemic are well known. Trump seems to go out of his way to avoid upsetting Russia and has not held the adversarial nation accountable for its ongoing cyber attacks on the United States. He has also not adequately addressed the serious accusations of Russia paying bounties for killing US and Coalition soldiers in the Middle East. On top of that, he and other Republicans are using the courts to try to take away Obamacare in the middle of this pandemic without having any replacement whatsoever. If they succeed, millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions would be at risk of losing their health insurance during the COVID 19 crisis. Think about that. If you don’t have a pre-existing medical condition, I bet you know someone who does. Trump is also engaged in voter suppression with his baseless, unfounded attacks on mail in voting. He is clearly trying to hinder the ability of people (whom he fears will vote against him) to vote. This sort of behavior goes against the very foundation of our country and democracy itself.
   Now consider this: Trump is totally disregarding social distancing and mask wearing guidelines at his political rallies. During these events, people are gathering in very close quarters (often shoulder to shoulder) and the majority are not wearing masks. The September 26 White House event in the Rose Garden has already proven to be a COVID super-spreader event that led to over 20 confirmed cases and has potentially led to the exposure of hundreds (or even thousands) more people. Some of these rallies could end up being even worse super-spreader events. How many people are going to get sick from these Trump rallies, and how many will die? Think about that. This exemplifies how horribly the Trump Administration has been handling the COVID pandemic.
   I could go on and on. The point is that whatever your political views, it’s time to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because we must vote Trump out of the White House. We also need to vote a Democratic majority to both Chambers of Congress in order to start trying to repair the damage being done to this country by Trump and numerous other DC Republicans.
   The United States cannot afford 4 more years of Donald Trump.
   It’s time to bring back decency, thoughtfulness, respect, humanity, empathy, and service to the White House and Federal Government.

Vicious Hate Spewed Against Gov Gretchen Whitmer At Trump Rally

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

10-18-20
   Let’s get one thing out of the way. I’m an Independent politically and don’t blindly follow anyone or anything. I look at the evidence and make the best decisions I can. With that said, I must tell you that we all need to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the upcoming election.
   I realize this sounds like some political ad, but it’s not.
   The thing is: we cannot afford 4 more years of Donald Trump. The country really can’t. We must vote him out of office, and the only way to do that is to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because the next president will be Trump or Biden. That’s a fact. Third party presidential candidates have zero chance of winning of this election. Zero. Worse is that supporting one splits the anti-Trump vote and thus helps Donald Trump. As a matter of fact, people voting for third party candidates in 2016 is a significant part of how Trump got in office.
   We all know how horrendously bad a president Donald Trump is. And when it seems he can’t sink any lower, he does. The FBI recently foiled a plot set up by domestic far right extremists (terrorists) who were planning to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. During the Trump years, it has been clear that white supremacists and other far right hate groups have been emboldened by Donald Trump’s horrible rhetoric and by the fact that Trump won’t condemn them. Now consider that at a recent rally, Trump went after Whitmer using outrageous claims and boldfaced lies. Trump followers then started chanting “lock her up.” Think about that. Domestic extremists were planning to kidnap her, yet malicious hate was spewed directly at her at a Trump rally that occurred so soon after.
   What has happened to this country?
   The venomous hate and lies permeating the United States have gone too far. It is clear that Trump’s sickening rhetoric, actions, and lack of action are significant factors in exacerbating (and at times creating) the hate, division, and viciousness infesting America today.
   The United States should be better than this.
   Whatever your political views, it’s clear that the Trump Administration is hurting the United States to an extremely serious degree.  We must unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to vote Trump out of the White House. We also need to vote a Democratic majority to both Chambers of Congress in order to start trying to repair the damage being done to this country by Trump and numerous other DC Republicans.
   It’s time to start working on restoring decency back to this country.

We Must Vote Trump Out Of Office

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

9-3-20
   Let’s get one thing straight. I’m an Independent politically and don’t blindly follow anyone or anything. I look at the evidence and make the best decisions I can. With that said, I must tell you that we all need to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
   I realize this sounds like some political ad. It’s not.
   The thing is: we cannot afford 4 more years of Donald Trump. We must vote him out of office, and the only way to do that is to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because the next president will be Trump or Biden. That’s a fact.
   We all know how horrendously bad a president Donald Trump is. His outrageous hurtful rhetoric,  colossal scale of lying, authoritarian tendencies, xenophobic behavior, and gross mishandling of the COVID pandemic are well known. Trump seems to go out of his way not to upset Russia and has not held the adversarial nation accountable for its ongoing cyber attacks on the United States. He has not adequately addressed the serious accusations of Russia paying bounties for killing US and Coalition soldiers in the Middle East. He is using the courts to try to take away Obamacare in the middle of this pandemic without having any replacement whatsoever. If he succeeds, millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions could be at risk of losing their health insurance during the COVID 19 crisis.
   I could go on. The point is that whatever your political views, it is time to unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We must vote them into the White House because we cannot afford 4 more years of Donald Trump.
   Let’s make it happen.