<![CDATA[ARMCHAIR AMERICAN: A VIEW FROM THE CENTER

<![CDATA[ARMCHAIR AMERICAN: A VIEW FROM THE CENTER - Blog]]>Sun, 13 Oct 2024 07:24:55 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[J.D. Vance “Sanewashes” Donald Trump in V.P. Debate.]]>Sat, 12 Oct 2024 01:12:14 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/jd-vance-sanewashes-donald-trump-in-vp-debate

When Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate a lot of people were left scratching their heads. Anyone watching last week’s vice-presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz now has a better understanding of Vance’s strengths. Vance was poised, polished, smart and an articulate defender of Donald Trump and his policies. He was clearly the best debater on stage that night, but more importantly he presented himself, and by extension Donald Trump, as reasoned, rational and well within the mainstream. He clearly did his job of “sanewashing” the Trump ticket, and that is what troubles me.

The term “sanewashing” has been around for a few years, but it entered the political lexicon this year in the craziness of the 2024 presidential election. It has come to mean the act of packaging or massaging radical and outrageous statements in a way that makes them sound normal. News outlines covering Trump have been accused of this. In some cases it is a purposeful attempt to present Trump in a more favorable light, and in other cases it is simply to help the intended audience make sense of his ramblings. In either case it creates a misleading picture of Trump to the public and sanitizes what can only be categorized as unhinged, delusional and the utterances of an unwell man.

In the hands of J.D. Vance, the concept of sanewashing has been taken to a new level. He has the ability to spin, distort, and deflect in such a way that overcomes any criticism of Trump, casting a favorable light on any of his discredited policies. The vice-presidential debate highlighted the dangers of an articulate Trump enabler like J.D. Vance. Vance’s performance attempted to rewrite the history of the first Trump administration and normalize a deeply flawed candidate who doesn’t have a coherent plan to lead the country forward in a dangerous world.

J.D. Vance may have won the debate on delivery, but he lost it on substance. Most of what he said sounded good, but it doesn’t hold up to close examination. If you are interested in a fact-check of the debate, I refer you to the CBS News’ analysis.

I’m not claiming that everything that Walz said was 100% accurate. But the difference is that Walz’s inaccuracies pertained mostly to his own personal history, while those of Vance were misleading or false statements about Donald Trump and his policies.

Here are the most important inaccuracies uttered by Vance that all voters should consider:

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Also know as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare, it was signed into law in 2010 and was the crowning achievement of the Obama Administration. This law represented the most significant overhaul and expansion of the U.S. health system since 1965, providing affordable healthcare coverage to tens of millions of Americans. It was opposed by all Congressional Republicans, who have vowed to repeal and replace it every year since its inception.

In the debate Vance claimed that Trump had “salvaged” the ACA, saying that “۰۰۰when Obamacare was crushing under the weight of its own regulatory burden and healthcare costs, Donald Trump could have destroyed the program. Instead, he worked in a bipartisan way to ensure that Americans had access to affordable care.”

This statement was blatantly false. Trump was no champion of the ACA; in fact, he was just the opposite. He did everything in his power to dismantle the program which millions of Americans depend on for affordable health care. During his 2016 presidential campaign Trump vowed to repeal and replace the ACA. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order which proclaimed: “It is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

Throughout his term Trump pushed Congress to repeal the ACA, with little success. To undermine the law, Trump cut funding for advertising and outreach programs for the ACA and reduced subsidies to insurance companies for low-income enrollees. Trump still doesn’t have a healthcare plan that would replace the ACA and admitted as much in his September debate with Kamala Harris.

Peaceful Transfer of Power: The biggest takeaway from the debate for me was that Vance refused to acknowledge that Trump had lost the 2020 election. This came after Vance claimed that Trump had peacefully handed over the reins of presidential power to Joe Biden. Here is what Vance said, “It’s really rich for Democratic leaders to say that Donald Trump is a unique threat to democracy when he peacefully gave over power on January 20th.” This is a dangerous revision of what actually happened in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The transfer of power from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration took place in a city under siege. Thousands of troops lined the streets and miles of fences restricted access to the grounds of the Capitol. This all took place in the aftermath of Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the results of a free and fair election. It was not the peaceful transfer of power that Vance claimed.

After losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump convinced millions of his supporters that the election had been stolen. This led to hundreds of election workers and state officials being threatened with violence. The life of Vice President Mike Pence was threatened for refusing to assist Trump in overturning the results of the election. The Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, resulted in over 150 Capitol police officers being injured and the lives of at least seven people were lost. No Mr. Vance, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful!

Vance did a great job during the debate of sanitizing Donald Trump’s record and sanewashing his often incoherent ramblings. But he doesn’t believe any of it, and neither should you. It was very self-serving. Vance is looking to his own political future and Trump is the most expedient way to move it forward.

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Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Character Still Matters in our National Leaders.]]>Sat, 28 Sep 2024 01:53:15 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/character-still-matters-in-our-national-leaders

I have not been affiliated with a political party for over twenty years. Officially I am known as a No Party Preference voter in the state where I live. I am dissatisfied with both major political parties and feel that they play a role in Congressional disfunction, and in the political polarization across the country. I have voted for Democratic, Republican, Independent, and write-in candidates. I don’t vote for a candidate based on party affiliation. I vote for a candidate’s strength of character and temperament, followed by the policies they champion.

The character of the individual candidate says a lot about the type of leader they will be. If a candidate lacks a minimum level of standards and moral integrity, I deem them unfit for office and won’t even consider them when casting my vote. To me character trumps (no pun intended) all other things that a candidate brings to the table, including political affiliation, policy positions, and promised giveaways to voters.

Integrity: This is perhaps the most important aspect of a candidate’s character. Integrity implies a high level of honesty, morality and trustworthiness. In the context of a candidate for the presidency it also implies that they will respect the rule of law and preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

President Harry Truman kept a sign on his desk which read “The Buck Stops Here!” This was a demonstration that he was personally responsible for his actions and those of his administration. Taking personal responsibility for your actions is another attribute which shows character in a leader. This point brings me to Donald Trump. His moral lapses are well documented, his shady business dealings are legendary, and his legal entanglements could fill a law library. But rather than owning up to his many shortcomings he has perfected the art of denial, deflected his failings onto others, and has draped himself in the cloak of victimhood.

In case you don’t follow Trump’s exploits as closely as I do, here are just of few of the legal entanglements he has faced in recent years which are reflective of his character:

E. Jean Carroll Civil Lawsuits: On May 9, 2023, a New York jury ruled that Trump was liable for sexual assault and defamation of E. Jean Carroll. Carroll had accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the 1990’s. When she went public with the information Trump accused Carroll of lying, leading to her lawsuit. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
After the first lawsuit, Trump continued to disparage Carroll, calling her story fake and totally made up. This resulted in a second defamation lawsuit against Trump which concluded in January of this year. Trump was again found guilty of defamation and ordered to pay an additional $84 million in damages. Trump is appealing both verdicts.
Classified Documents Retention Case: On June 8, 2023, federal prosecutors filed multiple criminal counts against Trump for the willful retention of national-security information, obstruction of justice, withholding of documents, and making false statements. A Florida judge dismissed the case in July of this year, but the special prosecutor in charge of the case has appealed that ruling. The case is now pending review by the Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Federal Election Interference Case: On August 1, 2023, federal prosecutors filed a four-count indictment against Trump in connection with his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to block the certification of the election on January 6, 2021. The case was paused after the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. This week federal prosecutors refiled the charges against Trump taking into account presidential immunity. It will be up to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan whether the case moves forward, which I'm confident that it will.
Georgia Election Interference Case: On August 14, 2023, Trump and eighteen other defendants were indicted for taking part in a criminal conspiracy to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. This case is on hold pending an appeals court hearing scheduled for December 5, 2024.
Civil Fraud Case: On February 16, 2024, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties after being found guilty of business fraud. The fraud resulted from a scheme to dupe banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements to lower his tax bill or to improve the terms of business loans. This case is currently under appeal.
Hush Money Case: On May 30, 2024, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to cover up hush money payments to women who claimed to have had sexual relationships with him. This makes Trump the first former president to be convicted of a felony crime. Sentencing is scheduled for after the election on November 26, 2024. Trump will appeal the verdict.

True to his character, Donald Trump has not taken any personal responsibility for any of his actions relating to the aforementioned criminal cases. Trump simply claims that he is the victim of election interference and political persecution. The prosecutors and judges in each one of these cases are “corrupt” according to Trump, and political lackeys of Joe Biden.

Character as a Guidepost to Leadership: This November we will not be electing a candidate for sainthood; we will be electing a president. No candidate for higher office is perfect, they are human after all. It is incumbent upon us to elect a candidate who has the character to rise above their inherent flaws and self-interest to do what’s right for the American people.

Donald Trump’s leadership capabilities during his presidency and in the aftermath of his loss to Joe Biden were shaped by his character. Here are some of the things about Donald Trump that I have learned over the past nine years:

He values loyalty over substance in his subordinates.
He mocks and denigrates anyone who disagrees with him.
He uses lies to shield against the culpability of his misbehavior and wrongdoing.
He has allowed self-interest to get in the way of doing what’s best for the American people. This was made evident when he initially downplayed the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and then politicized his administration’s response to the national health emergency.
His lack of humility and self-awareness led him to second guess the public health experts and insert himself into medical decisions during the pandemic.
For political reasons and pure self-interest, he engaged in an orchestrated campaign to cast doubt on the integrity of the U.S. election system. As a result, a significant portion of the American people now question whether it is possible to have a free and fair election in this country.
His ego prevented him from accepting the results of the 2020 presidential election even after his own attorney general and sixty courts of law could find no evidence of election fraud.
His lies about the “stolen election” compelled thousands of his supporters to go to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, to protest the certification of the election. At his urging Trump's supporters marched to the U.S. Capitol and a violent riot ensued.
He lacked the common decency and respect for presidential norms to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden.
As demonstrated by his federal indictments in the Documents Case, he cannot be trusted with Top Secret documents.
His vindictiveness has been on full display this campaign season, telling his supporters that he will seek retribution against those who have wronged him and them.

There are several of my friends who readily acknowledge that Trump has flaws and cringe at some of his pronouncements, but are voting for him anyway. They agree with many of his policies and claim that they are voting for the Republican platform and not necessarily for Trump. But what they fail to realize is that Donald Trump has taken complete control of the Republican Party, and he is the platform.

The world is a complicated and dangerous place, and the U.S. President commands an influential and very powerful position. The presidency is perhaps the most difficult leadership position of all, requiring physical and mental stamina, courage, resilience, intelligence, competency and the highest level of integrity.

Unchecked power in the hands of an unethical and morally corrupt person, backed up by the enormous resources of the federal government and military establishment, could lead to injustice, cruelty, and much, much worse. After the Supreme Court’s inexplicable decision this summer to strip away the Constituent’s checks on presidential power, it is more important than ever to elect a president of the highest moral character. Donald Trump is not that person.

]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump’s Lies Have Real World Consequences!]]>Mon, 16 Sep 2024 22:06:46 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/donald-trumps-lies-have-real-world-consequences

The United States is in the throes of a contentious presidential race, and it is no surprise that political rhetoric has risen to a fever pitch. But there is a big difference between political rhetoric and blatant lies meant to hurt and deceive people for political gain. We are now witnessing in real time the purposeful spread of malicious lies by the Trump campaign, and real people are suffering. Haitian immigrants living in the city of Springfield, Ohio are the latest victims of Trump’s lies, vitriol and stupidity, and the entire city is suffering as a result.

Most political rhetoric during a campaign is relatively harmless and generally recognized as pandering to prospective voters. But there comes a point when political rhetoric crosses the line and becomes dangerous. Donald Trump has crossed that line several times. The most prominent examples are his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen from him and today Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

The Big Lie: We are all familiar with the “Stop the Steal” movement created by Donald Trump in the aftermath of his loss to Joe Biden in 2020. The lie about the 2020 election being stolen did much more than massage the ego of a narcissistic man, it extorted hundreds of millions of dollars from gullible supporters and damaged the lives of thousands of Americans. The most visible example was the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

It is important to remember that Trump summoned his supporters to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election. At his urging thousands of Trump’s supporters marched on the U.S. Capitol and a violent riot ensued. A bipartisan Senate report determined that at least seven people died in connection with the Capitol riot and about 150 law enforcement officers were injured and many more will carry the emotional scars for the rest of their lives.

Thousands of Trump’s supporters who were at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 had their lives upended by the events of that day. By August of this year over 1,100 people had been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot, approximately 900 have been convicted of crimes, and over 500 of the convictions have led to prison sentences. Ask these folks if their lives are any better for having believed Trump’s Big Lie.

The Big Lie did much more than impact the lives of the people involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, it upended the lives of hundreds of election workers and officials in over a dozen states. Many of these people and their families received threats of violence and death from Trump supporters inspired by his false claims that the election had been stolen. Reuters did extensive reporting on the full extent of the campaign of fear launched against election workers in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Here is a link to Reuter’s findings.

The devastating impact to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans as a direct result of Trump’s Big Lie should be condemned by all. When you factor in the tens of millions of dollars states across the country had to spend to defend against bogus claims of election fraud, it is a mystery to me how the electorate of this country has let Trump get away with his lies.

Trump’s New Big Lie: During the nationally televised presidential debate on September 10 Donald Trump went on a tirade about how the Biden/Harris Administration had allowed illegal immigrants to destroy this country. Referring to Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio Trump said, “In Springfield they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating-they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” This is of course not true, but the Trump campaign has been pushing this lie for over a week.

Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance started the rumor by posting online that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were abducting and eating pets. Vance also posted the lie that Aiden Cark, an 11-year-old boy who was killed when a mini-van driven by a Haitian immigrant crashed into a school bus, was, “murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.” This is a racist lie intended to inflame hatred against immigrants and people of color. Young Aiden’s death was a tragic accident, not murder, and the Haitian immigrant involved in the accident was in this country legally.

Trump and Vance aren’t letting up on their deplorable hate speech against the Haitian immigrants in Springfield. Trump vowed during a press conference on Friday that he would conduct mass deportations of immigrants. “We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country.” “And we’re going to start in Springfield”, Trump said.

The rumors of immigrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield are false, and most Haitian immigrants living there are doing so legally. But this has no relevance in Trump world. The lies feed their narrative that illegal immigrants are destroying America, and Springfield, Ohio and the Haitians living there are collateral damage.

Last week city officials began to receive threatening phone calls, and bomb threats closed two elementary schools and caused the evacuation of Springfield City Hall and other state buildings. The lies spread by Trump and Vance have put Springfield, Ohio in the cross hairs of racists and conspiracy theorists who take Trump’s words as gospel. Trump is playing with fire and has proven once again that he will say and do anything to regain presidential power.

The New Trump Whisperer: There have been several influential advisors to Donald Trump since his improbable political rise nine years ago. The most notable of these was Steve Bannon who is currently serving a four-month prison term for defying a subpoena to appear before the House Select Committee that investigated January 6, 2021.

The newest Trump whisperer is Laura Loomer, a far-right political activist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality. She has made a name for herself in far-right wing circles for her frequent racist, sexist, homophobic and Islamophobic comments. Ms. Loomer has championed conspiracy theories, most notably that 9/11 was “an inside job”. She makes RFK Jr. seem like a reasonable guy.

No one would much care about Ms. Loomer if not for the fact that she has been getting a lot of face time with Donald Trump in recent weeks. She has been traveling with Trump on his campaign jet, she attended last week’s debate and appeared with Trump in the spin room afterwards. Inexplicably Ms. Loomer attended the 9/11 memorials with Trump last week in Pennsylvania and New York. If a man is judged by the company he keeps, Laura Loomer does not reflect well on Donald Trump.

According to people close to Trump he is listening to Ms. Loomer’s advice. Trump has called Ms. Loomer a “free spirit” and “supporter”. Is she somehow behind Trump’s insistence that pets are being eaten by immigrants in Springfield, Ohio? We may never know. But what we do know is that throughout his political career Trump has listened to “advisors” who flatter him and play to his vanity. We also know that Trump is averse to reading policy statements, and gathers most of his information by watching television and through verbal communications with trusted advisors. This leaves Trump open to manipulation by people pushing a particular policy or agenda, knowing full well that he won’t fact check them or do his own due diligence.

It is frightening to think just how easily Trump can be manipulated by those he trusts. Repeating false claims and conspiracy theories as facts is disturbing and dangerous. But the real danger lies in Trump’s inability to recognize just how vulnerable he is to manipulation by sophisticated foreign adversaries such as Russia and China. Is it any wonder that the Russians would prefer Donald Trump in the White House over Kamala Harris?

]]><![CDATA[Why I Am Voting for Donald Trump!]]>Thu, 05 Sep 2024 22:28:46 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/why-i-am-voting-for-donald-trump

I will not be voting for Donald Trump in the upcoming election, but tens of millions of Americans will be. The voters of America have the right to vote for whomever they choose. But in presidential elections it is important to know the reasoning behind your vote and the consequences of that vote. I respect anyone who can thoughtfully articulate why they will vote for a particular candidate, whether I agree with their choice or not.

My wife recently forwarded me a post that is making the rounds on Facebook which justifies a vote for Donald Trump. I am sharing the post because I think it is important that we respect differing views and try to understand those who we don’t always see eye to eye with.

Facebook Post: “ This is not a Jr. High or High School popularity/personality election!! I’m not voting for the person, I’m voting for the platform! I’m voting for the second Amendment. I’m voting for the next Supreme Court Justice and defending the traditional composition and independence of the Court. I’m voting for the Electoral College, and the Republic we live in. I’m voting for the Police, and law and order. I’m voting for the military, and the veterans who fought for and died for this Country. I’m voting for the Flag. I’m voting for the right to speak my opinion and not be censored. I’m voting for secure borders. I’m voting for the right to praise my God without fear. I’m voting for every unborn soul. I’m voting for freedom and the American Dream. I’m voting for good against evil. I’m not just voting for one person, I’m voting for the future of my Country and our Constitution which was written based on Biblical values and protects our freedoms under God! What are you voting for? God Bless the United States of America.”

Part of America’s greatness lies in the diversity of views among its people. Without understanding, our differing views can divide us and weaken our democracy. We all know people with views different from our own. It is our responsibility to reach out to them, respect their opinions, and help to foster greater understanding and friendship across divisive lines.

The operative question from the Facebook post is “What are you voting for?” I now have a better understanding of what some of my Republican friends hold dear and the reasoning behind their support of Trump. But Trump has demonstrated through word and deed that he is not a conservative and will not uphold the principles and values that are foundational to conservative Republicans. Trump has also demonstrated that he is willing to ignore the rule of law and the Constitution if they get in the way of his self-interest. Interestingly, all those reasons given in support of a Trump vote are also reasons underpinning my decision not to support him.

I’m voting for the Second Amendment, which needs to be repealed and replaced. I’m voting for the next Supreme Court Justice to round out the one-sided Court. I’m voting for a Supreme Court which will properly interpret the Constitution and not rewrite it. I’m voting to diminish the impact of the undemocratic Electoral College and to do my small part in assuring that the Republic lives on. I’m voting for law and order and the foundational value that no one is above the law. I’m voting for the flag, which belongs to all Americans. I’m voting for the military and veterans who have sacrificed much and will be called upon again in support of our allies around the world. I’m voting for free speech and for a government that won’t dictate which God to pray to. I’m voting for a comprehensive immigration policy which includes secure borders and a guest worker program. I’m voting for the reproductive rights of women and for the protection of all children. I’m voting for the best that this country can offer, not one which excludes people based on their gender identity, religious views, country of origin, or cultural differences. What are you voting for?

]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump’s Cloak of Invincibility Has Come Off.]]>Thu, 22 Aug 2024 16:01:56 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/donald-trumps-cloak-of-invincibility-has-come-off

There was a seismic shift in the 2024 presidential race on June 27 when Joe Biden’s debate performance showed the country that he was not up to the challenge of winning another term against his challenger Donald Trump. The more that President Biden dug in and tried to reassure his party and the country that he was up for the job, the further behind in the national polls he fell. Things began to fall into place for Trump’s return to the White House.

Trump was handed a get out of jail free card on July 1 when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of his immunity claims. The Court ruled that presidents have broad immunity when conducting official acts while in office. This casts doubt on the legality of the remaining state and federal indictments that Trump is facing. To put an exclamation point on Trump’s legal victories, a federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case, finding that the special counsel handling the case had been appointed unconstitutionally.

Surviving an assassination attempt on his life on July 13 cemented Trump’s image among his base of supporters. He was viewed as the divinely chosen candidate destined to retake the White House. Trump himself believed in the inevitability of his winning the presidency. This is borne out by picking J.D. Vance as his running mate. J.D. Vance is the youngest and most inexperienced of the VP candidates that the Trump campaign had vetted. He won’t bring in many new voters, and more importantly, he won’t help Trump’s odds in the all-important swing states. The pick of J.D. Vance shows that Trump was convinced that he would win the election, and he wanted a VP whose ideologic views were aligned with his and who could be the future of the MAGA movement.

Just days after the failed assassination attempt, Trump was welcomed at the Republican National Convention as a concurring hero. The reverence for Trump among his MAGA supporters had never been higher, and even the Democrats thought that it would take a miracle to defeat him in November. That miracle came on July 21 when Joe Biden announced that he was dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind VP Kamala Harris.

Harris Becomes the Democratic Nominee for President: Kamala Harris quickly garnered the support of Congressional Democrats, big donors, and party leaders such as the Clintons and Obamas. Within days of Biden dropping out of the race delegates to the nominating convention began to pledge their support for Harris. On August 6 Harris received enough delegate votes during an online voting process to become the Democratic nominee for president.

Enthusiasm among Democrats for Harris’s candidacy has exploded to levels not seen since Barack Obama was the nominee in 2008. Donors both big and small have been pouring money into the Harris campaign, and in the runup to the Democratic National Convention Harris was ahead of Trump in most national polls.

Readjusting to a New Reality: The Trump campaign was built around defeating Joe Biden, and is scrambling to recalibrate against a new opponent. The past three weeks have not gone well for Trump’s campaign or his psyche. The cloak of invincibility has been pulled from Trump and what’s underneath is disturbing.

With all the light shining on Harris, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party have tried to recapture the narrative, but with limited success. Republicans attribute Harris’s surge in the polls as her honeymoon period, but there is more to it than that. The main obstacle to the Republican’s message getting through to swing and undecided voters is Donald Trump himself.

Trump Goes on the Attack: Over the past two weeks Trump has tried to shift the momentum back to his campaign through a series of press conferences and interviews. The press conference at Mar-a-Lago on August 8 was the first of these events and was a prelude of things to come. The Trump campaign had hoped that their candidate would present a substantive case for his election, including his accomplishments and important policy prescriptions. But that didn’t happen.

Trump has an inexplicable inability to stay on message and quickly defaults to his old playbook of personal grievances, untruths, bizarre theories, and petty personal attacks. The Trump campaign, and even Trump himself realizes that Harris is vulnerable on some key policy issues, namely the border and inflation. Rather than sticking to a winning strategy against Harris, Trump resorts to personal attacks, nonsensical theories and blatant lies. Below are a few choice examples of Trump’s failing message.

Personal Attacks on Harris: The personal attacks by Trump won’t stop because he claims that he is entitled to them due to the mistreatment he has received from the Biden/Harris Administration. The personal attacks are petty and undignified for a candidate running for the highest office in the country. Here are some of Trump’s recent public comments about Harris:

Trump has questioned Harris’s race, saying “۰۰۰she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went-she became a Black person.” “I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
Trump frequently disparages Harris’s laugh, calling it the laugh of a crazy person and lunatic.
Trump ridicules Harris’s name by intentionally mispronouncing it whenever he mentions her.
Jealous of the fact that Harris’s image is on the recent cover of Time Magazine, Trump couldn’t pass up the opportunity to comment on her appearance, saying that “I am much better looking than her.” Attacking a woman’s appearance is never a good strategy when attempting to capture the all important women’s vote.
Trump has called Harris stupid, incompetent, a communist, and the list goes on and on. My advice to Mr. Trump is to stick to the issues and not the personal attacks. His schtick is getting old and it’s no longer funny.

Bizarre Theories and Nonsense:

Trump is obsessed with crowd sizes. At his Mar-a-Lago press conference he claimed that the crowds at his January 6, 2021 rally in Washington DC were as large, if not larger, than the crowds of people who turned up for Martin Luther King’s speech during the 1963 March on Washington. Martin Luther King’s speech drew approximately five times more people than Trump’s rally did.
Last week Trump promoted the untrue theory that the images of the large crowds at Kamala Harris’s rallies were faked by Artificial Intelligence. He even suggested that Harris should be disqualified from the race because creating fake images to enhance her crowd sizes is election interference. Is anyone buying this stuff?
Trump has frequently veered off into tangents about the fictional character Hannibal Lector during his rallies. He doesn’t realize that this makes him sound a little bit crazy and leaves many listeners scratching their heads. Calling the serial killing cannibal Hannibal Lector “a lovely man” is nonsensical and doesn’t project competence in a national leader.

Untruths and Scaremongering: Trump has always been fast and loose with the truth, but the rapidity with which he tells lies has reached a fever pitch with the rise of Kamala Harris. This makes it difficult to accurately access anything that Donald Trump says, which is why some people dismiss anything he says outright, and others support him out of blind faith. Here are just a few notable lines on his current play list:

“Everyone is going to be forced to buy an electric car under Harris.”
“Harris is going to destroy Social Security and Medicare.”
“Harris will ban private medical insurance.”
“Harris wants to take away your guns.”
“My tax cuts were the biggest in history.” The tax cuts enacted by Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama were larger.
“Democrats are allowed to do abortions even after the birth of the baby.” That would be murder, which is illegal everywhere.
“Nobody was killed on January 6th.” There were at least seven people who died in connection to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
“All over the world prisons and insane asylums are being emptied into our country, and over twenty million people have come across the border illegally under the Biden/Harris Administration.” There is no proof of any of these claims and border officials call them greatly exaggerated.
“Kamala Harris broke the economy,” and “she wants to install a communist like system.”
“If Harris is elected there will be a 1929 like stock market crash.”
“Harris wants to abolish coal, oil, and natural gas.”
“Our country is in decline; in fact, it is dying under the Biden/Harris Administration.” “America is a third world country.” That’s news to me and to most Americans.

The Democratic Party came to the realization that their presidential candidate was unelectable in the days following the June 27 presidential debate. President Biden’s age, mental acuity and physical stamina were preventing him from being an effective spokesperson for the party and could no longer assure victory in the November election. Party leaders persuaded Biden to drop out of the race for the good of the party and the country. After several agonizing weeks, Biden did the right thing by dropping out of the race and passing the torch to Kamala Harris.

Today the Republican Party is worried that their candidate may be slipping and turning off voters that they will need in November. In many of his public appearances Donald Trump comes across as paranoid, delusional, and stuck in the past. Campaign officials are frustrated with Trump because they are well aware that Kamala Harris is vulnerable on key issues, particularly border security and the economy. If Trump could stay on message his campaign might have a winning strategy.

Trump’s dystopian view of America does not play well against Harris’s joyful optimism. Trump should take a page from Ronald Reagan’s playbook, who with hope and optimism portrayed America as that shining city on a hill.

It is Donald Trump’s election to lose, and if he does, he has no one to blame but himself. Trump is already setting the stage to contest the election if he falls short on November 5, 2024. But that is a topic for another day.

]]><![CDATA[The Trump Campaign’s Swift Boat Attack on Tim Walz is the Height of Hypocrisy.]]>Tue, 13 Aug 2024 15:05:56 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/the-trump-campaigns-swift-boat-attack-on-tim-walz-is-the-height-of-hypocrisy

Like most Americans I didn’t know much about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz until Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate last week. From what I have read he is a decent man with a long and proud record of public service. He has strong mid-western roots and seems to be a regular guy who can appeal to both urban and rural voters. This has got the Trump campaign worried, and it didn’t take long for it to go on the attack.

Swiftboating: This term was coined in 2004 to describe an unfair or untrue political attack and was first used during the 2004 presidential race against the Democrat nominee John Kerry. Kerry was an officer in the U.S. Navy, served a tour of duty in Vietnam in charge of a Swift boat, and received several combat medals for that service. A partisan group called the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” attacked Kerry’s war record during the 2004 campaign, claiming that Kerry had embellished it. The claims were later discredited and proved to be politically motivated, but the damage to Kerry’s campaign was significant.

The architect of the “Swift Boat” campaign against John Kerry was political operative Chris LaCivita who happens to be a co-manager of the Trump campaign. Is Tim Walz the victim of swiftboating? Let’s take a look.

J.D. Vance Levels Accusations Against Tim Walz’s Military Record: Within days of Walz being picked to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, the Trump campaign rolled out its vice presidential nominee to go on the attack. Vance served for four years in the Marine Corps, so he was tasked with attacking Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard.

Vance accused Walz of abandoning his unit right before they went to Iraq. Tim Walz filed papers to run for Congress on February 10, 2005, and retired from the National Guard that May. In August of 2005, the Department of the Army issued a mobilization order for Walz’s unit in preparation of deployment to Iraq. The timing might look suspect to some, but there is no proof that Tim Walz timed his retirement to avoid being deployed to Iraq. He did nothing improper in how and when he retired.

J.D. Vance also accused Tim Walz of “Stolen Valor” for claims he made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control. In support of common-sense gun control laws Walz said that “we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at.” Tim Walz never served in a combat zone, so according to J.D. Vance it was a mortal sin for Walz to claim that he had carried a weapon in war. It is true that Walz never served in combat, and therefore did not carry a weapon into battle. But Walz certainly trained with weapons of war in preparation of going into a combat zone during a time of war. The argument is purely semantics, and the Harris campaign was quick to scrub any of its campaign materials referencing Walz’s “weapons of war” comments.

The final allegation against Tim Walz’s military record is that he claims to have retired at the rank of Command Sergeant Major. The truth of the matter is Walz did serve as a Command Sergeant Major, but he did not complete the requirements to retire with that rank. He retired at the lower rank of Master Sergeant. The Harris campaign’s website has been updated to reflect that Tim Walz did not retire as Command Sergeant Major, but only served as one.

Tim Walz has held political office for nearly two decades. Like any politician running for office he may have embellished his record to cast himself in a more favorable light. In a vacuum that doesn’t look good. In the context of the current political race, it is insignificant and downright laughable when you consider who is leveling the charges. Donald Trump as head of the Republican ticket has no standing in the military community and has an aversion to telling the truth.

What has Trump to Say on the Matter: Donald Trump has been silent on the matter, and for good reason. He has no credibility when it comes to military service, and that’s why J.D. Vance was tasked with the attacks on Tim Walz’s military record.

Trump avoided military service during the Vietnam War through dubious means. He received a deferment helped by a medical examination by a private foot doctor who diagnosed bone spurs in his heal. A New York Times investigation in 2018 revealed that the doctor who performed the medical evaluation was a tenant in a building owned by Trump’s father, and that the deferment recommendation was done as a favor to the family.

In addition to not serving in the military Trump has often disparaged those who have served. He belittled John McCain’s military career because he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. When Trump visited a French cemetery for Americans killed during World War I he said it was filled with losers and suckers. Trump lacks any understanding of the service and sacrifice that our veterans have made in defense of our country.

Comparing the Public Service Records of the Candidates: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have spent nearly their entire careers in public service, not so for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. Let’s compare the public service records of each candidate and you decide which record is more deserving of your vote.

Donald Trump: Trump was never in the military and never held a public sector job. The only elected position he held was a four-year term as President of the United States.

J.D. Vance: Vance served in the US Marine Corps for four years. He was a combat correspondent in a non-combative role, including a six-month deployment in Iraq with the Public Affairs Department. He has served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio since 2023.

Kamala Harris: From the time of her graduation from law school in 1989 to the present-day, Harris has worked in the public sector. From 1990 to 2003 she worked as a prosecutor, first as a Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County, then as an Assistant District Attorney for San Francisco, and finally as a special prosecutor with the San Francisco City Attorney’s office.

In 2003 she was elected to the office of District Attorney of San Francisco and served in that role from 2004- 2011. In 2010 and again in 2014 she was elected to serve as the Attorney General of California. She successfully campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2016 and served in that capacity from 2017-2021. She became Joe Biden’s vice president in January of 2021 and serves in that role to this day.

Tim Walz: Walz started his career in public service when he enlisted in the Army National Guard at the age of 17. During his 24 years of service, he acquired a college degree and went on to teach and coach in public high schools for approximately 15 years. Waltz left teaching to run for Congress where he served for 12 years. In Congress he sat on the Agriculture, Armed Services, and Veteran’s Affairs committees. Tim Walz is now in his second term as governor of Minnesota.

Let’s hope that the American people can see through this blatant attempt by the Trump campaign to discredit Walz’s honorable military career by spreading falsehoods and casting aspersions. Donald Trump is not even in the same league as Tim Walz when it comes to honesty, integrity, and dedication to public service. Disparaging Tim Waltz’s military career is a losing hand for the Trump campaign and is the height of hypocrisy.

]]><![CDATA[Two Non-Newsworthy Events Create Outrages of the Week. One From the Left and One From the Right.]]>Wed, 31 Jul 2024 20:11:44 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/two-non-newsworthy-events-create-outrages-of-the-week-one-from-the-left-and-one-from-the-right

We are officially in silly season when any innocuous event can trigger outrage in the hyper-partisans and culture warriors. I am referring to Donald Trump’s remarks to a Christian group which Democrats quickly embraced as proof that he would dismantle democracy if elected, and to the segment of the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics which outraged Christians on Friday night. These people need to take a deep breath and enjoy the remaining weeks of the summer.

Let’s first review Trump’s remarks which have many on the left in a tizzy and then move on to the opening ceremony in Paris.

Trump’s Remarks: Trump addressed a group of Christians on Friday night at “The Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida. Wrapping up his speech Trump said, “Christians, get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” He went on to say, “In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good; you’re not going to have to vote.”

Was this a threat that the 2024 election could be the last before Trump plunges the country into authoritarianism? No, it was just classic “Trump Speak”. He doesn’t fully think through his thoughts before going off script, particularly at campaign rallies and other friendly venues. You must remember that Trump only cares about this election, which if he wins will be his last. Trump is self-absorbed, so whether Christians vote in the next election doesn’t concern him, because he won’t be running.

Olympic Opening Ceremony Riles Christians: The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic games did not take place in a stadium, which is typical. Rather, it took place in the heart of Paris along the Seine River and incorporated the Eiffel Tower and some of the city’s historic bridges. All the bridges along this stretch of the Seine contained dancers and other performance artists highlighting France’s diverse cultural identity.

The performance on the Passerelle Debilly bridge was misinterpreted by many Christian groups as a depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper”. Christians were outraged that Jesus and his disciples were depicted by drag queens and other members of the LGBTQ community. All this anger proved to be misguided. Even the French know that it wouldn’t be wise to offend Christian communities around the world while the Olympic torch illuminates their capitol city.

Which painting is the more likely inspiration?

The Paris Olympic organizers were quick to apologize for any offense taken and to explain that the performance had nothing to do with “The Last Supper”. The performance had been inspired by Dionysus, the Greek god of winemaking, fruitfulness, and ecstasy. According to the ceremony’s artistic director, the performance was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.

Come on folks, the French invented decadence after all. They have been at the forefront of food and fashion for centuries and have pushed the limits on behavioral norms along the way. The French have the center stage at the Olympics, let them showcase Paris and their culture in a way only the French can. Now let’s get back to watching the Olympic Games and enjoying all that French culture.

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Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Project 2025]]>Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:16:04 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/project-2025

At the time of this writing the Republican National Convention is just getting underway, and the country is coming to grips with a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Voices across the political spectrum are calling for the political rhetoric to be toned down and for the campaigns to focus on issues rather than personalities. Democrats are scrambling to divert attention away from their struggling candidate Joe Biden, so the timing couldn’t be better to turn the focus to policies. Democrats are doing so by raising the alarm about a conservative agenda for the next Republican administration called Project 2025. What is Project 2025, who is behind it, and is it something we should be concerned about?

Heritage Foundation (Heritage): Founded in 1973 the Heritage Foundation’s mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense. This prominent conservative think tank is based in Washington D.C. The Heritage Foundation is the driving force behind Project 2025 and promotes conservative governing principles through its publication of “Mandate for Leadership”.

Mandate for Leadership: According to Heritage’s website, the vision for Mandate for Leadership was that it would serve as a guidebook of specific policy recommendations for reducing the size and scope of the federal government and for ensuring that it stayed within its constitutional bounds. It was first published in January 1981 and served as a conservative plan of action for the Reagan Administration. Mandate for Leadership was a collective work by conservative thought leaders and former government insiders, many from outside of Heritage, which set out policy prescriptions, agency by agency for the incoming President. The book literally put the conservative movement and the Reagan Administration on the same page.

After that first edition, a new Mandate for Leadership was produced every four years. Soon after President Donald Trump was sworn in, his administration began to implement major parts of the 2016 Mandate for Leadership. During the first year alone his administration had implemented 64 percent of its policy recommendations.

From the original 1981 Mandate for Leadership to the current 2025 edition, the purpose is to present concrete proposals to revitalize the economy, strengthen national security, and halt the centralization of power in the federal government. The latest edition is called “2025 Presidential Transition Project”, or simply “Project 2025”.

Project 2025: Simply put, it is the conservative movement’s playbook or blueprint for the next conservative administration, presumably Trump’s, to be ready to govern on January 20, 2025.

Facilitated by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is the work of over 50 conservative organizations. The full document is 920 pages laid out in 30 chapters revealing hundreds of concrete policy recommendations for White House offices, Cabinet departments, Congress, agencies, commissions, and boards. Project 2025 is built on four pillars.

Four Pillars of Project 2025:

Pillar I: a consensus view of how major federal agencies must be governed and where disagreement exists brackets out these differences for the next President to choose a path.
Pillar II: a personnel database that allows candidates to build their own professional profiles and our coalition members to review and voice their recommendations. These recommendations will then be collated and shared with the President-elect’s team, greatly streamlining the appointment process.
Pillar III: the Presidential Administration Academy, an online educational system taught by experts from our coalition. For the newcomer, this will explain how the government functions and how to function in government. For the experienced, we will host in-person seminars with advanced training and set the bar for what is expected of senior leadership.
Pillar IV: (The Playbook) the formation of agency teams and transition plans to move out as soon as the President is sworn into office.

Conservative Values Driving Project 2025: The authors of Project 2025 believe that the following guiding principles will decide America’s future.

1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.
2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people.
3. Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats.
4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls “the Blessings of Liberty.”

Democrats’ Opposition to Project 2025: Democrats fear that if Donald Trump is elected and follows the Project 2025 blueprint it will erode democratic institutions, reduce the rights of citizens, and give him unchecked powers over the federal government. The head of “Stop Project 2025 Task Force’”, Democrat Congressman Jared Huffman, stated that Project 2025 will “abolish checks and balances, chip away at church-state separation, and impose a far-right agenda that infringes on basic liberties and violates public will.” Here are some of the most controversial sections of Project 2025:

Personnel: As of 2022, the executive branch of the federal government employed nearly 2.2 million full-time civil servants across more than 400 agencies and departments. This figure does not include the U.S. Postal Service or uniformed military personnel. Currently an incoming president must fill approximately 4,000 positions with political appointees. Project 2025 proposes to revamp the civil service and vastly increase the number of positions that will be appointed by and beholden to the president. This would involve creating a new job category for federal employees, known as Schedule F, that would exempt these employees from civil service protections and make them easier to remove.

Federal Agencies: Several agencies would be eliminated or folded into other agencies. These include the Department of Education, Homeland Security, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Some agencies would be privatized, including the Transportation Security Administration.

Transgender Rights: Transgender rights and gender identity beyond biological sex are roundly rejected, with such steps as reinstating the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, prohibiting public school educators from referring to students by anything other than their birth name and pronouns without parental permission, and ensuring no federal funds are used to provide gender-affirming care.

DEI and LGBTQ Rights: Project 2025 seeks to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from throughout the federal government and in universities. It also calls for changing laws that bar discrimination based on sex to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity.

Climate Change: The proposal would undo much of the federal government’s climate work, including by leaving the Paris Climate Agreement. It would overhaul the Department of Energy to promote oil and natural gas, deemphasize green energy sources and curtail climate research. The size and scope of the EPA would be reduced.

Abortion: Project 2025 recommends that the Food and Drug Administration revoke its approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. It would prevent any abortion equipment or medication from being mailed, bar federal funds being used to provide healthcare coverage for abortion and require states to report all abortions that take place there to the federal government.

Education: The Department of Education would be eliminated, leaving the states to direct education policy. An emphasis would be placed on a “school choice” policies that direct public funds to be used for students to attend private or religious schools. The Head Start Program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to age five would be eliminated.

Student Loans: Student loan relief efforts would come to an end, including the public service loan forgiveness program and income-driven repayment plans.

Big Tech: TikTok would be banned, and tech companies and social media networks would be shielded from being sued over content on their platforms. Laws would be promoted, like those passed in Florida and Texas, that seek to punish social media companies who ban or suspend users based on their “viewpoints.”

Justice Department: Project 2025 calls for a “top-to-bottom overhaul” of the DOJ and FBI. These agencies would be filled with far more political appointees, making them more accountable to the president.

Taxes: Project 2025 would seek to get rid of current tax rates and most deductions and credits, instead proposing a 15% rate for anyone under the Social Security wage base ($168,000 in 2024) and 30% for taxpayers earning more than that. This means the lowest-income taxpayers will now pay more and some higher earners will pay less. The corporate income tax rate would be lowered to 18%.

Foreign Relations: Project 2025 directs the U.S. to pull out of international organizations when they don’t serve the administration’s interests, including the World Health Organization and various United Nations agencies.

Healthcare: Project 2025 does not seek to overturn the Affordable Care Act but would make significant cuts to Medicaid and impose work requirements to receive coverage. It would reform Medicare and make Medicare Advantage, a paid supplement to Medicare, the default option for patients. Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices would be repealed.

Immigration: More money would be provided to build the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and the Department of Homeland Security would be dismantled. U.S. Customs and Border Protection would be combined with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase their focus and power to secure the border.

Trump Responds: Facing pushback from Democrats, Donald Trump is attempting to distance himself from Project 2025. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump recently posted on his social media platform. He also claimed “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Trump’s assertions that he knows nothing about Project 2025 are disingenuous to put it kindly. As stated earlier, his administration implemented major parts of the 2016 Mandate for Leadership. Several of Trump’s appointees during his administration are now affiliated with Project 2025, including the project’s director Paul Dans who served as the chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

My Views on Project 2025: It is very common for presidential campaigns and presidential administrations to enlist the services of think tanks to help draft policy proposals and to promote partisan causes. The Heritage Foundation has been working with Republican administrations and other conservative groups since it was founded in the 1970s. Liberal think tanks, particularly the Center for American Progress, was used extensively by the Obama and Biden Administrations to develop progressive policies.

I’m concerned about Project 2025, but not panicked. It is a wish-list, a compendium of conservative thought that has been tailored to align with what Donald Trump and his supporters have been saying for the past ten years. What is laid out in minute detail in Project 2025 should not come as a surprise. Trump is not shy about telling the American people what he intends to do if he regains the White House; much of which is spelled out in his Agenda47. Project 2025 aligns with Trump’s vision of being an all-powerful executive. It also provides him with a means to wrestle control from those departments that were less than loyal or outright opposed him during his first administration. Stripping career civil servants of protections and making them politically accountable to an all-powerful executive is very disturbing. All sorts of mischief can result if the federal bureaucracy is subject to the whims of a new administration every four years, not to mention the chaos it would create.

Project 2025 serves as a counterweight to what Trump and his conservative allies view as Biden’s “woke” agenda, which requires DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and climate mitigation steps be included in every policy and piece of legislation. I believe in the separation of church and state, and Project 2025 would certainly blur the lines between the two. An attempt to legislate morality, as Project 2025 does, would infringe upon individual rights and stifle diverse views and opinions.

The federal bureaucracy is vast and mind numbing in its complexity. No one president or administration can even begin to grasp the intricacies, much less effectively manage the sprawling maze of over 400 departments and millions of employees of the federal government. I welcome any organization, inside or outside the government, willing to examine the bureaucracy with an eye to improving efficiency and effectiveness. Afterall, our country has a mind-boggling national debt of $34 trillion which grows larger by the second. Untangling the vast web of the federal bureaucracy is necessary to begin an effort to reduce that debt.

Project 2025 lays out for all to see the conservative playbook for governing, now it’s time for the Democrats or progressives to show us theirs.

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Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[An Open Letter to President Biden.]]>Mon, 08 Jul 2024 22:33:46 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-president-biden

Dear President Biden,

I voted for you in 2020 without hesitation because Donald Trump posed a clear and present danger to our democracy and had to be defeated. My vote proved justified as Trump’s lies about “the stolen election” led to one of the darkest days in U.S. history, January 6, 2021. Mr. President your many years of government experience and calm demeanor were just what the country needed to move beyond the chaos and trauma of the Trump presidency.

When you ran for president in 2020 you were already well into your 70’s, and many Americans had doubts even then whether you had the physical stamina and mental vigor to take on such a demanding job. You calmed people’s fears about your age by saying that “I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else”. At that time Mr. President you campaigned with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Cory Baker, who you called “۰۰۰an entire generation of leaders”, and “۰۰۰the future of this country”. In other speeches you said that “I view myself as a transition candidate”. You portrayed yourself as a one term president to steady the ship of state before transitioning to a new generation of leaders. Now is the time to begin that transition Mr. President.

In the CNN debate last month your goal was to show the American people that you have the cognitive ability to beat Donald Trump and to serve four more years as president. You failed in spectacular fashion. Your performance on the debate stage cannot be explained away due to a cold, jetlag or fatigue. No one is buying your explanation that you simply had a bad night. It will take a candidate with physical stamina and sharp mental faculties to defeat Donald Trump in the fall and to lead this country for the next four years. The American people don’t believe that you are up to the challenge.

Your recent interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos did nothing to quell concerns over whether you have the mental acuity to serve another term as president. It proved to me that you are not being honest with yourself or the American people about your health. The shocked reaction to your debate performance shows that your administration has shielded you from public scrutiny and has not been transparent with what is now apparent to all. You are not the man the American people elected in 2020, and your fitness to stay in the presidential race is in doubt.

Mr. President, the majority of registered voters were never enthusiastic about a rematch between you and Donald Trump, and the distaste for such a rematch only grows. You have stated that you are the most qualified person to be president and to defeat Donald Trump. But your poll numbers have taken a substantial hit since the debate, and you are now trailing him nationally and in the all-important battleground states. As an incumbent president you should be trouncing your opponent who is a convicted felon, serial liar, and responsible for the January 6th Capitol riot. Your refusal to acknowledge your negative poll numbers shows how out of touch you are with the sentiments in the country.

It is hubris to think that you are the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in the fall. You have criticized the Republic Party as being a cult of personality built around one man. Show the American people that the Democrat Party is a party of principles and bigger than one person. It is not too late to pull out of the race on your own terms and preserve your legacy as a successful president. If you don’t get out, the next four months will be a nonstop test of your mental acuity. Every speech you make, every interview, every utterance will be analyzed for any signs of decline. Your record of successes and the issues important to the American people will be drowned out by a continual sound loop of your verbal stumbles gleefully played by the Republicans. This will take a toll on you personally and politically and will be a drag on other Democrats down the ballot.

President Biden, if you put your political clout behind Vice President Kamala Harris it will ignite a spark under the moribund campaign, and improve the Democrat’s chances with independents, undecided voters and those sitting on the sidelines. The decision to stay in the race is entirely yours Mr. President, but the American people will live with the consequences for years to come. Don’t go down in history as the president who oversaw the transition of the United States from a democracy to an autocracy and the ascendancy of King Donald I to the presidential throne.

Thank you for your service Mr. President.

Sincerely,

A very concerned voter.
July 8, 2024

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Update: On July 21 President Biden announced that he would end his presidential re-election campaign. In a speech to the nation he said "The defense of democracy is more important than any title." He went on to say that nothing can come in the way of saving democracy, and that includes personal ambition.

Thank you Mr. President for putting country ahead of self.

]]><![CDATA[Fly the American Flag With Pride.]]>Mon, 01 Jul 2024 20:20:05 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/fly-the-american-flag-with-pride

The American flag is a symbol of unity, not divisiveness. This 4th of July I will be flying the flag in front of my house with pride and without an agenda. I will not be flying the flag because I am a patriot or affiliated with a particular group or cause, but to show that I am a proud American. I am proud of the document our founding fathers signed 248 years ago which set into motion an extraordinary and courageous set of events leading to the establishment of a new and great nation called America. The path to greatness was not always easy or just, but one of struggles, setbacks, and inequities. Through the wars and internal strife that threatened to rip this country apart, Americans have always pulled together to overcome any challenge and to persevere.

No one individual, group, or party can lay claim to the flag. It belongs to all Americans, regardless of race, color, religion, or political affiliation. When the flag is appropriated by a group and becomes part of its messaging, it is meant to divide rather than to unite. This is un-American and denigrates the flag which is a symbol of unity and national pride.

The American flag stands for the highest ideals, not the lowest. Each color on the flag has a specific meaning. Red symbolizes valor and bravery. White symbolizes purity and innocence. Blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The flag is more than a piece of cloth, it symbolizes the ideals set forth in our founding documents and reminds us that we are one nation and believe in liberty and justice for all.

Our forebears in the original thirteen colonies overcame vast cultural and geographic differences to unite in a common cause. I believe Americans remain united in our common humanity and still cherish the notion that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is why I will be flying the flag on the 4th of July.

]]><![CDATA[Voting for a Third Party in 2024? Consider Your Vote Carefully.]]>Sun, 23 Jun 2024 23:13:46 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/voting-for-a-third-party-in-2024-consider-your-vote-carefully

According to recent polls approximately fifty-five percent of U.S. adults are dissatisfied with both major party candidates, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Count me among this group. In previous blogs I have written about the need for another major political party in the U.S. to weaken the stranglehold on our politics by the Democrat and Republican duopoly. But now is not the time. In the midst of a razor thin presidential race, a third-party candidate could easily disrupt the race in ways that may not be in the best interests of the county.

As a point of clarification, when I refer to a third-party candidate, I am also referring to independent candidates who are not affiliated with a political party.

Here is a list of the major third-party candidates who have obtained ballot access in at least some of the 50 states:

Candidate # of States with Ballot Access
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.(Independent) 10 (14 pending)
Chase Oliver(Libertarian) 33 ( 1 pending)
Jill Stein(Green) 23 ( 1 pending)
Cornell West(Independent) 6 ( 2 pending)

Obstacles Confronting Third-Party Candidates: Even with all the discontent with the major political parties, third-party candidates have had little success in garnering much national support. Americans have never elected a third-party candidate for president. It takes a tremendous amount of money and the backing of a large political team to run an effective national campaign. In this country most of the big money donors and political talent are controlled by the Democrats and Republicans.

Elections are administered by the states, governed by laws written by politicians who are members of one of the two major parties. Just getting on the ballot in each of the fifty states is an arduous and expensive task. The major political parties handle this for their candidates, but independent candidates are on their own.

There are some variations between states, but there are basically three ways to get on a state’s ballot.

By nomination of a political party.
Run as an independent and file a petition, usually with the secretary of state. The petition process requires the collection of signatures from a certain percentage of the registered voters within that state. This is a time-consuming and expensive undertaking.
Run as a write-in candidate.

Most states have a filing deadline in July or August, so time is running out for independent candidates to collect signatures and file petitions to get on the November ballot.

Without access to the ballot in all fifty states it is nearly impossible to win the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. All states, except Maine and Nebraska, award all their electoral votes to the candidate that received the most overall votes in their state. Maine and Nebraska award their electoral votes by Congressional district.

In 1992 Ross Perot ran the most successful third-party campaign for president since Teddy Roosevelt’s in 1912. Perot won 19% of the popular vote running against George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. But even the most successful independent run for president in the past 100 years didn’t earn Perot a single electoral vote.

Impact of Third-Party Candidates in Recent Years:

Ross Perot in 1992: Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in the 1992 presidential race with 43% of the vote. Running as an independent, Ross Perot pulled a significant number of Republican and independent votes from Bush, which likely cost him the election.

Ralph Nader in 2000: In the closely contested 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, it came down to the state of Florida to determine the winner. Ralph Nadar was the candidate for the left leaning Green Party and won 97,488 of the Florida votes. Bush beat Gore in Florida by only 573 votes and secured the presidency. Did Ralph Nadar spoil the election for Al Gore? It’s hard to argue otherwise.

Jill Stein in 2016: In the 2016 presidential race Hillary Clinton received 2.9 million more popular votes than Donald Trump, yet Trump received 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227 and won the election. With approximately 7 million votes going to third-party, independent and write-in candidates, either Clinton or Trump could have benefitted if they received even a small percentage of these votes.

Clinton lost Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin by a combined total of less than 80,000 votes, giving all electoral votes from these states to Trump. If all of Jill Stein’s votes went to Clinton in these states she would have won the election. Jill Stein was the candidate for the left leaning Green Party, so this scenario is plausible. The Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received three times as many votes as Jill Stein and it is impossible to know how many of his votes would have gone to either Trump or Clinton if he weren’t in the race.

2020: In the 2020 presidential election only 2% of the votes went to a third-party or independent candidate compared to 6% in 2016. This is probably no accident. The Democrat Party was convinced that Hilary Clinton lost the election in 2016 due to votes that went to third-party candidates, particularly Jill Stein. Operatives for the Democrats went to work and were successful in limiting the number of states where the Green Party candidate appeared on the ballot for the 2020 election. In that election the Green Party candidate appeared on the ballot in only 22 states compared to 48 in 2016.

The 2020 election was extremely close in several key battleground states. If third-party and independent candidates received votes in numbers closer to historical norms, the election could have turned out very different. Joe Biden won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada by less than 3% of the votes. The margin of victory for Joe Biden in Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia was less than 1%. These are sobering facts for the Democrats in the runup to the 2024 election.

Looking Ahead to 2024 Election: The dynamics of the 2024 election are pointing to an election where independent and third-party candidates could play a significant role in the outcome. Current national polls put the race at a statistical dead heat, with Trump and Biden both polling at around 41% among registered voters. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running a distant third at about 10%, with the remaining voters either undecided or throwing their support behind Jill Stein, Chase Oliver, or Cornell West.

It is impossible to know precisely how any one of these third-party candidates will impact the election, but with the overall discontent with the major party candidates, it is something that concerns both campaigns. Of concern to the Biden campaign are left leaning candidates Jill Stein and Cornell West. Chase Oliver is the libertarian candidate but is left leaning and could also pull some of Biden’s votes.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the wildcard in the race and has the potential to be the biggest disrupter. Kennedy has the advantage of his famous name, which gives him instant recognition, and he will be on most of the ballots in the battleground states. He is a former Democrat, but well known for his anti-vax and conspiratorial views. This might explain why he is pulling support away from both Biden and Trump.

I think that the Biden campaign has the most to fear from Kennedy due to his strong support among Latinos and younger voters. The Biden and Trump campaigns are both nervous that Kennedy could siphon away votes. Trump is now painting Kennedy as a “radical left lunatic” and a “liberal parading in conservative clothing". Biden has enlisted the help of the Kennedy clan who have thrown their support behind him and denounced their wayward relative.

If history is any guide, most voters will coalesce around one of the two major candidates as the election nears. That will still leave several million votes going to someone other than Trump or Biden. The election will be decided in the battleground states which proved to be decisive for Biden in the last election, but by very narrow margins.

An independent or third-party candidate has no chance of winning 270 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, so the next president of the United States will be either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. If you prefer either of these candidates, you should make your vote count and vote for them. Now is not the time to issue a protest by voting for a third-party, independent, or write in candidate, or by not voting at all. This election is too important, and the outcome will shape the direction of our democracy for years to come.

]]><![CDATA[Comments on Trump’s Felony Conviction in New York.]]>Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:20:23 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/comments-on-trumps-felony-conviction-in-new-york

As most of you are aware, former president Donald Trump was convicted last month on 34 felony counts arising from hush-money payments to an adult film star. Trump will be formally sentenced for these crimes on July 11, 2024, at which time his legal team will file an appeal. The appeal process will take months, if not years, and well after the 2024 presidential election is decided.

It would be nice if we could all take a collective deep breath and let the case work its way through the legal system. But alas, that is not to be. Trump’s felony conviction has become a major campaign issue for both Democrats and Republicans. To Trump and his allies the case against him was a politically motivated witch hunt, culminating in a sham trial to discredit him in the run-up to the November election. To those who are less inclined to take Trump’s point of view, the conviction is proof that the system of justice works and that no one is above the law.

Alvin Bragg

Merrick Garland

Jim Jordan

There have been a lot of issues raised about the legitimacy of the trial. Was it a political “hit job” or was justice served? Let’s examine some of the issues raised to see if they have any validity:

The Biden Administration has Weaponized the Justice Department to Attack Trump: In a news conference after his conviction, Trump accused President Biden of orchestrating the “sham trial” and using the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after him. There is no evidence that President Biden or anyone in his administration, including the DOJ, had anything to do with the criminal case against Trump in New York. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a state court where the federal government has no jurisdiction.

Earlier this month Attorney General Merrick Garland testified under oath before the House Judiciary Committee to answer claims that the DOJ had influenced the trial in New York. To this and other questions put to him by committee members, Garland stated, “The Manhattan District Attorney has jurisdiction over cases involving New York state law, completely independent of the Justice Department.” He went on to say that the Justice Department did not control the Manhattan District Attorney, has no contact with him and he is free to make decisions regarding New York state law.

Alvin Bragg will appear before the House Judiciary Committee next month to answer questions about the hush-money trial. House Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has accused Bragg of conducting a “political prosecution” of Donald Trump. Jordan is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Congress and will use his position to attack anyone who dares to cross Trump.

The Trial was Timed to Interfere with the Election: The investigation into Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office started several years before he announced plans to run for president in 2024. The investigation began in 2018 by Alvin Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr.

Alvin Bragg became Manhattan District Attorney at the beginning of 2022 and continued the investigation into the hush-money payments, leading to a grand jury indictment of Trump in March 2023. Trump announced his decision to run for president in November 2022, well into the investigation of hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and others. In all likelihood Trump announced his decision to run for president this early in order to shield himself against mounting legal troubles.

Trump has Repeatedly Claimed “There is no Crime”: Trump was tried and convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records, which are typically misdemeanors. Under New York law misdemeanors have a two-year statute of limitations. By the time the Manhattan District Attorney indicted Trump, the statute of limitations would have prevented an indictment based on misdemeanor charges alone. But the indictment brought against Trump was for 34 felony counts, not misdemeanors, extending the statute of limitations to over five years (COVID disruptions extended the statute of limitations for felony cases even further).

The key to the case against Trump was the ability under New York law for a misdemeanor to be raised to a felony if it was done to commit or conceal another crime. As spelled out in the indictment, the business records were falsified “with the intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” The indictment also revealed that the other crimes included violating state election laws and income tax laws.

It is true that the falsification of business records case would not have been brought against Trump if the crimes could not have been bumped up to felonies. It is also true that Trump would not have been convicted if the jury had not unanimously agreed that state election laws had been violated.

The evidence provided at court by the prosecution to prove that Trump and his organization falsified business records was indisputable. Furthermore, all twelve jurors were convinced that the business records were falsified to shield Trump from negative publicity during his 2016 presidential campaign. This is a clear violation of Section 17-152 of the New York state law.

Judge Merchan was Corrupt and Partisan: Trump has repeatedly called presiding Judge Juan Merchan “crooked”, “corrupt” and “highly conflicted”. There is simply no evidence to back up Trump’s assertions about the judge. The partisan claims against the judge are flimsy at best. In 2020 Juan Merchan donated a total of $35 to Democrat groups, including a $15 donation to the Biden campaign.

Trump’s legal team tried to get Judge Merchan removed from the case because of his daughter Loren’s work with Democrat groups. Loren Merchan served as president of a digital campaign strategy agency which did work on Biden’s 2020 campaign and other Democrat causes. The New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics reviewed the conflict-of-interest charges brought against Judge Merchan and found none.

If Judge Merchan was recused from the Trump case because of activities engaged in by his daughter, how about other prominent judges whose case work often draws suspicion due to the activities of spouses or relatives. The activities of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni come to mind. Ginni Thomas is a longtime conservative and was active in the “Stop the Steal” campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. You do not get more partisan than that, yet Clarence Thomas has not recused himself from cases before the Supreme Court involving Trump.

Republican Reactions to Trump’s Guilty Verdict: Not surprisingly the Republicans have circled the wagons around their likely presidential nominee. If you want to stay in Trump’s good graces you publicly denounce the verdict a gross miscarriage of justice brought about by a partisan district attorney, presided over by a partisan judge in a jurisdiction that was biased against him. Furthermore, the investigation and trial were directed by the White House in order to interfere with the presidential election.

Trump surrogates such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Marco Rubio and other potential vice president candidates were tripping over themselves to get in line to denounce the guilty verdict. “A purely political exercise, not a legal one” according to Speaker Johnson. Even that stalwart of law-and-order Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the criminal proceedings in New York to a “kangaroo court”.

This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and he doesn’t tolerate any disloyalty, just ask former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Hogan is a Republican running for the open Senate seat in Maryland who had the audacity to urge all Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process”. The reply from the Trump campaign to Mr. Hogan was swift and to the point, “You just ended your campaign.” I guess that politics trumps principles in today’s Republican Party.

We may never know if Trump’s guilty verdict will have a decisive impact on the presidential race. But we do know that in the short term it has energized Trump’s base and has been a funding raising bonanza. If Democrats use the verdict to bludgeon Trump it could backfire. On the other hand, if Trump uses it at every campaign stop to prove his victimhood, issues important to American voters could get ignored.

If the New York conviction shows anything, it is that Donald Trump is guilty of hubris and greed. Paying out “hush-money” to prevent embarrassing information from becoming public is not a crime. Falsifying business records to hide those payments is a crime. If Trump had simply made the payments from his personal funds, there would have been no crime.

Trump will appear before Judge Merchan on July 11, 2024, for his sentencing hearing. He has not done himself any favors by berating the judge every chance he gets. Even so, it is highly unlikely that Trump will be sentenced to serve any jail time. More likely he will be sentenced to probation, a fine, community service, or a combination of these.

The felony conviction of a former president is no reason to celebrate. It is a dark chapter in America’s history. It is time to reflect on the state of the partisan divide in our country and on the future of our democracy.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary, please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Reclassifying Marijuana. It’s About Time.]]>Sat, 01 Jun 2024 01:35:10 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/reclassifying-marijuana-its-about-time

On May 16, 2024, President Biden announced that his administration took a major step to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. Biden called the move “monumental”. So, what’s all the fuss about, and what are the practical implications of reclassifying marijuana?

Currently marijuana is legal for medical use in 38 states, and fully legal in 24 of these states. The federal government still considers the production, distribution, and use of marijuana to be illegal. But it is the policy of the Department of Justice not to prioritize marijuana enforcement in those states that have legalized it’s use. As long as states have marijuana regulations in place that prevent the use by minors, prevent sales across state lines, and don’t contribute to other criminal activity, the federal government has a hands-off approach.

Federal Regulation of Marijuana (Cannabis): The DEA has the final authority to schedule, reschedule, or de-schedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Only practitioners licensed with the DEA may prescribe a controlled substance, and only DEA licensed pharmacies may dispense them.

Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (The Federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970) . A controlled substance is any drug or chemical with the potential to cause harm through dependency, misuse, or abuse, and falls into one of five schedules of the Controlled Substances Act.

Schedule I: Drugs with high abuse potential with no accepted medical uses. These substances may not be prescribed, dispensed, or administered. Examples include marijuana, heroin, and LSD.
Schedule II: Drugs with high abuse potential, and may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs have accepted medical uses. Examples include oxycodone, morphine, amphetamine, and some barbiturates.
Schedule III: Drugs with intermediate abuse potential and accepted medical uses. Examples include anabolic steroids, testosterone, and ketamine. This is the schedule that the Biden Administration has recommend that marijuana be placed.
Schedules IV and V: These drugs have some potential for abuse, but much less than Schedule III drugs.

Note: Marinol and Syndros are two prescription drugs approved by the FDA that contain synthetic THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). They are used as antiemetics and appetite stimulants, mostly in cancer patients. Marinol falls under Schedule III and Syndros falls under Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act.

Timeline of Marijuana Reclassification:

October 6, 2022: President Biden directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to review how marijuana is currently scheduled under federal law. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then conducted a scientific and medical evaluation on whether marijuana has any current medical use in the United States, it’s potential for abuse, and other factors necessary for rescheduling a drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

August 2023: The FDA issued a 252-page report recommending that marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The report concluded that there is some scientific support for therapeutic uses of marijuana, and though frequently abused, it is not as dangerous as drugs listed in Schedules I or II. The National Institute on Drug Abuse concurred with the findings of the report.

August 29, 2023: The Department of Health and Human Services made a formal request to the DEA to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug.

May 16, 2024: President Biden announced that his administration initiated the process of reclassifying marijuana. The Attorney General submitted to the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking initiating the formal rulemaking process to consider moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

May 21, 2024: The Federal Register published a notice of proposed rulemaking to reschedule marijuana to the less restrictive Schedule III. This triggered a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rulemaking change. People objecting to the rule change may request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. This process could take months or years depending upon the objections raised. Once the process plays out, the Administrative Law Judge will make their recommendation to the DEA who has the ultimate authority to reschedule marijuana.

What Reclassification of Marijuana Will Achieve:

The federal government would acknowledge that marijuana has some legitimate medical uses and that it has less potential for abuse than other dangerous drugs such as LSD and opiates.
Expands research opportunities by lowering legal and financial barriers that currently exist for Schedule I drugs. This would help to expand research on the therapeutic uses of marijuana and to standardize dosage, strength, and delivery systems.
Under Section 280 E of the Internal Revenue Code, businesses participating in the production, distribution or sale of marijuana products cannot deduct most of their legitimate business expenses from their federal income taxes. This is a huge barrier to profitability for most of these businesses. If marijuana is moved to Schedule III, Section 280E will no longer apply.

What Reclassification of Marijuana Will Not Achieve:

It will not decriminalize marijuana.
Marijuana will not become legal for recreational use at the federal level.
It will not be legal to sell marijuana across state lines. As a controlled substance marijuana would require FDA approval to participate in interstate commerce.
It will not ease banking restrictions. Many banks and credit card companies will still be reluctant to do business with the cannabis industry. Marijuana will still be illegal at the federal level. Financial institutions doing business with the cannabis industry could face federal charges of money laundering and racketeering. This forces some cannabis businesses to only accept cash, a dangerous and inefficient practice. Congress should pass the bipartisan SAFER Banking Act which would allow banks to serve the cannabis industry in those states where it is now legal.

Unanswered Questions:

Will the DEA regulate marijuana like other Schedule III drugs, and require prescribers and dispensers to become registered?
As a Schedule III controlled substance, could marijuana only be prescribed by a licensed physician and dispensed by a licensed pharmacy? Where would this leave the nation’s thousands of cannabis dispensaries?
Would marijuana and related products be subject to oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), just like any other Schedule III drug? If so, marijuana products would require FDA approval before marketing.
The United States is a treaty member of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which requires the criminalization of cannabis. Would rescheduling marijuana put the United States in violation of this international treaty? The DEA cited the United States’ international treaty obligations as a reason not to reschedule marijuana in 2016.

These unanswered questions lead me to the conclusion that the road to full legalization of marijuana is a long way off. The laws governing drugs in this country are complex and impact many state and federal agencies. Only Congress has the power to untangle the complex web of laws that govern marijuana and other potentially dangerous drugs. Even though the majority of Americans are behind full legalization of marijuana, the Congress has no appetite for it. Therefore, the states will continue to take the lead.

Final Thoughts:

A recent study published in the journal Addiction shows that more Americans than ever are using cannabis related products. The study concludes that the number of Americans who use cannabis daily is greater than the number of Americans who use alcohol daily.

I am not naïve to the dangers of increased access to marijuana, or any other potentially dangerous drug, particularly among our youth. The concentration of THC (the principal psychoactive compound in marijuana) in marijuana today is up to five times greater than it was in the 1990s. This increases the potential for dependence and the development of psychotic symptoms, particularly in young people. I am in favor of strict regulations to limit the sale of marijuana, just like with alcohol, to protect young people and society at large.

Even though reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug will not be the panacea that many advocates hope for, it is a step in the right direction. Expanding research into marijuana’s potential medical benefits, and moving the cannabis industry out of the shadows, makes rescheduling it worthwhile.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Quick Takes on Recent National News.]]>Sat, 04 May 2024 22:26:00 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/quick-takes-on-recent-national-news

A lot has happened in the country since I posted my last blog in early March. It was good to tune out the barrage of news focused on the ongoing wars, politics, the Trump trials, and college protests. But as I reenter the fray, I want to make a few comments on some of the stories that caught my attention.

Speaker Johnson Shows Some Leadership: On March 22 House Speaker Mike Johnson, despite fierce opposite by far-right members of his own party, pushed through a $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending package that will fund the government for the rest of the year. The Senate approved the bill the following day and it was signed into law by President Biden that afternoon. By reaching across the aisle to get Democrat support for the spending bill, Speaker Johnson showed that he was willing to act in a bipartisan way to avert a government shutdown.

In April Speaker Johnson once again showed his willingness to put country ahead of party by getting the House to approve the $95 billion foreign aid bill. Among other things, the bill provides urgently needed military aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. Getting this bill passed in the House was the right thing to do despite opposition from many Republicans.

House member Marjorie Taylor Greene will likely call for a vote in the House to have Johnson removed as Speaker. Many Democrats have vowed to support the Speaker, so his job should be secure. House Republicans are not foolish enough to remove another Speaker and throw the House of Representatives into chaos this close to a presidential election.

“No Labels” Drops Out of Presidential Contest: The centrist political organization No Labels announced in early April that it would not nominate a candidate for the 2024 presidential election. Several nationally recognized politicians were under consideration, such as Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. But in the end no politician of consequence was willing to run as a third-party candidate and potentially spoil the election for either Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

Whoever wins the presidential election will do so by a very slim margin. A third-party candidate backed by No Labels would have certainly swayed the election by pulling many independent voters and some Democrats that are not thrilled that Joe Biden is running for reelection. I am not opposed to third-parties, but with the stakes so high in this election, I am happy that No Labels is not running a candidate for president.

Trump on Trial: Donald Trump is currently on trial in a New York courtroom facing thirty-four criminal counts of falsifying business records. He is the first ever former U.S. president to face criminal charges. The so-called “hush-money trial” revolves around $130,000 paid to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Donald Trump. The prosecution claims that Trump falsified checks and invoices to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to disguise the payments as legal expenses.

Paying people for their silence is not a crime. Disguising the payments as legal expenses runs afoul of business and tax laws. Prosecutors are also trying to show that the payments were a criminal effort to deceive voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election. If the payments to Stormy Daniels and others were indeed meant to influence the 2016 election, then Trump’s campaign committee violated campaign finance laws by not reporting them as campaign expenses.

Donald Trump will likely get convicted on one or more of the 34 counts that he is facing, but will it matter? Probably not. If Trump is convicted, the conviction will immediately be appealed, and the outcome will not be known until after the election. For me, whether or not Trump is convicted is not as important as the spotlight the trial shines on his character. The salacious and unsavory details brought out in the trial are reminders of the character of the man currently leading the Republican Party. Through his several bankruptcies we know that Trump has always been reckless in his business life. The trial reminds us that ethical behavior, morality and the practice of family values are not his strong points. His personal associations, his ability to twist the truth, and his seeming inability to take responsibility for his actions demonstrate his true character. Trump’s violations of the court’s gag orders during the trial show how undisciplined he is and highlights his disdain for authority.

Donald Trump will continue to claim that the trial is proof that the Department of Justice has been weaponized against him, and he will raise millions of dollars in campaign donations as a result. Trump has called the trial “election interference” since it prevents him from being out on the campaign trail. But isn’t the payment of “hush-money” to keep damaging reports of extramarital affairs from the American people the real election interference?

College Campus Protests: Pro-Palestinian rallies on U.S. college campuses began soon after the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, 2023. But as the war has dragged on and the suffering of the people in Gaza has intensified, pro-Palestinian protests at over 46 college campuses has escalated. Since the middle of April protestor encampments have sprung up at many college campuses to show solidarity with Palestinians and to voice opposition to what they view as a war of aggression by Israel. Protest leaders vowed to keep their encampments in place until the colleges agreed to meet such demands as divestment from Israeli companies and companies that do business with Israel.

Many Jewish students have felt unsafe and unprotected on campus, and in some cases have been the victims of intimidation and antisemitism. There have been calls from Congress for colleges and universities to do more to protect Jewish students.

Since the beginning of the war, campus protests have been mostly peaceful. But this all changed in recent weeks as counter protests have sprung up on some campuses, aided by outside agitators, leading to violence, destruction of property, and the upheaval of campus activities. This has led many college administrations to call in law enforcement to clear the encampments, leading to over 2400 arrests to date. Most of the protests have been peaceful and lawful. But some, like Columbia University and UCLA , were allowed to get out of control by the campus administrators leading to destruction of property, violence and mass arrests.

Colleges need to balance the 1st Amendment rights of students and faculty with campus safety while maintaining orderly operations of their institutions. The exercise of free speech and the right to peacefully assemble should be guaranteed on all college campuses, within limits. These limits should include:

The rule of law is upheld. Violence, destruction of property, and the occupation of college buildings are not protected by the 1st Amendment.
All members of the campus community should have the same access to facilities and resources.
All groups should have equal rights to the full range of protected speech.
Time, place, and manner of protests are applied equally to all.
Speech is not protected if it violates noise ordinances, or if it limits others the right to study, sleep, or take part in other campus activities.
Speech cannot violate the civil rights of others by being threatening or intimidating, particularly if made on the basis of race, sex, color or national origin.

These limits were excerpted from an article by David French of the New York Times.

Students have the right to protest, but not at the expense of the rights of other students to study and learn in peace. Students should be allowed to voice their opinions on the Israel-Hamas war, or on any other topic. But when that speech interferes with the rights of other students, or it becomes unlawful, then a line has been crossed and it is no longer protected.

War protests are not new on our college campuses or public squares. Free speech and peaceful protests are protected by our constitution. But expressions of hate and the threats of violence against another person or group are not protected speech. Hate speech should be condemned in the strongest possible way, regardless of which side of the conflict you are on.

]]><![CDATA[The Biden Impeachment Inquiry. An Update.]]>Sun, 03 Mar 2024 17:55:06 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/the-biden-impeachment-inquiry-an-update

In September of last year, the Republican lead House of Representatives opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. In a blog that I wrote at the time, I stated that the inquiry was politically motivated to appease Donald Trump and to damage President Biden in the next presidential election. I stand by that statement.

The justification for the inquiry was that Joe Biden was involved in corrupt business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunter Biden sat on the board of directors of Burisma while his father was Vice-President of the United States. The Republican’s smoking gun against Joe Biden was information provided to the FBI by an informant that claimed Joe and Hunter Biden were paid $5 million in bribes by Burisma in return for protection against a Ukrainian government investigation.

Despite numerous warnings from the FBI that the information provided by the informant was uncorroborated and its credibility unknown, the Republicans made it the centerpiece of their case against Joe Biden. Republican Representative James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee called the source of the allegation “highly credible”. Republican Representative Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee Chairman, called the information provided by the FBI informant the “most corroborating evidence we have”. The informant’s statement, obtained from the FBI, was read into the Congressional Record and included as a “key” document into the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden.

It has recently been made public that Alexander Smirnov was the FBI informant who made the allegations against the Bidens in 2020. He was arrested last month in Las Vegas on charges that he had fabricated the story to discredit Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential race. The two-count indictment against Mr. Smirnov alleges that he made false statements to the FBI and falsified records in a federal investigation.

During the investigation into Mr. Smirnov’s activities, federal prosecutors have determined that he is actively peddling new lies about the Bidens that could impact the current presidential race, and that he has recently been in contact with a number of Russian officials. As a result, federal prosecutors have successfully petitioned the court to keep Mr. Smirnov in jail while he awaits trial.

Since Alexander Smirnov’s arrest, Democrats have called for the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden to end. But the House impeachment managers have vowed to press on. They are more interested in keeping the investigation into Joe Biden alive and in the press than they are with the facts.

James Comer and Jim Jordan are beholden to Donald Trump, not to the truth. This is an election year, and it is politically expedient to hang the prospect of impeachment over the head of Joe Biden and stay on the right side of Donald Trump.

]]><![CDATA[Looking Ahead to the General Election.]]>Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:01:46 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/looking-ahead-to-the-general-election

The South Carolina Republican primary will be held this Saturday, followed by Super Tuesday ten days later when fifteen states and one territory will vote. Short of a strategically placed lightening bolt, Donald Trump will soon be the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

Despite the fact that nearly 70% of registered voters don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch in the fall presidential election, that’s what we will be faced with. There are staunch partisans on both sides of the aisle who will vote for their party’s candidate regardless of who they are. But a large portion of voters in the middle will decide the election. These are the people who need to be persuaded to vote, and vote for the right reasons. That requires education about the candidates and the policies that are important to this country.

The next president will determine how our country engages with the outside world and the domestic policies that will impact our everyday lives. This election is too important to sit on the sidelines and take a wait and see attitude. That is why it is so important to educate ourselves and others about the two major presidential candidates and their policy priorities.

For my small part in educating people, I will make source material recommendations over the next several months. I have recently finished a book by Liz Cheney and watched a documentary by Frontline that I feel every voter should at least be aware of, if not immerse themselves in.

I found Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor” to be very readable and compelling. It is an insider’s look at the current state of the Republican Party, and provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. As the vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, Cheney provided intimate details of the hundreds of hours of witness testimony and video footage that were uncovered during the investigation.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to read Liz Cheney’s book, then I urge you to watch the Frontline documentary “Democracy on Trial”. I thought I knew a lot about the 2020 presidential election and the final days of the Trump Administration, but this documentary opened my eyes to a lot of details that I was unaware of. The documentary investigates the roots of the criminal cases against former President Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. It digs into the House January 6th committee’s findings, and brings the evidence to life through interviews with the people who had first-hand knowledge of the events. This is a must see for everyone before they cast their vote in November.

Depending upon where you get your news, Liz Cheney’s book and the work of the January 6th committee may be labeled as partisan hit pieces, if they are reported on at all. Or they may be heralded as heroic and essential for protecting the future of our democracy. That is why it is important for all of us to broaden our perspectives and be open to other points of view when evaluating our choices for national leaders. The future of our country is too important to rely on partisan talking heads and social media posts that are pushing a particular point of view.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump has Spoken: No Border Deal With the Democrats!]]>Sat, 17 Feb 2024 18:24:44 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/donald-trump-has-spoken-no-border-deal-with-the-democrats

This month the Congressional Republicans proved once again that doing what’s right for the country takes second place to appeasing Donald Trump. On February 3, 2024 the U.S. Senate introduced a bipartisan border security bill which included aid to Ukraine and Israel. Within hours Trump slammed the bill as a win for Democrats. Trump’s lobbying efforts turned many Republican Senators against the bill and it quickly failed to advance. The fact that Trump can dictate to Republican members of Congress which policies to back shows a real lack on Congressional leadership, and is illustrative of today’s Republican Party.

Politics and the Border: Immigration and border security are among the top issues for both Republican and Democrat voters. The problems at the U.S. border with Mexico have been decades in the making, but they have gotten worse under President Biden, as I outlined in a previous blog. As soon as President Biden came into office, the House Republicans seized on the “border crisis” as an issue to attack him with.

Last October, while the House Republicans were scrambling to elect a new House Speaker, the Biden Administration requested more than $105 billion from Congress, mostly to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel. The request also included about $14 billion to improve security at the southern border. Among other things, the funds would have been used to hire more border agents, install new inspection machines to detect fentanyl, and increase staffing to expedite asylum cases.

With the House of Representatives in chaos, it was up to the Senate to move forward on a spending package for Ukraine and Israel. Senate Republicans approached the Democrats with a way forward. They would only back additional assistance to Ukraine if the Democrats agreed to their border security proposals. The Senate leadership soon put together a bipartisan group of Senators to negotiate a deal.

Even before the text of the bill was finalized, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “I do not think we should do a Border Deal, at all, unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions and Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country! Also, I have no doubt that our wonderful Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, will only make a deal that is PERFECT ON THE BORDER.” Speaker Johnson, who speaks with Trump regularly, declared the bill “dead on arrival” in the House if it was approved by the Senate.

If there was any doubt about Trump's motives, he clearly spelled them out on a post to “Truth Social” on Feb 5, 2024. Part of the post read, “This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for the Republican Party. It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”

In case Republican Senators didn’t get the message, Trump called several of them to tell them that the bill was helping Joe Biden, and he (Trump) needed the crisis at the border to continue in order to get elected.

Hypocrisy Over Border Bill: For months Republicans in Congress have demanded new border security measures, only to reject them once they were in hand. Even Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican, said that Republicans couldn’t get a better deal even with a Republican in the White House.

The bipartisan Senate bill would have provided $20.2 billion for the most substantive changes to border and immigration policy in over a generation. The bill would have overhauled the asylum system, making it more difficult for migrants to qualify. The practice of “catch and release”, in which migrants are released into the U.S. while their claims are being processed, would end. Funding would be available to hire more border agents, asylum officers, support for border states, and even some border barriers. The bill would have granted the president new authority to shut down the border during periods of high migrant crossings, and visas for legal immigrants would be increased by 50,000 a year.

The National Border Patrol Council, which represents more than 18,000 border agents, came out strongly in favor of the border bill. The council’s president called the bill transformative and far better than the current status quo. He went on to say that the bill would “drop illegal border crossings nationwide and allow our agents to get back to detecting and apprehending those who want to cross our border illegally and evade apprehension.”

House Impeaches Secretary Mayorkas: If the House Republicans were serious about border security, they would have worked with their Senate colleagues to get it done. But that was not going to happen with Donald Trump calling the shots in an election year. Instead, they chose to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust” amid a surge in unauthorized migrant crossings.

The Republican’s first attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas failed last week by three votes. Their second impeachment attempt earlier this week passed by only one vote.

The impeachment of Mayorkas is a pathetic attempt to deflect attention away from the House Republicans, who are not serious about passing border security legislation, and place the blame for the border problems on the Biden Administration. The articles of impeachment will go nowhere in the Democrat controlled Senate, and will have accomplished little more than appeasing Donald Trump.

Democrats May Get the Last Laugh: Fixing the broken immigration system and securing the border are top of mind for most voters. But the Republicans can no longer claim that the Democrats did nothing to fix the problem. The Republicans were the ones who killed the Senate bill that would have provided billions of dollars to secure the border and improve the broken immigration system. Democrats in the House and Senate backed the bill, as did President Biden. Donald Trump is responsible for the bill failing so that he could keep the “border crisis” a campaign issue.

The failure of the “National Security and Border Act, 2024” is further proof that the Republican Party has lost its way. It is the height of hypocrisy for House Republicans to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary for not securing the border when they helped defeat a bill that would have done just that. This seems to me to be a dereliction of duty and un-American.

The amount of sway that Donald Trump holds over the Republican Party should give all Americans pause. He rules the Congressional Republicans like a puppet master, and will stop at nothing to get reelected. The Grand Old Party is no longer the party of Lincoln when it is beholden to a man who puts himself above the rule of law, above the Constitution, and above the needs of the American people.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Nikki Haley is Down, But Not Out.]]>Thu, 01 Feb 2024 22:59:45 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/nikki-haley-is-down-but-not-out

With strong wins in Iowa and New Hampshire in January, it’s unlikely that any other candidate will be able to stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee for president. Is it too soon to crown Trump the victor? Nikki Haley thinks so. After all, only two states, representing only about 1.4% of the population of the country, have casts their votes. Haley has vowed to stay in the race for as long as possible, much to the displeasure and downright anger of Trump and the Republican establishment.

Nikki Haley came in a distant 3rd in the Iowa caucuses, and was defeated by Donald Trump in the New Hampshire primary by 11 points. Other than Trump, she is the only candidate still in the race, and is under tremendous pressure to exit so that the party can coalesce around Trump. Haley stands defiant against the pressure and has declared, “This race is far from over. There are dozens of states to go”. After Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, Haley said, “The New Hampshire primary is the 1st in the nation, not the last”.

Donald Trump is angry that Haley hasn’t dropped out of the race and come groveling to his side like Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott and Ron DeSantis. Rather than being gracious in victory, Trump lashed out at Haley during his victory speech in New Hampshire. Referring to Haley, Trump said, “Who the hell was the imposter who went up on stage before, and like, claimed a victory?” He went on to say, “I don’t get too angry. I get even.” I guess that Trump is the only one allowed to claim an election victory after having lost.

Should Haley Drop Out of Race? Only Nikki Haley should decide if and when it is time for her to drop out of the race. Even though the path to Haley’s victory seems next to impossible, it would be undemocratic to cede the election to Trump after only two states have participated. The Republican Party should not tell the voters of the other 48 states that their votes don’t matter. As a voter in California, I know exactly how that feels. Prior to 2020, California held its primary elections on the first Tuesday in June. That is very late in the primary season, and the major parties have usually picked a presumptive nominee by then. California now holds its primary elections on Super Tuesday, the first Tuesday in March, giving the voters in the country’s most populous state a voice in the nominating process.

I hope that Haley can stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday when voters in 15 states and 1 territory will cast their votes. Eleven of these contests are open or semi-open primaries. That means that independent and unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote for a Republican candidate even though they are not registered Republicans. Haley polls well against Trump with independent voters, and she should pick up a number of delegates.

The Rules of the Race: According to Republican National Committee (RNC) rules, a candidate needs to win 1215 delegates to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention. This year the convention will be held on July 15-18 in Milwaukee. Most delegates at the convention must vote for the candidate based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state.

Currently Donald Trump has won 32 delegates and Nikki Haley has won 17. The contest is just beginning.

What’s in it for Haley? If, as many pundits say, Haley has no path to victory, why is she staying in the race? Good question. Is she running to be Trump’s vice president, or perhaps vying for a cabinet post? I doubt it. If that was the case she would have already dropped out of the race and kissed Donald Trump’s ring, like Ramaswamy and Scott, who clearly hope for a top position within a Trump administration. In recent days Haley has ramped up her attacks on Trump, questioning his mental abilities and fitness for office. Trump won’t soon forgive or forget these attacks. Moreover, Trump doesn’t want anyone on his team with ambition for the top spot and the ability to take the spotlight away from him.

I believe that Nikki Haley is positioning herself as the second-place finisher in the Republican race, and will be ready to step in for Trump in the event that he is somehow disqualified.

Let’s face facts. Donald Trump will turn 78 years old in June, and is facing 91 criminal counts. Taking into account Trump’s age, lifestyle, and the tremendous amount of stress that he is under, it is not inconceivable that he could have a serious medical event between now and the Republican National Convention. A serious medical event could pull Trump from the race, as could the weight of his legal troubles. If Trump is convicted of one or more of the crimes he is charged with, a significant percentage of the electorate would turn away from him.

According to recent national polls, as well as polls taken after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, nearly one-third of Republican voters would not vote for Donald Trump if he was convicted of a crime. The RNC is well aware of this, and realizes that Trump couldn’t win the general election if one-third of Republican voters didn’t support him. Therefore, if Trump is convicted of one or more of the 91 crimes he has been charged with, or if the RNC feels that a conviction is imminent, they may opt for a safer bet. That safer bet is Nikki Haley.

For the good of the Republican Party and democracy, I hope that Nikki Haley stays in the race for as long as possible. But she better watch out for the buckets of slime that will be hurled at her along the way.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[What is Donald Trump's Appeal to Voters?]]>Fri, 19 Jan 2024 20:28:42 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/what-is-donald-trumps-appeal-to-voters

Without a doubt Donald Trump has been the most disruptive and controversial figure in American politics in my lifetime. He has turned the Republican Party on its head and now is its de facto leader. Trump can say and do almost anything with impunity, and his base of support only grows. With his overwhelming victory in the Iowa caucuses this week, his nomination as the 2024 Republican Presidential candidate is all but certain. As someone who has never voted for Trump, it is difficult for me to understand his appeal. But rather than bury my head in the sand, I think the better approach is to try and understand what is behind his popularity among the Republican faithful.

I’ve read dozens of news reports, watched hours of cable and network news programs, and listened to countless podcasts in order to make some sense of Trump’s appeal. It will probably take years of research and reflection by historians, psychologists, and scholars to get the full read on Trump’s appeal to voters, but I will weigh in with my own views.

The reasons that Trump’s supporters give for backing him can be categorized into three broad categories. They are policy issues, personality, and politics. Let’s take a closer look at each one of these:

Southern Border with Mexico: Forty percent of caucus-goers in Iowa identified illegal immigration across the border with Mexico as a top concern. Under Trump the border was seen as secure, and the border wall would have made it more so. Today we have an “open border” policy, according to many Republicans, with illegals entering the country by the tens of thousands. Trump is seen as having secured the border once, and therefore can do it again.

Foreign Conflicts: Many of Trump’s supporters are anxious about foreign conflicts, and are resistant to sending more aid to Ukraine. To them, Trump is the candidate who would project strength abroad during a time of two major wars and a growing threat from China. They believe Trump when he tells them, “For four straight years I kept America safe, I kept Israel safe, I kept Ukraine safe, and I kept the entire world safe.”

Economy: A common refrain among his supporters is that the economy was much better under Trump. They often site the high food and gas prices brought about by President Biden’s policies.

Social/Cultural Issues: As the Democrat Party has moved left on cultural issues, conservatives in the Republican Party, particularly evangelical Christians, have pushed back. The promotion of abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights goes against the religious views of many conservatives, and they see it as an affront to their religious liberty. Donald Trump is seen as a flawed man in the eyes of many of his conservative supporters. But he has a proven track record of placing three conservative judges on the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade. That was the Holy Grail of accomplishments for conservatives, one that no other Republican candidate can match. According to Bob Vander Plaats of the Christian group The Family Leader, “Can God use Donald Trump to accomplish good things? Yes, he’s always used flawed people to accomplish good things for him.”

Trump’s Personality: Donald Trump is a force of nature and a natural showman. He is entertaining and charismatic; not bad traits to have for a politician.

The thing that surprised me, and this came up over and over in interviews with his supporters, was that Trump, unlike any of his opponents, has the strength to get things done. Trump often portrays himself as a strongman, being the only one strong enough to keep America peaceful and prosperous in a dangerous world. To many, this is his most important quality that ties it all together for them. According to his supporters, Trump’s strength will garner both fear and respect in foreign affairs and allow him to get things done in this country.

Many of Trump’s utterances are often vulgar, petty, or just not well thought out. But his supporters view this is as a sign of his authenticity. They like the fact that he speaks without a filter, which shows that he is not afraid to speak his mind. His belittling and often juvenile remarks are thought to be a sign of his honesty and his courage, and feed into his image as a strongman.

Trump’s supporters view the country as broken, needing an upheaval or major disruption to fix it. Trump is seen as the disruptor- in- chief, with the strength to overcome any challenge.

Politics: Unlike any other politician in America today, Trump has the ability to connect with his supporters. No other politician comes close to garnering the level of enthusiasm among his/her supporters. His supporters believe that they have been overlooked by establishment politicians, but Trump hears them and speaks for them.

Trump’s mountain of legal troubles is seen as a political prosecution in an attempt to silence him, and by extension his supporters. In a typical refrain to supporters recently, Trump said, “You and I have been in this battle side-by-side, together, and we have been taking on the entire corrupt system in Washington like no one has ever done before. The political establishment and global elites are at war with us-we have to fight.”

Rather than hurting him, the civil suits in New York and the four criminal indictments brought against Trump have only increased his support among the Republican base. These cases have become part of his campaign and he has raised millions of dollars with each new charge. Trump’s poll numbers started to increase after his first indictment in New York for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. Days after the indictment his support among likely Republican voters surpassed 50% in national polls, and they have risen with each new indictment.

The ruling in Colorado to block Trump from its primary ballot increased Republican fury to a fever pitch over what they viewed as a further attempt to weaponize the courts and justice system against Trump. His supporters take it personally. An attack against Trump is an attack against them.

Did Trump’s adversaries overplay their hand? Whether they did or didn’t, it certainly had the opposite effect of silencing him. As one Trump supporter put it, “I prefer Trump because Democrats are trying to find any way they can to jail him. What are they afraid of?” Trump’s supporters have circled the wagons around him and his candidacy, virtually blocking out any other candidates.

Say what you will about Donald Trump, he is a master politician, even though he claims to be a businessman, not a politician. Attacks against Trump from both within and without the Republican Party are seen as proof of a corrupt and broken system, by his supporters.

Trump’s qualities that I view as weaknesses are viewed by his supporters as part of his allure and strength. His supporters truly believe that the problems facing the country, both home and abroad, would never have happened if Trump were still president. Trump has convinced them that his policies made America great in the past, and he can do it again. If Donald Trump is truly perceived to be the only Republican with the strength to lead the country through tough times, it should be no surprise that so many caucus and primary voters seem reluctant to waste their votes on a lesser candidate.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

]]><![CDATA[Fasten Your Seatbelts; 2024 is Going to be a Bumpy Year!]]>Sat, 06 Jan 2024 03:03:19 GMThttp://armchairamerican.com/blog/fasten-your-seatbelts-2024-is-going-to-be-a-bumpy-year

The new year is starting off much like it ended, with a lot of negative news. The mood in the country seems to be gloomy, and nobody seems enthusiastic about the presidential election which will consume much of the year. I’m not immune to all of the gloom and doom. When I look back on what I wrote about in 2023, it was mostly about the chaos in Congress, foreign wars, and the presidential candidates nobody seems to want. But it is time to shake off the gloom and look beyond the headlines, because 2023 was actually an amazing year.

Positives from 2023: Negative and tragic news tend to grab all of the headlines. But if you dig a little deeper, there were so many positive things that occurred in 2023. Here are but a few:

The CDC and World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic in May.
The child mortality rates were the lowest ever recorded.
For the first time in history, women were allowed to vote in every country that hold elections.
More people in the world gained access to clean water and electricity than ever before.
The gender pay gap reached an all-time low.
Investments in renewable energy have never been higher.
Advances in mRNA technology, gene editing and artificial intelligence have resulted in medical breakthroughs which bring us closer to curing Alzheimer’s disease, sickle cell disease, several types of cancer, and mitigating malaria.
Inflation cooled dramatically and the economy didn’t fall into recession.
Artificial Intelligence went mainstream. This could be a good thing or a bad thing.
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé brought joy to millions, young and old.
California ended the year drought free.

Looking Ahead to 2024: There will be a lot of ups and downs this year. In ten short months our country will hold another presidential election. For better or for worse this will dominate the news cycle. But there is a lot going on closer to home and across the world that deserves our attention. In the near-term many of these issues seem downright depressing, but maybe 2024 will surprise us with some positive outcomes. Here are some of the issues that I will be following:

Statewide: The state of California is facing many challenges. Illegal immigration and homelessness are among the biggest. But the one that I will be watching closely is the massive $68 billion budget deficit facing the state. This is mostly due to severe revenue declines (lower tax collections) in 2022-2023. Major budget cuts, tapping into the rainy-day fund, and creative financing will all be on the table. Governor Gavin Newsom’s political future will rest on his ability to put the state’s fiscal house in order.

Nationally:

Homelessness: This seems to be an intractable problem across many cities and states. We know that the problem arises from the lack of affordable housing, as well as the lack of treatment facilities for those suffering from mental illness and addiction disorders. Billions of dollars are being spent at the state and local levels every year. But it seems to me that most of the money goes to feeding the bureaucracy that has been built up to address the homeliness problem. Hopefully this year we will see some real progress made in overcoming this important societal issue.
Disruption of Public Meetings: In many communities across the country public meetings have become very contentious, with individuals threatening officials and using hate speech. Much of this has come during the public comment sections of meetings which allow people to participate virtually. Disruptive behavior from members of the public has increased in recent years as the political divide in our country has widened. The county where I live now requires public comments during meetings to be made in person. Pre-screening of individuals and the text of their comments is probably not far off. Free speech should not be stifled. But disruptive behavior at public meetings and hate speech may result in restrictions placed on this important right.

Federal Spending Bills: Time is running out on Congress to pass new spending bills to avoid a government shutdown. The first of the two stop-gap spending bills signed into law in November expires on January 19, and the second bill expires on February 2. This will be a major test for new House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Border Crisis: U.S. Border Patrol agents took into custody over 225,000 migrants illegally entering the country through the southern border in December alone. This doesn’t include the 50,000 who entered the U.S. through official ports of entry. The flood of migrants during 2023 has overwhelmed the resources of the Border Patrol and the border states, most notably Texas. Both political parties are to blame for the chaos at the border, but the Biden Administration is taking the brunt of it. Only Congress can legislate the country out of its broken immigration and border policies, but President Biden will take the hit this election year if things don’t improve.

Supreme Court and Election Politics: Maine became the second state after Colorado to bar Donald Trump from appearing on its 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot. The justification for such moves is that Donald Trump violated the “insurrection act” of the 14th Amendment. As I wrote in a blog on the topic last September, the law is not clear as to whether the provisions of the 14th Amendment apply to Donald Trump. Even if they did, it would be terrible for the country if a court or a government official, rather than the people, was to decide who was allowed to appear on the ballot. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of the Colorado case on February 8. I hope that the Court decides quickly and decisively in his favor. Otherwise, Trump’s claims of election interference will ring true for millions of Americans, and the faith in free and fair elections could be irreparably harmed.

Presidential Race: To the chagrin of the majority of voting age Americans, the 2024 presidential election will probably be a contest between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Unless President Biden becomes ill, or his wife Jill talks some sense into him, he will be the Democrat nominee for President. Donald Trump still has to win his nomination through the primary process, which he should easily do according to most national polls. There is still a chance that the weight of Trump’s legal challenges could bring him down, but time is on his side. The Iowa caucuses will be held on January 15, followed by the New Hampshire primary on January 23, and the South Carolina primary on February 3. Even if one of Trump’s challengers is still hanging on after these first in the nation primary contests, we will all know who the nominee is after Super Tuesday, March 5.

Internationally:

Israel-Hamas War: This horrific war has dominated headlines since it began on October 7, 2023. The fighting will continue for months, and Israeli is resolute on its determination to wipe out Hamas. The people of Gaza will be dealing with the devastating effects of the war for years to come, and it is hard to see how a lasting peace in the Middle East can emerge from the wreckage.

Ukraine War: Next month the war in Ukraine will enter its third year, with no end in sight. Republicans in Congress are threatening to withhold further aid to Ukraine. But that’s a mistake. Without U.S. support the Russians will eventually wear down the Ukrainians, and Putin will have his victory. Putin will not stop with Ukraine. Other former Soviet bloc countries will fall to his aggression, including several that are current members of NATO. If Russia attacks a NATO country, the United States will be pulled into a European war and will pay in blood, as well as treasure.

When I look back upon 2023, I will try and remind myself of all the good that occurred and not be dragged down by the not so good. 2024 is sure to be a turbulent year, but along with the turbulence will come excitement and opportunities. I’m anxious to get started. I typically don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I will make an exception. I will work on being grateful for all of my blessings, and to never lose my sense of humor, no matter how crazy things get.

If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Armchair American

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