WEIRD RE-ELECTION TACTICS .....

 

The entire country is still disappointed and in chock after watching the presidential debate couple nights ago, of course people defer in their criticism and accusations, but a general theme shared by most Americans is obvious. Republicans or Democrats, left or right, conservatives or liberals, religious or not, they all somehow condemn the president for losing it and making a mockery out of the institution. To address this issue, I decided to copy almost verbatim parts of an excellent report by the NY Times' D. Leonhardt . 

There is a theme that has run through president Trump's entire re-election campaign ; He is afraid that he cannot beat Joe Biden. It explains his extraordinary efforts last year to prevent Biden from becoming the nominee, and it explains his more recent efforts to discredit the elections. Rather than running against Biden, Trump now seems to be running against democracy itself. 

It's useful to think and analyse the 2020 Trump campaign in 3 distinct stages. The first was during the run up to the Democratic primaries, when Trump used the powers of the presidency to pressure at least one foreign country, Ukraine, to smear Biden, (An effort that led to impeachment) while Trump took no similar steps to damage Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Kamala Harris.

Why ?? Trump often acts on instincts, and he probably have done so in this case, he believes in polls, and polls consistently showed him fairing worse in a hypothetically match up against Biden than against any other Democrat. The second stage began after Biden clinched the nomination, Trump doubled down on efforts to damage him. He portrayed Biden as a corrupt old sleepy politician. not so different from Hillary Clinton, or any closet socialist. It hasn't worked, Biden's lead over Trump has remained stable. 

That has led to the third stage; Try to prevent a normal election, Trump with help from other leading Republicans, and his loyal oligarchy and family, has increased his efforts to make it difficult to vote. His campaign has filed lawsuits in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere to restrict voting by mail. (Mike Pence played a big role there). 

In recent weeks, Trump also began what seems like an obvious attempt at voter intimidation, encouraging his supporters to show up at polling places, purportedly to prevent voter fraud, which almost never occurs. Donald Trump junior has released a video calling for an "army for Trump's election security operation." 

At least for now, Trump refused to allow a normal debate, constantly interrupting Biden, and even refusing flatly during the debate to condemn white supremacy groups, like the proud boys, a violent far-right fascist group. Even major Republican Senators like Lindsey Graham or Mitch McConnell, came totally against him denouncing his refusal, and putting these groups on standby for further action. The whole episode proved to be a chaotic jumble and a laughable scene. But for Trump it was one more attempt to undermine the normal functions of Democracy. 

There is still roughly a month until election day, an eternity in politics, at this point the picture for the past couple years is remarkably consistent, Trump seems to believe he would lose a normal election to Biden, and most people close to him are blunt that the president knows he's losing and is scared and panicky about it. But in an abnormal election, with low turnout and protracted fights over ballot eligibility, who knows what could happen !!! 

And even if Trump does lose, he is surely laying the ground work to make the false claim that the election was rigged, and consequently cling to power. For him it's more than winning and glorifying his name, as some legal experts say ; No question about it , Trump and daughter Ivanka could face up to 5 years in jail time for tax fraud after leaving the White-House, the only thing saving them now is the Department of Justice's guide line that says "you cannot indict a sitting president." 

Finally, the funny side of this election or re-election is that all radical right-wing organisations and all Republican electoral machines in all States are strategising to win the election not by luring voters to their side or winning the undecided voters with their policies, but by suppressing their votes, and intimidating minority voters, and making it very difficult for the majority of Americans to cast their ballots. ONLY IN AMERICA ......  

                      As always my many thanks to all my readers, stay safe.                       

WE WOULD RATHER DESTROY OURSELVES THAN TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES.....

 

No matter the criteria, Donald Trump has proven himself unfit to be president, his four years of presidency tells it clearly, eliminating any doubt about whether or not he's up and fit for the job. America is a relatively young country and it still is among other things searching for its soul, searching to be compassionate and peaceful, searching to be a real world example, a role model, a leader. 

Any country trying sincerely to find itself, and heighten its goals in life cannot allow the type of cruelty targeting immigrants and refugees, it cannot ignore the injustices taking place every day on its streets and within its communities, it cannot turn a blind eye to the unacceptable wealth inequalities between its minority very rich and its majority middle and poorer classes, it cannot keep refusing social equitable programs under different excuses and empty forgotten slogans and sentiments. 

A country aspiring for world leadership cannot and should not tolerate the highest numbers of Covid19  cases and deaths in the globe. And keep lying about it to itself and the world. Any country looking honestly for its soul cannot try to escape and hide from applying some social justice toward its sick, toward its students, towards its senior citizens, toward its veterans, while ignoring its militarism and bullying, its wild adventures, its interference and exploiting in practically every country in every continent. 

Most Americans from all walks of life say all the time, this is not who we are, and probably it is so to a majority of Americans, but sadly enough no one in the world believe us any more, no one takes us seriously, we've totally stigmatized ourselves. The entire world think of us as totally double-faced and Hypocritical, selfish, brutal and greedy, careless. To my knowledge only Zionist Israel managed to beat us at the game, while we're both claiming to be still searching hard for our soul and compassionate goals.

As a matter of fact, both countries are facing the same type of leadership elections, while I'm only concerned  about us here, we have to seize the moment and choose new directions, we have to fight the dark visions governing our lives and future. And sincerely fight for our true character, that is if we really believe in our mission and the future of our country and the world. 

The country is being run exactly like a corporation, strictly to the benefit of its owners and share holders, America is at the mercy of the Trump business model, everything for him, his family and oligarchy, plus the few other businesses and banks around. The rest of the country doesn't really count, it just serves the small top wealthy elite, and every method and fascist nationalist tactic is legit to maintain power.

So if every citizen of this promising country don't give this election all they've got and their utmost seriousness, we all may wake up one day in early November wondering; how could we have left the fate of the country and the planet go down the drain, at the hands of haters, selfish deniers, liars, delayers and falsifier contortionists, we could truly lose our souls and start our new irreversible journey into darkness.       

The journalist A. Giridharadas says; The U.S. has become two countries, impermeable to each other, where each side thinks the other presents an existential threat to the idea of America, and where persuasion is all but impossible, it's a real cold civil war. 

              My gratitude to all my good readers, stay safe.  

      

        

FOR THE RECORD .....

 

With just under two months remaining until the U.S. elections, president Trump is desperate to show off his accomplishments in the area of foreign relations, that urgency translates to a strategy that can be boiled down to "Trump makes peace in the highest places" the goal is to broker as many international agreements as possible in order to portray the president as the ultimate deal maker.

But unfortunately, the challenges and inequities we are facing internally as a nation eclipses his ambitions and continue to be on full display. Rising Covid-19  cases and deaths, record unemployment numbers, more families defaulting on rent payment and finding themselves homeless overnight, more Americans grieving in the wake of violent police brutality, more divisions and chaos within the same cities and constituencies, more people than ever hitting the poverty lines while few billionaires doubled, tripled and quadrupled their fortunes since the pandemic started, we give them more tax-breaks, we further enrich pharma and the military, and we insist on calling Corona the Chinese virus because it sounds nice and deflect attention.

Mr. Trump's ugliness is what makes him what he is, the supremacist of all supremacists, he is not a conservative by any definition, he's not a Republican in any real sense, in no way a public servant, he's a president only of the disunited red states of America and their rednecks populations, he only addresses them because they blindly vote for him and definitely not because he admires them, or their ways or  their religious denominations. He loathes anyone poorer, weaker or less fortunate than himself, even our dead soldiers, they are all losers, suckers and stupid. 

In his final days, his desperate absurd continuous tweeting, attacking everyone and everything, camouflaging all his failed and aborted foreign adventures by pulling out few of our soldiers from couple theaters and attacking some of his own appointed generals and the war machine, inciting his voters to double vote, against the law of the land, glorifying fascism, brutality and racism, and totally sitting on the side, leaving the pandemic run its crazy wild course with no proper guidance whatsoever, Americans have certainly had their hands full and enough of his lies.  

Now to top it all and make things even more daunting, it happens to be a presidential election year, and that in America means that everything is politicized, everything meaningful is more or less put on hold, and only considered if beneficial or not to election or reelections purposes, both parties adhere to the game systematically every four years.

And that's not even the half of it, as we all know, the fact that our president is one of the most disliked public figures in all of American history, and a joke to the world, it only adds to the stress, pressure, excitement and sarcasm. I mean Mr. Trump has been officially impeached by the house, in fact if he's reelected, he will be the very first impeached president to ever be reinstated in office, I bet he even likes the idea. Talk about history in the making!!! 

But could it happen?? would the majority of Americans really vote him back?? or even some game of his to reinstate himself in office, many seem to doubt it, but you never know, I guess we'd all have to wait till early Nov. and see the game governing our lives and future unfold, the show is fully on and it must continue. And as Mr. Ian Bassin, a former White-House counsel explained ; "Mr. Trump is not trying to win re-election, he is trying to stay in power at any price, there is a huge difference between the two."

              My as always many thanks to all, be well and stay safe.         

         

 

OUR DARK & BLEAK ELECTIONS .......

 

It's high time for America and maybe the world population, to get serious about some essential changes in our lives. texts, laws even constitutions, cannot stay the same centuries after centuries, turning them into untouchable sacred words and policies, governing our lives exactly the same way it was 300 years ago, or 2000 or 3000 years ago. Not even religions and their sacred books are managing to keep literal and unchanged without new adaptations and new rereading and rephrasing of its texts to suit our modern times and tempo. 

It took humanity thousands of years to reach some forms of Democracy, and get rid in many places of authoritarianism and absolute monarchies. But most of us still refuse to use these privileges smartly and effectively, many insist on voting just to elect obvious dictators, greedy and selfish profiteers, adventurists who will stop at nothing to reach their goals. 

It is time to vote with open eyes to the future and not as always with nostalgic past times and memories of pseudo better days. It is time to vote climate, it is time to vote equitable equality and a reasonable wealth distribution, it is time to vote clean renewable energy, it is time to vote for common national social rights as in health, education, a descent roof on top of every American family, it is time to vote for rebuilding America's infrastructure, it's time to reconsider our tax shares and our benefits from it and maybe have a say in how it's being spent. 

It is time to vote for total care and some well being of our elderly and senior citizens, it is time to vote to diminish our armed forces, reduce excessive armaments, stop our adventures across the entire globe and our permanent endless wars against anyone and everyone. Trust me my friends, no one is contemplating or  looking to invade our country or enslave our people and change our lifestyle. It is time to vote civility, less superiority and racism, less hegemony, less brutality, less apartheid and surely less greed and selfishness. 

Americans have to start thinking and considering all of us, all our friends and allies, all of the Western world, the entire globe. We're turning into a small village after all. America and the world are paying a very heavy toll from fossil-fueled and nuclear disasters, from across borders pandemics, from stupid wars and adventures and sanctions in all their forms, from inadmissible disparities in national wealth distributions. 

Unfortunately it's not only America, many of the world countries live in similar conditions, live with tragedies and grievances, while they busy themselves stealing, delegitimizing, flattening out and nullifying elections, we cannot afford such infantile pastimes and games, nature and life are fed-up with our foolishness and carelessness, with our greed and brutality toward each other, and every other living species. Let's vote people who can provide creative, inclusive and collaborative leadership, people who can truly lead us into the future and not make us live and relive the past, or their own present at best. 

In fact, our entire planet's health is in grave danger and jeopardy, the election or reelection of reckless leaders, fascist nationalists, neocons, will surely result in irreversible changes to the well being of humanity, and to the climate that will affect and hurt every single person on earth.     

It's time, high time to take our elections more seriously and try to advance our and our children's and grandchildren's welfare and decent existence, a leader who will do anything to be elected or reelected shouldn't be in consideration. What the world and America need today is to avoid invoking its past glories and historical greatness, stop overstating our military prowess and geography and just embrace a fair dose of result-oriented realism.

       My usual many thanks to all, be well and stay safe.    

     

                 

IT IS WHAT IT IS .....

 

As Mr. Trump and his oligarchy and their GOP blind followers are working furiously 24/7 to sabotage every chance his Democratic opponent and every Democratic politician's chance they have at winning the November elections, they want to suppress votes, kill institutions like the post office, spread lies and fake news, to stop any Democratic advance, break their spirit and demoralize Democratic and independent voters totally. 

Joe Biden's message to the nation is: " We have too often allowed our differences to prevail among us, we have too often allowed ambitious men to play off those differences for political gain. We have often retreated behind our differences when no one really tried to lead us beyond them. But all our differences hardly measure up to the values we all hold in common ... I want to make the system work again, and I'm convinced that is what all Americans really want. 

Well, honestly Mr. Biden, I don't share your optimism and honest morality, and I frankly don't believe all Americans are so loving and caring for each other, and looking for the ideal system that will work for everyone on equal footing, an egalitarian socio-economical-humanitarian-moral system for all, not internally or internationally, we are witnessing a good third of the population following blindly and willingly, enthusiastically a fascistic, pro conspiracy fanatic, a wheeler dealer who is determined to wreck the country and its democracy, its institutions and people for his own personal benefit and electoral ambitions. Your kind words and intentions Mr. Biden do not come up nor stand to the situation we're facing. 

What is happening nowadays in America with its internal politics, foreign policies, elections, with its civility at all levels, its widening inequitable wealth distribution, its efforts to rebuild the country's infrastructure, its education at all levels, its health system and response to dangerous pandemics, on the brink of war in more than a place, it is all becoming a huge farce, a joke, a politicized tool, a personal glorifying game, these cases and many more similar ones, make it appear that the simpletons, the idiots, the fanatic zealots have obviously taken over the asylum, and only the rapid institution of some sane rules is going to bring back life and politics to a semblance of sanity, normalcy and progress. 

finally, and to sum it up, I have to say , that the great Democratic convention, was more of a nice Broadway joyous and merry show than a serious responsible political convention, especially considering the ill fated times America is going through, and the havoc the Trump legacy is leaving behind, it was more entertainment and less substance, more artistry and make-up and less sobriety, maybe it reflects the 21st century American mood and nonchalance toward our existential problems and politics in general, IT'S SHOW TIME AND THE SHOW MUST CONTINUE !!!

          As always, my many thanks to all, stay safe.                   

A LOOK AT THE NEW PRESIDENTIAL TICKET .....

 

Yesterday Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for the presidential election in early November named California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, making history by selecting the first woman of color, descending from Jamaican and Indian parents, to compete against Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Harris joins Biden at a critical moment of unprecedented national crisis. 

The country is living its worse pandemic in one hundred years that claimed over 200.000 lives and several millions of positive cases, business closures and disruptions resulting from the Covid virus, that left millions without jobs, over 10% unemployment rate, many risk evictions and becoming homeless, many struggle to feed their children and families, a further disparity in wealth, health, education between different levels of society, plus an ongoing civil unrest due to harsh racist practices and police brutality. 

Like many in America, and the world, Harris left some a bit disappointed or cold at best, her whole ideology wasn't progressive enough, we will examine these claims further down, I had and still have different serious reservations about her foreign policies and opinions, especially toward the Middle-East and its various conflicts, for instance, among the list of finalists who were under consideration by the Biden campaign for the VP role, Harris had the clearest record of support for Israel and its present leadership, and with Biden himself, an enthusiastic modern Zionist, all policies created by the ill previous administration, have no realistic chance of being restudied, revised or revoked. 

But if we look from a strictly American perspective, at the woman herself and the position, she's still a sure main street progressive, with possibilities of progressive initiatives, and neutral in her ideologies, which objectively might serve well the presidency, the country and its citizens, and as Mark shields said on NPR she has a million Dollar smile. And with a Trump, his family and oligarchy administration's failure after failure, endangering the unity and prosperity of the American majority, every honest citizen voter ought to think clearly, rationally and give this coming election some serious consideration.

Lately in America, the debate about candidates and in our case the second in command, was shaping around what can a presidential team do and what policies, ideas and progress can they advance, or just consider who can best beat Trump/Pence and win the election. While most people now accept that both factors are as important and determining factors, and not just one of them. 

In our times, here in America, many people are suffering and being subjected to great pain, whether they've lost their jobs, their businesses, their loved ones to the virus, or having to choose between keeping a roof over their heads, or paying for medical emergency, or feeding their families, not to talk about educating their kids, our actual president and his entire administration, don't want to be distracted by any of these, they're actually showing signs of getting bored from some aspects of these threatening problems.

 Mr. Trump managed even to totally politicize and using an institutions like the post offices as a hostage, employing more than half a million individuals and probably feeding 700.000 families across America, he is flatly refusing to help providing any funding to save it, he's even threatening to veto any funding, because he strongly believe that republicans will loose the elections if every American could vote, he said it clearly in an interview with Fox news. while their major priority is keeping Wall Street in good shape and the Nasdaq skyrocketing.

The Biden/Harris duo give some glimpse of hope to millions of Americans. While regaining the soul of the nation, they seem to understand that taking care of needy people, and all the people, isn't a distraction, it is the job. I only hope that this duo will change their words of leading the world into inspiring the world, it's a way of thinking.

Now it remains to be seen, if this duo, once elected to lead our country, will treat the rest of the world, be it in Latin America, the Middle-East and its conflicts, Israel and its brutal colonial supremacy, our endless adventures, wars and conflicts with so many, and lately, backed by an absurd jealousy, turning China into our newest perpetual enemy. While we keep falling into the hands of our corporate greedy masters, and their war machines, will the duo be able to reverse some or most of these policies that are becoming our life engine. 

          As always my thanks to all , be safe and well.                        

ANTIFA ......

Antifa, a political protest movement comprising of various autonomous groups opposing fascism and other forms of extreme right wing ideologies, including white supremacy and Nazi like tactics .
Mr. Trump and his AG Mr. Barr and some Republican legislators like Ted Cruz want to classify and designate officially Antifa as a terrorist organization, there's no proof at all of any Antifa member using violence or causing the death of anyone, unlike the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan which is not declared nor classified as a terrorist organization.

In the last century both Bolshevism and Fascism proved to be two false dawns, they didn't bring the morning of a new day to their nations nor to the world, but only some archaic times. Later in the century came the U.S. global role of supremacy and control of the world, it worked for few decades with some ups and downs, some balances and restrictions, but since then, the world in its entirety, even what we call and consider allies, got bored and tired of being ordered, bullied, threatened and commanded.

We couldn't and wouldn't stop our vulgar adventures all over, denying it was all for the sole advantage of a permanent war machine and its corporate profiteers behind it. We kept our games of camouflaging, ignoring every other rational warning. Our lies to the whole world managed to convince us, and only us, of a pseudo rectitude of behavior in our policies and acts.

Our model has failed, the world today is not interested in our military prowess and our war machine, it is rather looking at our public health, our education and research levels, our infrastructures, our social equity and equilibrium, social benefits and securities, and while the world is seeing mostly failures and mediocrities, a horribly ill wealth distribution and total unfair taxation, a very corrupt and partisan  political class leading to a total mismanagement of our capacities.

Historically, as Rome inherited the Greco-oriental culture, ruled the world and then lost it all, America is going through the same process, it inherited a medieval European religious and conservative, supremacist culture, an aggressive and brutal one, that exercised from its very first days death and annihilation against every and anyone who stood in its colonial and imperial way, be them native Americans, Hispanics, enslaved Africans, even French and British powers.

It went on for decades even centuries, culminating very lately in one man, one regime, a Mr. Trump, his oligarchy and family, who got exposed showing all of our weaknesses and long dating faults. But, is it not a universal way, look at Israel's Netanyahu, Turkey's Erdogan, Iran's mullahs, plus all other fools around the globe following our example and political guidance.

America is ceasing to rule, and no one sees who is going to take her place, and that is the simple truth. Not China or Europe or Russia, not Iran or Turkey, Israel or Saudi Arabia regionally will be capable of filling the gap. It sounds good and amusing to some for a while, even positive, but I'm more afraid of a chaotic outcome and a very dangerous one for that.

The entire world is learning nowadays what Talleyrand told Napoleon back then ; You can do almost  everything with bayonets, sire, except sit on them. We are all learning that to rule is not the gesture of snatching at power, nor to be brutal, vengeful, and fascistic, but the tranquil exercise of it. America is learning it the hard way, while the Middle-East is paying a very high price for not applying it.

Many countries around the world, including the U.S. , are facing periods of great difficulty in their internal lives, with strenuous problems of law, economics, equality of wealth and public order, states cannot keep crushing the independence of the individuals nor the groups, they will implode sooner or later. Increasing fascistic tactics and police numbers and armaments and brutality will lead inevitably to situations of great instability, and even civil unrest and wars, as we keep witnessing all through the Middle-East and other parts.

Most countries have passed through periods when someone who shouldn't rule has made the attempt to grab power, but a strong instinct and will forced them to rethink and crush those claims to usurp and hold power, some democratically some by force, many countries rejected these passing irregularities, and reconstituted their reason and morality as people. We cannot keep escaping from our real destiny, blinding ourselves to its evidence, we cannot keep playing deaf to our real problems and avoid facing up to what has to be .
                            As always , my many thanks to all for following, stay safe.