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Opinion: Addressing “Crazy” Fears of Trump’s America may be Key to Creating a Civil Rights Culture

I always find it worthwhile to try to understand those with whom I most disagree and to decipher the experiences and psychologies animating their belief systems.  It helps me understand why the world is the way it is and why it’s not the way I’d like it to be.  And also what I need to address in seeking to transform the world. Transformation tends to begin with understanding others, not just dismissing them. read more

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Opinion: There is no reason to celebrate a broken nation’s birthday

Biden leads Trump in Texas and Georgia

America under Trump is a badly failing nation in every conceivable measure. That being the tragically sad case, there is no reason whatsoever to celebrate America in its current failing state; anyone doing so is either a Russian spy, a religious malcontent, or a Trump supporter.

It is an abomination that a once-great nation like America is now the laughingstock of the entire world – especially after the monumental efforts of President Barack Obama to once again establish America as the leader of the free world. It is beyond refute that except for those un-Americans cited above, there are very, very few Americans who believe this pathetic nation is anything to be proud of or to celebrate.

There is little reason to cite any of the reasons America is failing because journalists, whose job it is to inform the populace on an hourly basis, are heroically keeping pace with the horrible events signaling that. at best, America is a banana republic with a malignant narcissist and blatant racist in the White House.

Of course, Trump has not decimated America unilaterally – Republicans bear as much of the blame for the state of the nation as Trump. Without ardent Republican support, Trump would have been sent packing within a few months of his very poorly-attended inauguration.

It is likely true that few Americans comprehend why the Founding Fathers declared America’s independence from Great Britain; something they would know if they ever read the document for themselves. It is glaringly apparent that Donald Trump is unaware of the contents of the Declaration of Independence, because if he could read the document he would see quickly that he is the personification of mad King George III that the colonists revolted against.

A quick perusal of the Declaration of Independence will inform any American that Trump, and his Republican facilitators, wholly oppose the reasons why the colonists revolted and declared their independence from England. If they read the document, they would see that the complaints lodged against King George III duly apply to dirty Donald Trump – and not only because he thinks he is a monarch, is mentally deficient, and above the law.

Those special words so eloquently written by Thomas Jefferson, “

all men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness read more

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Mitch McConnell Warns Democrats Not to “Vandalize” the Senate If They Win the Majority

Mitch McConnell has warned Democrats not to change any of the Senate’s rules if they win in November. He’s particularly concerned about maintaining the filibuster.

The Senate Majority Leader made the remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday as it has become more and more likely Republicans will be swept from office this year.

McConnell claimed that progressive Democrats wanted major reforms of the system, including changing the Supreme Court and making Washington, D.C. a state.

“And to accomplish all this, destroying the Senate’s distinguishing feature that makes radical change hard by design,” McConnell said.

“We have an entire political movement that is telling us literally out loud that they’ve lost patience with playing by the rules and may well declare war on the rule book.”

The Kentucky Republican went on to claim that Democrats must not “vandalize the rules to pass legislation with a simple majority.”

McConnell is clearly referring to the filibuster – a procedure that has been much abused over the past decade. If a Democratic majority were to reform the filibuster, they could prevent a Republican minority from blocking legislation.

The Republican-controlled Senate has become a graveyard for legislation, thanks in large part to McConnell, who has used the body’s sometimes arcane rules to partisan advantage.

However, recent polling suggests the GOP won’t be able to hold on to the Senate in November as

President Donald Trump’s unpopularity trickles down to the rest of his party. read more

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Democrats Slam “Insane” Decision to Issue Bayonets to Soldiers for Crowd Control

Democrats have reacted with fury and incredulity to reports that the army issued troops with bayonets during protests in Washington, D.C. The weapons were never used.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, confirmed that bayonets were issued during recent protests in the nation’s capital. Democratic lawmakers were quick to react.

General Milley sent a letter on the matter to Rep. Ted Lieu and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. They responded in their letter, while Lieu also took to Twitter.

The two Democrats compared arming troops with bayonets to the notorious Kent State shootings in 1970. The National Guard killed four protesting students.

It is insane to issue bayonets to soldiers for crowd control. Are they supposed to stab protestors? Americans are not the enemy. @CongressmanRaja & I are demanding @DeptofDefense & @thejointstaff to commit to never do this again in the future. https://t.co/PVF95hbrsC read more

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi Calls Donald Trump A Hoax

Nancy Pelosi has responded with derision to Donald Trump’s claims that Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers are a hoax. The President has repeatedly asserted that the story isn’t true.

The Speaker of the House spoke to the press on Thursday before a meeting of congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight. She dismissed Trump’s claims of a media hoax.

“He’ll say this is a hoax, and it’s a hoax that they are 24/7 trying to disrupt our election as they did in 2016,” Pelosi said.

“He says the Coronavirus is a hoax. The fact is the President himself is a hoax.”

News broke in recent days that the Russian state was offering financial inducements to the Taliban in Afghanistan for the deaths of American soldiers.

The accusations have rocked Washington, with both Democrats and Republican deeply concerned.

“Let’s hope that the Gang of Eight shows up, open to hear the truth, the facts, the intelligence, and that ‘Moscow Mitch’ doesn’t show up, but the leader of the Republicans in the Senate comes with an open mind,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi again raised the question of Trump’s frequent defense of Russia.

“You just wonder what the President would be thinking if this kind of intelligence had come forth about any other country, but every time it’s Russia, as I’ve said over and over. With this President all roads lead to Putin,” she said.

“I think the President should step down because of dereliction of duty,” the California Democrat went on.

Follow Darragh Roche on Twitter read more

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Monmouth Poll: Trump Has Claimed Biden Lacks Stamina, But Latest Poll Shows Voters Disagree

President Donald Trump spent the 2016 election cycle claiming Hillary Clinton for not having enough “stamina” to be president. He has volleyed similar attacks at former vice president Joe Biden, his current opponent. He has often referred to Biden as “Sleepy Joe” and asserted Biden is not up to the task of running the country during a global pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

But voters believe otherwise, according to a new Monmouth poll, The poll found that fifty-two percent of voters are “very” or “somewhat confident” that Biden has the mental and physical stamina to be president. By comparison, 45 percent said the same about Trump.

While more voters are more confident about Trump’s stamina to Biden’s––33 percent to 23 percent––Monmouth says “this is due to a partisan phenomenon where Trump’s base is more likely to offer its support without qualification.”

The new poll comes the morning after Trump challenged Biden to take a cognitive test.

“I’ve been tested and I’m constantly tested,” Biden said earlier this week. “Look, all you gotta do is watch me, and I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against.”

He added: “This president … he talks about cognitive ability. He doesn’t seem cognitively aware of what’s going on. He either reads and or gets briefed on important issues and he forgets it, or he doesn’t think it’s necessary that he needs to know it.”

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WaPo Editorial Board Rips Trump’s Coronavirus Response: “Virus is Not Under Control; It is In Control”

The Washington Post editorial board issued a harsh rebuke of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response, particularly as he has attempted to downplay the severity of the pandemic as case numbers reach record highs.

“The reality is that the virus is not under control; it is in control,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “Record-shattering numbers of new cases were reported Wednesday in six states: California, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska. New daily cases are increasing in 41 states compared to two weeks ago. Outbreaks and superspreader events are erupting, such as clusters from Myrtle Beach, S.C. In five months, the pandemic has killed nearly 19 times as many Americans as have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The editorial board accused the president of engaging in “magical thinking,” saying he “failed to muster the logistical support to confront it” and “then decided to walk away by leaving the response largely to the states.” The board goes on to note that “states that opened up prematurely in May are paying the price now, and Mr. Trump bears responsibility for encouraging governors to loosen the restrictions too early. It was a bad miscalculation.”

Along the way, the board includes some of the president’s own quotes. For example, on Wednesday, he said, “I think at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope.” And yesterday, he told reporters: “We have some areas where we are putting out the flames, or the fires, and that’s working out well.”

“This is historic delusion, and it has consequences in human lives,” the board concludes.