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Miss bobble head, sitting to the right and behind Mr. Trump at his town hall meeting Thursday night, vigorously nodding in agreement with everything he said, is emblematic of a group I christen Qaknown (because they choose to be known. (public rallies and MAGA hats). They are a loosely knit organization of persons who have been galvanized by our president into his “base” of support.
They are anti-science, anti-media, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-intellectual, and, pro, not much. Qaknown is emboldened by having a leader who dismisses the media as fake news and denounces climate change; “it’s called weather,” says leader, Donald Trump. Qaknown supports Trump as he demeans immigrants coming from our southern border; thus, “we need a wall to hold them back”. He characterizes recent protesters for justice as thugs who are burning down American cities. Qaknown resents regulation, even mask wearing, because such edicts, they claim, interfere with freedom. Qaknown supporters buttress Trump’s reversals on environmental protections with their disbelief in the scientific evidence of harm to our water, air, and habitat. Finally, they snub their noses at academics, as intellectual elites who look down on them. Qanon (Q for the ringleader; anon for anonymous) is also a loosely knit organization of persons who support Trump but for different reasons. He is their declared champion, protecting America in a good and evil battle. They believe there is a satanic cult of liberals operating a child sex trafficking business out of Washington, D.C; cannibalistic Democrats who energize themselves by sucking a child’s blood. They believe that well known persons such as Tom Hanks and Pope Francis, among others are part of this criminal ring. Trump claims to know nothing about Qanon but refuses to denounce their conspiracy theories. He publicly supports a Qanon candidate running from the 14th Congressional District in Georgia; Trump campaign lawyers represent her. There are 24 Qanon candidates on the federal ballot in 2020. An alternative to those Q’s could be QandA. (ask questions; seek answers) QandA would rely on the facts. QandA would look to science for the necessary facts of how to combat the pandemic and how to protect the environment. QandA would cherish a free press as essential to democracy and study multiple media sources for the facts. QandA would respect the fact that immigrants have continuously contributed to America, raising the quality of its society, its people, and its economy. QandA would earnestly defend freedom as a fact of life in any democracy; freedom until it does harm to someone else. It is a fact that regulations ensure safety of our roads, bridges, consumer products, the food we eat, the air we breathe, the cars we drive, the water we drink. It is a fact that protests and police can be in sync; there is no disconnect between those who peacefully protest and law and order. Qanon is growing within the Republican Party. Qaknown is already an established base of the GOP. What about a QandA? It is time for Republicans to be ousted.
The President of the United States is plotting with Republican operatives, governors, state legislatures, staffers, his cadre of believers, to undermine election results. It is a clever plot. Create chaos on election day. Declare ballots invalid and the vote count unreliable. Proclaim the election rigged and substitute the electors chosen by the voters with a set of electors appointed by the Republican state legislature. Pennsylvania is working on this. Other GOP led states are considering similar actions. Not a peep out of a Republican. The President of the United States is calling for an Army of right wing extremist vigilantes to poll watch. The real purpose is voter intimidation and suppression. Not one word from a Republican. These groups of gun-toting thugs can be found on the streets of Portland and Chicago, Kenosha, Philadelphia, and other cities causing, disruptions and outright brawls. These vigilantes are warming up for civil war. That is what they will foment if given a chance. Not an utterance from a Republican. Silence from the Republican party as it obediently follows their President in making fun of masks and downplaying the pandemic. Silence from the Republican party as it rejects compromise on a stimulus bill that would keep people from dying, jobs alive, businesses open, and people working, Silence from the Republican Party as President Trump lauds Putin and denigrates our institutions and agencies. And now as the election approaches, when the most precious right Americans have is about to be exercised, SILENCE from the Republicans as Trump sows fear into the electorate and encourages intimidation and chaos at the ballot box. In the oath of office taken by State and Federal representatives each swears to protect the Constitution. Their silence injures our most precious document. Each swears their allegiance. Their silence is infidelity. They must go. These good old boys are our Founding Fathers; they are so because of their prescience in creating a system of checks and balances that protects us from being at the mercy of the Rogue (former Republican) Party.
The Constitution grants power to Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions in wondrous ways. We can amend the Constitution. Not an easy task but it can be done. The 26th Amendment was passed in a matter of months and overturned a Court decision, thus establishing a national voting age of 18. Congress can rewrite legislation that negates a Supreme Court decision. The 1991 Civil Rights Act reversed multiple Supreme Court decisions and broadened rulings on workers’ rights and employment discrimination. Congress can rectify past rulings of the Court by enacting new legislation. They could pass a new DACA law that explicitly protects Dreamers. They could easily write a bill that corrects the flaws in the Affordable Care Act. They could explicitly protect a woman’s right to choose. We are not helpless but we must capture control of the Senate, maintain control of the House and win the Presidency. A tall order but it can be done. Vote. Exercise your power. You are not at the mercy of Donald Trump or the Rogue Party or a conservative court. The power is in your ballot. Exercise it and you can right this ship after all. Mitch McConnell and his cadre of GOP Senators who stand for little and believe in less, are about to, yet again,
set aside their words, their promises, their pledges, and reverse themselves on the issue of voting to seat a Supreme Court justice so close to an election. Why are we not surprised? Mitch and his boys haven’t been principled in a long, long time. But we are happy to give you what you wish for because your actions will so negatively impact your sorry campaigns. We know that the American public overwhelmingly supports choice. The GOP will have to answer and defend their anti-abortion position at every rally, town hall meeting, in every telephone conversation and email. Then, there is the Affordable Care Act, another popular program that is already in jeopardy because of the GOP. There couldn’t be any clearer distinction between Trump and Biden on this issue. Remind the voters of what can happen to the ACA with a 6-3 conservative court. Try to explain your desire to get rid of coverage for pre-existing conditions. Be careful what you wish for, Republicans. This is going to backfire. Public opinion is not with you on the issues t hat will be decided by the Supreme Court in the coming sessions. And, there will be retribution for your dirty politics. Perhaps twelve justices in the future? You may possibly win the Court battle but you will lose the Senate and the Presidency. You have bitten off too much this time, Grand Old Party. You could delay the Court appointment until the people have spoken on who should exercise the appointment power for this seat. What a concept. Let the people decide. Does the voter want Trump to choose the justice or the winner of the 2020 presidential election? I think Americans have had their answer for a long time. Trump likes to compare himself to Lincoln. Can you imagine Trump saying even one of these Lincoln quotes?
1. Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure. 2. Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? 3. I didn’t like that man. I must get to know him better. 4. 5. we should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it. 5. 6. Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. 6. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. And some of the Gettysburg Address, words applicable today. "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. It is for us the living…to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they … have thus far so nobly advanced. —that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." OH, FOR SUCH LEADERSHIP AND THOUGHTFULNESS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Edmund Randolph, a participant at the constitutional convention, coined a phrase, “the foetus of monarchy” as the framers debated the issue of a one-person executive. The presidency is the fetus. As the presidency grows, it expands its power until it becomes a kingdom.
The American presidency expanded its powers with each 20th century crisis and earned the sobriquet of “an imperial presidency” meaning the office exercises more power than the Constitution grants. President Trump with his base of support and a co-opted Republican party has gone even further. He thumbs his nose at the power of the other branches, ignores subpoenas, appoints people without Senate confirmation, spends money without legislative authority, enthrones his family and all for self-aggrandizement. If Trump survives re-election, the “foetus” will deliver a monarchy and we will become subjects to King Donald. Expect to see GOP campaign commercials shortly that depict Donald Trump as a man with a quick and steady hand, averting a crisis of failed negotiations led by Nancy Pelosi and her “Democrat-led” comrades.
But, what do Trump’s executive orders accomplish? The extension of an eviction moratorium shields only about 1/3 of those who rent or own a building mortgaged with a federal guarantee. The renewed unemployment benefit shrinks to $400 with the feds contributing only $300 and the states, already reeling from the cost of the pandemic, having to cough up the rest. The payroll tax holiday does not help the unemployed at all and it will hurt Medicare and Social Security which rely in part on this tax for their coffers. There are already millions of unemployed not paying into those pots. A deferral of the tax to those working will reduce the Social Security and Medicare funds even further. Student loan payments are paused through December but of what help is that to a student? They will simply have a delayed but bigger debt. Students need debt forgiveness not deferral. President Trump says these orders, “will take care of pretty much this entire situation, as we know it.” Not so. · There is no $1200 stimulus check people was counting on. · There is no rental assistance. · There is no mortgage relief to prevent defaults and foreclosures. · There is no housing or food assistance. Food banks are overwhelmed; evictions are pushing families into the streets. · There is no assistance to States and local governments which are running out of money. · There is no assistance to schools with already tight budgets which are now mandated to provide PPE, a whole new delivery system of on line instruction, and a mandate to create smaller classrooms when face-to-face. · There is no debt relief or moratorium on debt collection. Trump has recently compared himself to Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln faced his national crisis that divided the country, he sought out dissent, appointed opponents to top cabinet level positions so there would be vigorous debate and was quick to admit a mistake or failure and move quickly to correct it. He did not run from responsibility; he recognized that the “buck stops” at the President’s desk. Lincoln had empathy and understanding for Americans and what they were going through. Our country is crying out for an Abraham Lincoln. We know Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Trump. You are no Abraham Lincoln. The world is asking what has happened to our democracy. Are you? Neither Trump nor his allies have authority to delay an election.
BUT picture this: • a handful of Republican controlled states have widespread protests and invite federal law enforcement into their cities to maintain law and order. And, as in Portland, their presence stirs up big trouble. • tweets fly alleging massive fraud from mail-in ballots. • registrars say the pandemic makes it impossible to staff polling stations and law enforcement officers say they cannot guarantee voters’ safety. • post offices say that mail-in ballot deadlines may not be met. If one governor or one county registrar refuses to carry out his duties, who will stand in? The Department of Justice? Attorney General Barr? Local Attorneys general? Do you expect Trump’s GOP followers to resist when they have abdicated for three years? It is imperative that we guarantee that this election take place. If we fail, our country will be lost. 1) Why is Trump so unwilling to be a role model for the country and simply wear a mask? Is it a macho thing? Is a GOP thing? Seems those state governors who are predominantly male and GOP require masks only to key parts of the community but merely recommend masks to the general public.
2) Why is the Trump White House gassing Portland protesters, shooting non-lethal ammo and firing stun grenades at Portland citizens and throwing them into unmarked vehicles? Why is the Trump Administration parachuting in federal agents when the Governor of Oregon, the Mayor of Portland and local state law enforcement don’t want them there and have told them to leave, complaining that it is the feds who are exacerbating the trouble in Portland? 3) Why does the White House fear TikTok, a social media platform, and allege that it is a threat to national security? Could the White House fear more interference from TikTok as the November election nears? TIkTok did successfully disrupt the Trump rally in Tulsa by registering for seats they had no intention of filling and does promise more hijinks. 4) Why is the GOP and Trump making sure that employees and the public cannot sue employers, businesses, universities and others establishments if they contract Covid 19, at their sites? Is the White House admitting that insufficient safeguards exist and these groups could face expensive lawsuits and bankruptcies? What about the people who incur expense and bankruptcy from contracting Covid 19 at these unsafe establishments? 5) Why is Trump barring Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Redfield from testifying to Congress concerning Covid 19? What threat do either of them pose from answering questions about the pandemic? 6) Why have DACA applications not restarted? It has been more than a month since the Supreme Court ruled the Trump denial of DACA unconstitutional. 7) Why do U.S. soldiers have a $100,000 Russian bounty on their backs in Afghanistan with no effort whatsoever from the Trump White House to stop this egregious Russian assault? 8) Why is the stock market strong while the country weakens more by the day as it faces massive unemployment, closed businesses and a pandemic? 9) Why is the President unwilling to commit to the 2020 election results no matter what they are? Why are so many questions left unanswered? Our Covid war has cost us more persons and money than World War I, Korea and Vietnam combined.
Previous wars required great sacrifice and previous generations stepped up to the call for service to rid us of our enemy. Now we are at war again but we don’t have to wallow in a foxhole or cut through jungles or shoot aircraft or U-boats. All we have to do is NOTHING. Stay home. Wear a mask. Socially distance. Wash. The economy is worse and Covid surges. We have to shut down for weeks except for absolute essentials. The government fills the financial void with dollars to businesses and individuals and everyone sacrifices. No evictions. No foreclosures. We will all be giving up something but never giving in. Instead of whining about closed beaches and indoor dining, use your good old American “know how” to make life tolerable. American ingenuity has always risen in time of crisis. Join the Covid Army. Demand that government shut down. Be as strong and as selfless when facing this enemy as those who served in previous wars. It is the only way to defeat our enemy and it is the American way. |
