Copyright © 2015 Bert N. Langford (Images may be subject to copyright. Please send feedback)
Welcome to Our Generation USA!
In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
(Our Op Ed)
Under this web page, your Webhost will cover points of view impacting America today. Therefore, these opinions are solely of my own in consideration of news developments impacting "Our Generation USA!"
Below, you will find a list of Topics appearing under this web page, Point of View: click on the topic of interest to be taken to that content:
For amplification, click on any of the following blue hyperlinks
- The Putin-Trump Connection
- The Hypocrisy of Donald Trump
- The GOP Tax Plan Contributes to Income Inequality
- Donald Trump: 365 days of Claims followed by Accusations of Sexual Misconduct by Trump
- Bernie Sanders unveils 'Medicare for all' plan with 16 co-sponsors
- Trump/Russian Collusion
- Trump Incites White Supremacists Resulting in the Murder of a Protestor
- Trump blasts McCain in terms of McCain's Service Record
- Trump's payback to Putin for Election Hacking
- GOP Proposes Cuts to Medicaid and Other Social Programs
- Understanding the Hypocrisy of the GOP Leadership: "The Republican Party Moves Beyond Hypocrisy"
For amplification, click on any of the following blue hyperlinks
The Putin-Trump Connection: Has Trump committed Treason?
In our first Cyberwar (WWIII?), Russian President Vladimir Putin is winning, thanks to the great help of his American Protegee, Donald Trump! Below we cover,
In our first Cyberwar (WWIII?), Russian President Vladimir Putin is winning, thanks to the great help of his American Protegee, Donald Trump! Below we cover,
- President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation;
- The Role of Wikileaks
- Cambridge Analytica vs. the Christopher Steele Dossier
- Did the Russian 2016 Cyber attacks on our American Democracy throw the Presidential election to Donald Trump?
- Trump's allegiance to Putin borders on Treason
Published May 11, 2018 -- The Hypocrisy that is Donald Trump:
President Trump has been proven time-and-again to be a liar, his conspiracy with Russia to overthrow the 2016 elections has been confirmed by multiple reliable intelligence sources, while he praises some of the world's worst dictators. But perhaps worst of all is the hypocrisy he has displayed time-and-again, including towards his opponents, e.g., Hillary Clinton as "Crooked Hillary", when it should have been "Crooked Donald". And instead of "Fake News", it should be "Fake President"!
Trump blamed Secretary Clinton for the Christopher Steele dossier that was originally contracted by Trump's primary opponents, while hypocritically, Trump used Cambridge Analytica for digging up "dirt" on Secretary Clinton, with thanks also from Wikileaks and Russia!
"Cambridge Analytica CEO’s claim about role in Trump’s campaign raises questions" by the Washington Post, March 21, 2018 issue:
"As a video camera secretly recorded the conversation, Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix boasted about his role in Donald Trump’s election campaign, saying that he had met the candidate in 2016 “many times” and suggested he was integral to the victory.
“We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting, we ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign, and our data informed all the strategy,” Nix told a person posing as a potential client on a recording released this week by Britain’s Channel 4 News.
The claims by Nix intensify questions about the role Cambridge Analytica played in President Trump’s campaign and what data the firm used. Nix was suspended this week amid allegations of unethical behavior and reports that his company improperly obtained the Facebook data of millions of Americans.
Nix told The Washington Post in an October 2016 interview that he could not be involved in the campaign’s strategy because he was a British citizen.
Top Trump campaign officials, meanwhile, played down the work of the data-science company, which was paid at least $6 million to do voter modeling and ad buys for Trump in the 2016 general election.
Brad Parscale, who served as the campaign’s digital director and who helped hire Cambridge Analytica, appeared to dismiss Nix’s claims Wednesday. “Another day of people taking credit for @realDonaldTrump’s victory,” he tweeted. “So incredibly false and ridiculous. Let them say that under oath. Just an overblown sales pitch.” Parscale did not respond to a request for comment.
However, The Post reported Tuesday that Cambridge Analytica’s voter persuasion strategy was guided by conservative strategist Stephen K. Bannon in the years before he became Trump’s strategist, according to Chris Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica employee.
Bannon oversaw the effort to siphon up Facebook data to create a powerful voter targeting tool and was a top executive at Cambridge when it tested themes such as “drain the swamp” later harnessed by Trump.
[Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s collection of Facebook data, according to former employee]
The White House and Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Nix did not respond to a request for comment.
Questions about Cambridge Analytica’s data collection resulted from news reports that an app created by a Cambridge University psychologist, Aleksandr Kogan, accessed information from about 50 million Facebook users. The app not only collected data from 270,000 Facebook users who gave direct permission, but apparently millions of their Facebook friends.
Facebook last week banned the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie for allegedly improperly sharing that data.
Kogan said in an interview with BBC Radio that he did nothing wrong and was being made a “scapegoat.” He said he was “assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement Wednesday that his company had “made mistakes” in its handling of the issue. He said that Cambridge Analytica has agreed to a forensic audit to confirm it deleted the data, as the company said this week it did.
Cambridge Analytica did not respond to a request for comment.
In its statement this week, the company admitted for the first time that it had received Facebook data from a company connected to Kogan — something it had repeatedly denied after the Guardian first reported the firm’s use of the information in 2015.
In a Feb. 2017 interview, Nix told The Post that the Guardian article was “fully inaccurate.”
“We do not have any historic data,” he said.
Cambridge Analytica repeatedly insisted this week that it used no Facebook data in the models that it did for the Trump campaign.
“We ran a standard political data science program with the same kind of political preference models used by other presidential campaigns,” the firm tweeted this week.
Nix, in an interview with The Post at the company’s New York City office two weeks before the 2016 election, discussed at length the way the company sought to use Facebook data. He said information gleaned from the site was done so with permission of Facebook and its users.
[Trump’s plan for a comeback includes building a ‘psychographic’ profile of every voter]
“You can collect Facebook data legally with the consent of the Facebook users and the consent of Facebook,” Nix told The Post, in a portion of the interview not previously reported.
“If I were to ask you, ‘Can I use your data?’ and you say, ‘Sure, here’s my data,’ you can give that to me,’” Nix said.
Nix also stressed that he was not involved in the Trump campaign’s strategy, noting that would violate U.S. campaign finance law.
“As a British person, I am unable to give strategic advice to political campaigns in the U.S.,” he said. “I’m not sitting inside the campaign, I’m not advising. . . . I myself [am not] inside the firewall,” Nix added, saying that U.S. citizens employed by the company did that work.
Daniel A. Petalas, former Federal Election Commission acting general counsel, said Wednesday that Nix would not have been allowed to provide substantial advice to Trump or his campaign because of his status as a foreigner.
Nix “could play golf” with Trump but not “talk about how the campaign is conducting its activities,” said Petalas, principal of the law firm Garvey Schubert Barer.
[End of Article]
___________________________________________________________________________
President Trump has been proven time-and-again to be a liar, his conspiracy with Russia to overthrow the 2016 elections has been confirmed by multiple reliable intelligence sources, while he praises some of the world's worst dictators. But perhaps worst of all is the hypocrisy he has displayed time-and-again, including towards his opponents, e.g., Hillary Clinton as "Crooked Hillary", when it should have been "Crooked Donald". And instead of "Fake News", it should be "Fake President"!
Trump blamed Secretary Clinton for the Christopher Steele dossier that was originally contracted by Trump's primary opponents, while hypocritically, Trump used Cambridge Analytica for digging up "dirt" on Secretary Clinton, with thanks also from Wikileaks and Russia!
"Cambridge Analytica CEO’s claim about role in Trump’s campaign raises questions" by the Washington Post, March 21, 2018 issue:
"As a video camera secretly recorded the conversation, Cambridge Analytica chief executive Alexander Nix boasted about his role in Donald Trump’s election campaign, saying that he had met the candidate in 2016 “many times” and suggested he was integral to the victory.
“We did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting, we ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign, and our data informed all the strategy,” Nix told a person posing as a potential client on a recording released this week by Britain’s Channel 4 News.
The claims by Nix intensify questions about the role Cambridge Analytica played in President Trump’s campaign and what data the firm used. Nix was suspended this week amid allegations of unethical behavior and reports that his company improperly obtained the Facebook data of millions of Americans.
Nix told The Washington Post in an October 2016 interview that he could not be involved in the campaign’s strategy because he was a British citizen.
Top Trump campaign officials, meanwhile, played down the work of the data-science company, which was paid at least $6 million to do voter modeling and ad buys for Trump in the 2016 general election.
Brad Parscale, who served as the campaign’s digital director and who helped hire Cambridge Analytica, appeared to dismiss Nix’s claims Wednesday. “Another day of people taking credit for @realDonaldTrump’s victory,” he tweeted. “So incredibly false and ridiculous. Let them say that under oath. Just an overblown sales pitch.” Parscale did not respond to a request for comment.
However, The Post reported Tuesday that Cambridge Analytica’s voter persuasion strategy was guided by conservative strategist Stephen K. Bannon in the years before he became Trump’s strategist, according to Chris Wylie, a former Cambridge Analytica employee.
Bannon oversaw the effort to siphon up Facebook data to create a powerful voter targeting tool and was a top executive at Cambridge when it tested themes such as “drain the swamp” later harnessed by Trump.
[Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s collection of Facebook data, according to former employee]
The White House and Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Nix did not respond to a request for comment.
Questions about Cambridge Analytica’s data collection resulted from news reports that an app created by a Cambridge University psychologist, Aleksandr Kogan, accessed information from about 50 million Facebook users. The app not only collected data from 270,000 Facebook users who gave direct permission, but apparently millions of their Facebook friends.
Facebook last week banned the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, Kogan and Wylie for allegedly improperly sharing that data.
Kogan said in an interview with BBC Radio that he did nothing wrong and was being made a “scapegoat.” He said he was “assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement Wednesday that his company had “made mistakes” in its handling of the issue. He said that Cambridge Analytica has agreed to a forensic audit to confirm it deleted the data, as the company said this week it did.
Cambridge Analytica did not respond to a request for comment.
In its statement this week, the company admitted for the first time that it had received Facebook data from a company connected to Kogan — something it had repeatedly denied after the Guardian first reported the firm’s use of the information in 2015.
In a Feb. 2017 interview, Nix told The Post that the Guardian article was “fully inaccurate.”
“We do not have any historic data,” he said.
Cambridge Analytica repeatedly insisted this week that it used no Facebook data in the models that it did for the Trump campaign.
“We ran a standard political data science program with the same kind of political preference models used by other presidential campaigns,” the firm tweeted this week.
Nix, in an interview with The Post at the company’s New York City office two weeks before the 2016 election, discussed at length the way the company sought to use Facebook data. He said information gleaned from the site was done so with permission of Facebook and its users.
[Trump’s plan for a comeback includes building a ‘psychographic’ profile of every voter]
“You can collect Facebook data legally with the consent of the Facebook users and the consent of Facebook,” Nix told The Post, in a portion of the interview not previously reported.
“If I were to ask you, ‘Can I use your data?’ and you say, ‘Sure, here’s my data,’ you can give that to me,’” Nix said.
Nix also stressed that he was not involved in the Trump campaign’s strategy, noting that would violate U.S. campaign finance law.
“As a British person, I am unable to give strategic advice to political campaigns in the U.S.,” he said. “I’m not sitting inside the campaign, I’m not advising. . . . I myself [am not] inside the firewall,” Nix added, saying that U.S. citizens employed by the company did that work.
Daniel A. Petalas, former Federal Election Commission acting general counsel, said Wednesday that Nix would not have been allowed to provide substantial advice to Trump or his campaign because of his status as a foreigner.
Nix “could play golf” with Trump but not “talk about how the campaign is conducting its activities,” said Petalas, principal of the law firm Garvey Schubert Barer.
[End of Article]
___________________________________________________________________________
Published November 28, 2017:
In particular, fear the GOP tax plan (see links below), as it can potentially cause another Great Recession, or even worse. Refer to the web page "HERE AND NOW" for background contributing to the following topics:
By such a transfer in wealth (effectively "robbing from the poor to benefit the Rich": Robin Hood in reverse!), the United States is at risk of THREE potential outcomes:
"3" above is particularly a concern, as it furthers the awful income inequality in the United States: without a healthy middle class, the economy will go south!
___________________________________________________________________________
In particular, fear the GOP tax plan (see links below), as it can potentially cause another Great Recession, or even worse. Refer to the web page "HERE AND NOW" for background contributing to the following topics:
By such a transfer in wealth (effectively "robbing from the poor to benefit the Rich": Robin Hood in reverse!), the United States is at risk of THREE potential outcomes:
- By cuts in Medicaid and Obamacare, millions more will be without medical care, which ultimately will add taxes by the states in order to compensate for the difference!
- By increasing the budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, the same GOP congress will later attempt to reduce the deficit by cutting entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, at the risk to Senior Americans' ability to survive!
- It is likely that the GOP Tax Cut Plan, by overwhelmingly benefiting the top 1% of wealthiest Americans at the expense of not only the poor, but even the middle income earners, will trigger a Great Recession (or worse) even more devastating than in 2007-2008 caused by the last GOP administration!
"3" above is particularly a concern, as it furthers the awful income inequality in the United States: without a healthy middle class, the economy will go south!
___________________________________________________________________________
Donald Trump: 365 days of Claims followed by Accusations of Sexual Misconduct by Trump
The above topic covers a current issue with our President, further indicating that Trump is unworthy of the office of President, by treating women as "sexual objects".
This is particularly horrifying (and galling) in light of the most recent events where men like Harvey Weinstein have also been found to harass and sexually abuse women! Weinstein and others are being vilified (and fired) while our "President" is not?
This is on top of the ongoing investigation of Trump by Robert Mueller for obstruction of justice: Trump should not only be impeached, he should be tried for treason for conspiring with Russia to overturn our 2016 Elections in favor of Trump!
And, we can't overlook Roy Moore of Alabaman who has been accused of child molestation when he was younger!
___________________________________________________________________________
- YouTube Video: Tapper goes through Trump accusers one-by-one
- YouTube Video: Donald Trump: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The above topic covers a current issue with our President, further indicating that Trump is unworthy of the office of President, by treating women as "sexual objects".
This is particularly horrifying (and galling) in light of the most recent events where men like Harvey Weinstein have also been found to harass and sexually abuse women! Weinstein and others are being vilified (and fired) while our "President" is not?
This is on top of the ongoing investigation of Trump by Robert Mueller for obstruction of justice: Trump should not only be impeached, he should be tried for treason for conspiring with Russia to overturn our 2016 Elections in favor of Trump!
And, we can't overlook Roy Moore of Alabaman who has been accused of child molestation when he was younger!
___________________________________________________________________________
Published September 16, 2017:
Better even than Obamacare!
Bernie Sanders unveils 'Medicare for all' plan with 16 co-sponsors
"Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled his highly anticipated "Medicare for All" bill on Wednesday to cheering crowds.
The legislation would eventually cover every resident of the United States and be paid for by a series of changes to the tax code.
Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled his single-payer health-care proposal, "Medicare for All," on Wednesday, to a packed room of supporters on Capitol Hill.
The bill already has 16 Democratic co-sponsors, a number that would have been unimaginable just a year ago. The independent senator from Vermont also released a white paper on how the government might finance such a health-care system, which included an income-based tax increase, an expansion of the estate tax, and a new tax on incomes of the 0.1 percent of Americans.
"Today, we begin the long and difficult struggle to end the international disgrace" of U.S. health-care costs, Sanders said, emphasizing that Americans pay more in health-care costs than any other developed nation, nearly 18 percent of U.S. GDP. "The American people want to know what we're going to do to fix a dysfunctional health-care system."
Under a Medicare for All plan, "depending on your income, your taxes may go up," Sander said, "but this will be more than offset" by overall household savings on health-care costs, premiums and copays.
The senator also stressed that a government-managed plan would simplify the financial affairs of both individuals and small- and medium-sized companies. "You will no longer be writing checks to private insurance companies," he said.
"And today we tell the business community that we understand you want to focus on your core mission, not spending countless hours wondering how you're going to cover your employees' health insurance."
Sanders was joined at the podium by a number of high-profile Democrats said to be eyeing potential presidential campaigns in 2020. Among them were Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
There was also a distinctly campaign-like vibe at the hourlong rollout, with supporters cheering and holding signs. Sanders contributed to the energy, telling the crowd that the launch was the start of a national grass-roots campaign. "Our job now is to take this legislation to every state in the country and hear what the people have to say."
Theatrics aside, Sanders' bill would create a national health insurance program managed by the federal government and modeled on the current Medicare program. Private insurance would still exist to cover elective medical procedures, but would otherwise be phased out as the Medicare for All program was introduced and expanded over a four-year period.
Even before it was launched, Sanders' plan received swift and bitter criticism from Republicans, including White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose daily briefing overlapped with the senator's event.
Huckabee Sanders called single-payer health-care systems a "horrible" idea, and said, "I can't think of anything worse than having government more involved in your health care."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, unveiling his own health-care plan earlier in the day, declared, "Bernie, this ends your dream of a single-payer health-care system in America."
But polls show that support for single-payer health care is growing in the U.S. According to a recent poll by Kaiser Health News, 53 percent of adults, and one-third of respondents who identified as Republicans, support a single-payer government health-care system.
As long as Republicans control Congress and the White House, Sanders' bill has no chance of becoming law. Nonetheless, it serves as an important benchmark of where the Democratic Party, and Democratic voters, stand going into the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential contest."
However, the legislation needs to also eliminate the Medicare Gap, as that can cause the insured to lose their life savings to make up the difference!
___________________________________________________________________________
Better even than Obamacare!
Bernie Sanders unveils 'Medicare for all' plan with 16 co-sponsors
"Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled his highly anticipated "Medicare for All" bill on Wednesday to cheering crowds.
The legislation would eventually cover every resident of the United States and be paid for by a series of changes to the tax code.
Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled his single-payer health-care proposal, "Medicare for All," on Wednesday, to a packed room of supporters on Capitol Hill.
The bill already has 16 Democratic co-sponsors, a number that would have been unimaginable just a year ago. The independent senator from Vermont also released a white paper on how the government might finance such a health-care system, which included an income-based tax increase, an expansion of the estate tax, and a new tax on incomes of the 0.1 percent of Americans.
"Today, we begin the long and difficult struggle to end the international disgrace" of U.S. health-care costs, Sanders said, emphasizing that Americans pay more in health-care costs than any other developed nation, nearly 18 percent of U.S. GDP. "The American people want to know what we're going to do to fix a dysfunctional health-care system."
Under a Medicare for All plan, "depending on your income, your taxes may go up," Sander said, "but this will be more than offset" by overall household savings on health-care costs, premiums and copays.
The senator also stressed that a government-managed plan would simplify the financial affairs of both individuals and small- and medium-sized companies. "You will no longer be writing checks to private insurance companies," he said.
"And today we tell the business community that we understand you want to focus on your core mission, not spending countless hours wondering how you're going to cover your employees' health insurance."
Sanders was joined at the podium by a number of high-profile Democrats said to be eyeing potential presidential campaigns in 2020. Among them were Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
There was also a distinctly campaign-like vibe at the hourlong rollout, with supporters cheering and holding signs. Sanders contributed to the energy, telling the crowd that the launch was the start of a national grass-roots campaign. "Our job now is to take this legislation to every state in the country and hear what the people have to say."
Theatrics aside, Sanders' bill would create a national health insurance program managed by the federal government and modeled on the current Medicare program. Private insurance would still exist to cover elective medical procedures, but would otherwise be phased out as the Medicare for All program was introduced and expanded over a four-year period.
Even before it was launched, Sanders' plan received swift and bitter criticism from Republicans, including White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose daily briefing overlapped with the senator's event.
Huckabee Sanders called single-payer health-care systems a "horrible" idea, and said, "I can't think of anything worse than having government more involved in your health care."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, unveiling his own health-care plan earlier in the day, declared, "Bernie, this ends your dream of a single-payer health-care system in America."
But polls show that support for single-payer health care is growing in the U.S. According to a recent poll by Kaiser Health News, 53 percent of adults, and one-third of respondents who identified as Republicans, support a single-payer government health-care system.
As long as Republicans control Congress and the White House, Sanders' bill has no chance of becoming law. Nonetheless, it serves as an important benchmark of where the Democratic Party, and Democratic voters, stand going into the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential contest."
However, the legislation needs to also eliminate the Medicare Gap, as that can cause the insured to lose their life savings to make up the difference!
___________________________________________________________________________
Published September 16, 2017:
Trump/Russian Collusion
You will now find under the web page "HERE AND NOW!" new information that brings the nation closer to resolving the very likely fact that Trump and his organization conspired with Russia, our greatest adversary, during the 2016 elections to enable Trump to be elected President.
As we get closer-and-closer to the truth about this conspiracy, it is hoped that Congress will, as a result of the Mueller investigation, force the removal of Trump from office. Trump has proven to be unstable and therefore dangerous to World Peace.
But, it is also important that the nation eliminate the possibility of further hacking by Russia.
As cyber-terrorism can impact more than elections: even greater, it could wreak havoc -- not only on our elections but also on our infrastructure, whether power plants or other vital resources. Responsibility for this lies with the United States Cyber Command.
____________________________________________________________
Trump/Russian Collusion
You will now find under the web page "HERE AND NOW!" new information that brings the nation closer to resolving the very likely fact that Trump and his organization conspired with Russia, our greatest adversary, during the 2016 elections to enable Trump to be elected President.
As we get closer-and-closer to the truth about this conspiracy, it is hoped that Congress will, as a result of the Mueller investigation, force the removal of Trump from office. Trump has proven to be unstable and therefore dangerous to World Peace.
But, it is also important that the nation eliminate the possibility of further hacking by Russia.
As cyber-terrorism can impact more than elections: even greater, it could wreak havoc -- not only on our elections but also on our infrastructure, whether power plants or other vital resources. Responsibility for this lies with the United States Cyber Command.
____________________________________________________________
Published August 15, 2017:
The web page "HERE AND NOW" has been updated to include the Charlottesville, VA murder of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist -- including the deplorable response by Trump!
In addition, we have updated our coverage to also incorporate the investigation of Donald Trump by Robert Mueller for obstruction of justice by Trump in his attempts to hide the truth about his conspiracy with our greatest adversary, Russia, through Russian hacking of our 2016 Elections for the express purpose of throwing the election to Trump.
AND, as covered below, Trump has to be removed from office as his actions are interfering with our nation's ability to govern in the best interests of ALL Americans, not those who espouse hate and are ready to kill anyone who gets in their way!
And the real hero in the struggle is our Free Press, who faces up to all of Trump's threats each day to keep Americans aware of Trump's lies and devious tactics to avoid his own prosecution for treason.
___________________________________________________________________________
The web page "HERE AND NOW" has been updated to include the Charlottesville, VA murder of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist -- including the deplorable response by Trump!
In addition, we have updated our coverage to also incorporate the investigation of Donald Trump by Robert Mueller for obstruction of justice by Trump in his attempts to hide the truth about his conspiracy with our greatest adversary, Russia, through Russian hacking of our 2016 Elections for the express purpose of throwing the election to Trump.
AND, as covered below, Trump has to be removed from office as his actions are interfering with our nation's ability to govern in the best interests of ALL Americans, not those who espouse hate and are ready to kill anyone who gets in their way!
And the real hero in the struggle is our Free Press, who faces up to all of Trump's threats each day to keep Americans aware of Trump's lies and devious tactics to avoid his own prosecution for treason.
___________________________________________________________________________
Published July 26, 2017:
The more I learn and see about Donald Trump, the worst he is, not only as President, but even as a human being. He attacks Senator John McCain's service record, while he avoided serving in our military due to deferments. He has NO credibility to speak of those who bravely served our nation in time of war! ___________________________________________________________________________
The more I learn and see about Donald Trump, the worst he is, not only as President, but even as a human being. He attacks Senator John McCain's service record, while he avoided serving in our military due to deferments. He has NO credibility to speak of those who bravely served our nation in time of war! ___________________________________________________________________________
Published through July 21, 2017:
Under the web page "HERE AND NOW", you will find the following articles and Opinion Pieces by the Washington Post:
The gist of the articles/OpEds above is that -- at least by appearance -- Donald Trump and his associates and family have conspired with our foremost enemy, Russia, in Quid Pro Quo fashion: Russia's Interference in our 2016 Elections WAS for the express purpose of getting Donald Trump elected as President.
In so doing, Russia is expected, and now is realizing payback by Trump! For example, Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow
In my opinion, Trump's actions amount to High Crimes and Misdemeanors, in effect an act of Treason as defined by our Constitution: subject to impeachment and removal from office.
The questions are, if the above allegations are proven, will Congress act to remove Trump, given their allegiance to the Republican Party? Will special prosecutor Robert Mueller be able to finish his work for reporting to Congress (and the Nation)?
And, otherwise can the United States return to being a fully-functioning Democracy? Stay tuned.
___________________________________________________________________________
Under the web page "HERE AND NOW", you will find the following articles and Opinion Pieces by the Washington Post:
- "Trump's Undisclosed Meeting with Putin" (July 18, 2017)
- "The Trump team’s delusional fixation on getting along with Russia" (July 15, 2017)
- How Trump’s latest Russia spin contradicts his claims during the campaign (Opinion July 17, 2017)
- With Trump and Russia, it’s all about the money (Opinion, July 19, 2017)
- Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow (July 20, 2017)
- With Trump and Russia, it’s all about the money by The Washington Post July 19, 2017
The gist of the articles/OpEds above is that -- at least by appearance -- Donald Trump and his associates and family have conspired with our foremost enemy, Russia, in Quid Pro Quo fashion: Russia's Interference in our 2016 Elections WAS for the express purpose of getting Donald Trump elected as President.
In so doing, Russia is expected, and now is realizing payback by Trump! For example, Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow
In my opinion, Trump's actions amount to High Crimes and Misdemeanors, in effect an act of Treason as defined by our Constitution: subject to impeachment and removal from office.
The questions are, if the above allegations are proven, will Congress act to remove Trump, given their allegiance to the Republican Party? Will special prosecutor Robert Mueller be able to finish his work for reporting to Congress (and the Nation)?
And, otherwise can the United States return to being a fully-functioning Democracy? Stay tuned.
___________________________________________________________________________
Published July 19, 2017:
The many (Republican) Conservatives who voted for Donald Trump still don't get it: Trump is a billionaire whose primary interests are to reduce the federal budget by cutting Medicaid and other programs for the poor in order to be able to pass a huge tax cut for other wealthy Americans like Trump:
"The massive tax cuts for the rich inside the GOP health-care plan" by The Washington Post Wonk blog Analysis (March 7, 2017). Click on the following Videos for further amplification:
The many (Republican) Conservatives who voted for Donald Trump still don't get it: Trump is a billionaire whose primary interests are to reduce the federal budget by cutting Medicaid and other programs for the poor in order to be able to pass a huge tax cut for other wealthy Americans like Trump:
"The massive tax cuts for the rich inside the GOP health-care plan" by The Washington Post Wonk blog Analysis (March 7, 2017). Click on the following Videos for further amplification:
- YouTube Video:Trump proposes massive cuts to Medicaid
- YouTube Video: Trump unveils massive tax cutplan
Published January 2, 2019:
Understanding the Hypocrisy of the GOP Leadership: "The Republican Party Moves Beyond Hypocrisy" by David Frum in "The Atlantic" 10/19/18
YouTube Video: Mitch McConnell's plans to cut Entitlement Programs
Pictured below, President Trump and Mitch McConnell (Senate Majority Leader)
Understanding the Hypocrisy of the GOP Leadership: "The Republican Party Moves Beyond Hypocrisy" by David Frum in "The Atlantic" 10/19/18
YouTube Video: Mitch McConnell's plans to cut Entitlement Programs
Pictured below, President Trump and Mitch McConnell (Senate Majority Leader)
[Your Webhost: The fact that the GOP enacted a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans is nothing new: Ronald Reagan did the same thing.
The difference is the size and hypocrisy to supposed ideals that the GOP is the party of deficit hawks: therefore, it was predictable that someone (besides the richest Americans) would end up paying for it! Hence, Mitch McConnell's announced plans for massive cuts in entitlement programs benefiting the poor and older Americans who depend on entitlements to survive!
Take, for instance, the massive tax cuts the GOP enacted in 2017. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the Act would add an estimated $2.289 trillion to the national debt over ten years, or about $1.891 trillion after taking into account macroeconomic feedback effects, in addition to the $9.8 trillion increase forecast under the current policy baseline and existing $20 trillion national debt.!
While the tax cuts included a relatively small (and short-term) tax break for the middle class, the lion's share of the tax break benefits the richest Americans and their corporate holdings!
Later, the GOP reveals plans to pay for the tax cuts (for the rich) by sharply reducing entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) that retirees and the poor depend on for survival!
My belief is that the Republican Leadership and its rich supporters have long wanted to accomplish what Trump's GOP has now done.
For example, President Bill Clinton pushed through a massive tax increase on the wealthiest 1.2 % of Americans in 1993.
In return, the the GOP-led House of Representatives impeached Clinton in 1998 for lying to Congress about a an affair Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky. IMHO, the House GOP led by Newt Gingrich used this incident to impeach Clinton, not because of his conduct as President, but rather as punishment for the 1993 tax increase on the GOP's wealthiest donors!
After all, the only "victims" of Clinton's affair were his wife and daughter!
And, Clinton's short affair is not even close to Donald Trumps' alleged sexual misconduct!
The difference is the size and hypocrisy to supposed ideals that the GOP is the party of deficit hawks: therefore, it was predictable that someone (besides the richest Americans) would end up paying for it! Hence, Mitch McConnell's announced plans for massive cuts in entitlement programs benefiting the poor and older Americans who depend on entitlements to survive!
Take, for instance, the massive tax cuts the GOP enacted in 2017. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the Act would add an estimated $2.289 trillion to the national debt over ten years, or about $1.891 trillion after taking into account macroeconomic feedback effects, in addition to the $9.8 trillion increase forecast under the current policy baseline and existing $20 trillion national debt.!
While the tax cuts included a relatively small (and short-term) tax break for the middle class, the lion's share of the tax break benefits the richest Americans and their corporate holdings!
Later, the GOP reveals plans to pay for the tax cuts (for the rich) by sharply reducing entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) that retirees and the poor depend on for survival!
My belief is that the Republican Leadership and its rich supporters have long wanted to accomplish what Trump's GOP has now done.
For example, President Bill Clinton pushed through a massive tax increase on the wealthiest 1.2 % of Americans in 1993.
In return, the the GOP-led House of Representatives impeached Clinton in 1998 for lying to Congress about a an affair Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky. IMHO, the House GOP led by Newt Gingrich used this incident to impeach Clinton, not because of his conduct as President, but rather as punishment for the 1993 tax increase on the GOP's wealthiest donors!
After all, the only "victims" of Clinton's affair were his wife and daughter!
And, Clinton's short affair is not even close to Donald Trumps' alleged sexual misconduct!
Donald Trump vs. the United States of America
Photo below by Doug Mills/The New York Times
Photo below by Doug Mills/The New York Times
Just the facts, in 40 sentences: 9/22/2019 OpEd by David Leonhardt of the New York Times
"Sometimes it’s worth stepping back to look at the full picture of Donald Trump:
(Click on any blue hyperlink for more details.)
He is the president of the United States, and he is a threat to virtually everything that the United States should stand for."
"Sometimes it’s worth stepping back to look at the full picture of Donald Trump:
(Click on any blue hyperlink for more details.)
- He has pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 American presidential election.
- He urged a foreign country to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.
- He divulged classified information to foreign officials.
- He publicly undermined American intelligence agents while standing next to a hostile foreign autocrat.
- He hired a national security adviser who he knew had secretly worked as a foreign lobbyist.
- He encourages foreign leaders to enrich him and his family by staying at his hotels.
- He genuflects to murderous dictators.
- He has alienated America’s closest allies.
- He lied to the American people about his company’s business dealings in Russia.
- He tells new lies virtually every week — about the economy, voter fraud, even the weather.
- He spends hours on end watching television and days on end staying at resorts.
- He often declines to read briefing books or perform other basic functions of a president’s job.
- He has aides, as well as members of his own party in Congress, who mock him behind his back as unfit for office.
- He has repeatedly denigrated a deceased United States senator who was a war hero.
- He insulted a Gold Star family — the survivors of American troops killed in action.
- He described a former first lady, not long after she died, as “nasty.”
- He described white supremacists as “some very fine people.”
- He told four women of color, all citizens and members of Congress, to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”
- He made a joke about Pocahontas during a ceremony honoring Native American World War II veterans.
- He launched his political career by falsely claiming that the first black president was not really American.
- He launched his presidential campaign by describing Mexicans as “rapists.”
- He has described women, variously, as “a dog,” “a pig” and “horseface,” as well as “bleeding badly from a facelift” and having “blood coming out of her wherever.”
- He has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by multiple women.
- He enthusiastically campaigned for a Senate candidate who was accused of molesting multiple teenage girls.
- He waved around his arms, while giving a speech, to ridicule a physically disabled person.
- He has encouraged his supporters to commit violence against his political opponents.
- He has called for his opponents and critics to be investigated and jailed.
- He uses a phrase popular with dictators — “the enemy of the people” — to describe journalists.
- He attempts to undermine any independent source of information that he does not like, including judges, scientists, journalists, election officials, the F.B.I., the C.I.A., the Congressional Budget Office and the National Weather Service.
- He has tried to harass the chairman of the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates.
- He said that a judge could not be objective because of his Mexican heritage.
- He obstructed justice by trying to influence an investigation into his presidential campaign.
- He violated federal law by directing his lawyer to pay $280,000 in hush money to cover up two apparent extramarital affairs.
- He made his fortune partly through wide-scale financial fraud.
- He has refused to release his tax returns.
- He falsely accused his predecessor of wiretapping him.
- He claimed that federal law-enforcement agents and prosecutors regularly fabricated evidence, thereby damaging the credibility of criminal investigations across the country.
- He has ordered children to be physically separated from their parents.
- He has suggested that America is no different from or better than Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
- He has called America a “hellhole.”
He is the president of the United States, and he is a threat to virtually everything that the United States should stand for."