Biden's First Three Days

 

"Sleepy Joe" wasn't so sleepy. In three days he did more for the country than Trump did in three months, or four years. Or does pardoning a war criminal and Blackwater thugs for murdering a teenage prisoner and 14 Iraqi civilians count?

30 executive orders and actions Biden signed in his first three days: (* = Reversal of Trump’s orders and actions)

Restores collective bargaining power and worker protections for federal workers, and lays the foundation for $15 minimum wage*

Calls for assistance to those who are struggling to buy food, missed out on stimulus checks or are unemployed. 

Accelerates manufacturing and delivery of supplies for vaccination, testing and Personal Protective Equipment

Directs FEMA to expand reimbursement to states to fully cover the cost for National Guard personnel and emergency supplies

Establishes the Pandemic Testing Board to expand US coronavirus testing capacity

Establishes a preclinical program to boost development of therapeutics in response to pandemic threats

Enhances the nation's collection, production, sharing and analysis of coronavirus data

Directs FEMA to create federally-supported community vaccination centers

Directs the Department of Education and HHS to provide guidance for safely reopening and operating schools, childcare providers and institutions of higher education

Calls on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to release clear guidance on Covid-19, decide whether to establish emergency temporary standards, and directs OSHA to enforce worker health and safety requirements

Requires mask wearing in airports and on certain modes of transportation, including many trains, airplanes, maritime vessels and intercity buses. International travelers must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to coming to the US

Creates the Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force to help ensure an equitable pandemic response and recovery

A presidential directive to restore America's leadership, support the international pandemic response effort, promote resilience for future threats and advance global health security and the Global Health Security Agenda

Launches a "100 Days Masking Challenge" asking Americans to wear masks for 100 days. Requires masks and physical distancing in federal buildings, on federal lands and by government contractors, and urges states and local governments to do the same.

Stops the United States' withdrawal from the World Health Organization, with Dr. Anthony Fauci becoming the head of the delegation to the WHO*

Creates the position of Covid-19 Response Coordinator, reporting directly to Biden and managing efforts to produce and distribute vaccines and medical equipment

Extends the existing nationwide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until at least March 3 

Extends the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for Americans with federal student loans until at least September 30

Rejoins the Paris climate accord, a process that will take 30 days*

Cancels the Keystone XL pipeline and directs agencies to review and reverse more than 100 Trump actions on the environment*

Rescinds the Trump administration's 1776 Commission, directs agencies to review their actions to ensure racial equity*

Prevents workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity

Requires non-citizens to be included in the Census and apportionment of congressional representatives*

Fortifies DACA after Trump's efforts to undo protections for undocumented people brought into the country as children 

Reverses the Trump administration's restrictions on US entry for passport holders from seven Muslim-majority countries*

Undoes Trump's expansion of immigration enforcement within the United States*

Halts construction of the border wall by terminating the national emergency declaration used to fund it*

Extends deferrals of deportation and work authorizations for Liberians with a safe haven in the United States until June 30, 2022

Requires executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge barring them from acting in personal interest and requiring them to uphold the independence of the Department of Justice

Directs OMB director to develop recommendations to modernize regulatory review and undoes Trump's regulatory approval process*

Good Luck, America

 

After four long years, the Great American Reality Show is over. “The tribe has spoken.”

The American people voted the reality show president out of the game, out of office, and out of the White House.

The sorest winner of a presidential election became the sorest loser of a presidential election. He refused to leave peacefully.

He gained the office through cheating, by illegally paying off a porn star. He would leave by committing a far more horrible crime. His lies about a stolen election incited a violent mob into storming the Capitol Building.

His reality show’s grand finale left a bloody insurrection that would wreak the worst destruction and political violence upon our republic and representative democracy since the Civil War. And nobody believes we’ve seen the last of it.

But this Great American Reality Show wasn’t just reality TV.

Every American was caught up in the debacle of the worst presidency ever. His rhetoric of lies and hate ripped apart an already divided country.

His incompetence and downplaying of a deadly virus opened an unprepared nation to a pandemic. He refused to wear a mask and refused to urge Americans to wear masks. His dishonesty and dereliction of duty are leaving millions of people sickened, and the deaths of 400,000 Americans in his wake.

His response was weak and selective to favored states. He overruled medical opinion on shutdowns.

He desecrated the office of the presidency and degraded the nation’s reputation. He ignored our Constitutional checks and balances. He obstructed justice to stop an investigation of Russian election interference. He abused the power of the office, and was impeached for attempting to bully the Ukrainian president into smearing his opponent and his family.

His “liberate Michigan” tweet, inspired an armed mob to swarm Michigan’s capitol, eerily portending the January 6^th insurrection. His words were taken as a cue for domestic terrorists to plot the kidnapping and murder of Governor Whitmer.

Trump’s reality show is over, but reality remains for the rest of us.

Millions of his cult still believe his Big Lie of a stolen election. The continuing threat of terrorism by Trump’s radical right followers is frighteningly real.

The legacy of Trump’s ugly reality show will leave behind terrorism, sickness, death, and destruction for years to come.

The evil darkness of Trumpism will haunt us until reality and goodwill overtake the lies and hate.

Good luck, America.

Martin Luther King Day 2021

 

Due to the January 6^th insurrection by Trump’s Traitors, Washington DC is in a security lockdown for the inauguration of President Biden.

Trump made America so great again, that nobody can visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial this Martin Luther King Day.

This sad reality reveals how the character, moral grounding and soul of the nation have been deeply stained by Trump and his ignorant, racist, and treasonous cult.

 

And none of them know it.

 

Ignorance isn't ignorance to the ignorant.

Racism isn't racism to the racist.

Treason isn't treason to the traitor.

A cult isn't a cult to the cult.

Truth Or Treason

 

The fact that the worst American president in history had to be impeached TWICE is an eternal mark of shame on the United States of America. 

More specifically it is a mark of shame on the shameless Party of Trump. This time around, impeachment number two has the support of more Republicans. 

I'm sure some of that Republican support springs from a long suppressed conscience. But I'm not naive. I'm also sure some Republicans support the impeachment out of a politically calculated distancing from Trump. They are positioning themselves for future elections. (Hello, Liz Cheney.)

Less than a year ago the truth was denied by all but one Republican senator.

Truth that will stand throughout history.

Adam Schiff: February 3, 2020

“He has betrayed our national security and he will do so again. He has compromised our elections and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. What’s right matters even less and decency matters not at all. I do not ask you to convict him because truth or right or decency matters nothing to him, but because we have proven our case and it matters to you. Truth matters to you, right matters to you. You are decent. He is not who you are.

... I put my faith in the optimism of the founders. You should too. They gave us the tools to do the job, a remedy as powerful as the evil it was meant to constrain: Impeachment. They meant it to be used rarely, but they put it in the constitution for a reason. For a man who would sell out his country for a political favor, for a man who would threaten the integrity of our elections. For a man who would invite for an interference in our affairs. For a man who would undermine our national security and that of our allies. For a man like Donald J. Trump. They gave you a remedy and they meant for you to use it. They gave you an oath and they meant for you to observe it. We have proven Donald Trump guilty now do impartial justice and convict him.”

The truth was shamelessly and cowardly denied by all but one Republican senator, who refused to be intimidated by a tyrant. 

Senator Mitt Romney saw the truth again, and it will also stand for the ages to come:

"What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States. No congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters, particularly when the president continues to say the election was stolen. The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth"

It is deeply disturbing that millions of Americans are still indoctrinated by the radical Right. They deny the truth and embrace the treasonous lies spoken by the worst president in history. Their embrace of the "stolen election" lies of traitors will stain them for life, just as it will stain any memories of them. 

I'm also deeply disturbed by the certainty of more terrorist violence and bloodshed from Trump's Traitors. This crisis is far from over. It can only begin to be mitigated by the Republican Party. They must unite in unequivocal repudiation of Trump and his lies about a stolen election. 

It's time for them to choose. Truth or treason. 

Patriots value truth. Until they do so, they are not patriots. They are Trumpists.

Some are realizing this, now that Trump’s lies and radical Right extremism have resulted in terrorist insurrection.

Eventually more Americans will understand they were conned.

But not all of them.

Like Trump, those with an authoritarian personality will never admit to being wrong or mistaken.

Like Trump, they are now, and will always be, on the wrong side of history, and among those who betrayed our country. 

Maybe I'm Wrong...

The warm up acts for the "Save America March" were really heating things up from the stage.

“Today is the day American patriots start takin’ down names and kickin’ ass.”- Mo Brooks

 “You have an opportunity today. You can be a hero, or you can be a zero.”..."These guys better fight for Trump. Because if they're not --Guess what? I'm gonna be in your backyard in a couple of months"..."This isn't their Republican Party anymore. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party!" - Donald Trump Jr

 "Every single thing that has been outlined as the plan for today is perfectly legal ... it is perfectly appropriate given the questionable constitutionality of the Election Counting Act of 1887 that the vice president can cast it aside....Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent. And if we're wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we're right, and lot of them will go to jail. So -- let's have trial by combat" – Rudy Giuliani

This "kickin' ass" and "trial by combat" rhetoric would have gone spectacularly well before Hitler's "Beer Hall Putsch" in 1923. 

Not a peep was heard about a protest or demonstration. These words were never uttered, but threats to Republicans who accepted the election results were. 

There were seditionist co-conspirators in the House and Senate who promoted the Big Lie that Trump pushed to incite the terrorist insurrection. And they did it AFTER the storming of the Capitol.

Sens. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Neely Kennedy, Roger Marshall and Tommy Tuberville all carried through with objecting to the electors.

This treachery will only just incite MORE radical Right terrorism. More Americans will die because of these traitors. ANY Republican unwilling to admit Biden won the election fairly is an enemy of truth, democracy, and the people of the United States.  

I digress.

Down the street at the "Save America March" rally stage, the American Fuhrer fanned the flames of rage and gave the mob its mission:
"We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal...We’re not going to let it happen. Not going to let it happen. And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore".

The agitated crowd chanted, “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”

This tells us there was more than protesting on many of their minds. There were militia, military and police tactical planners in the mob coordinating their assault. Some of the mob had weapons and flexcuffs. They were enraged and psyched for confrontation.

Thousands followed their leader's orders and marched, primed to fight for their leader’s Big Lie. What resulted was not an exercise in Constitutional freedom of speech. It was an assault on the Constitution. It was insurrection. It was a coup. It was treason and it was a terrorist attack. 

But wait. I’m just a progressive cursed with an open mind.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Perhaps a Trump supporter can explain to me how protesting OUTSIDE would "stop the steal, not let it happen, and take our country back", DURING the certifications taking place INSIDE.

I just can’t see it. 

Maybe a clear-eyed Save America Marcher can straighten me out?

And There It Is

 

We shudder to imagine how far into fascism and treason Trump would go, if not for our elections and Constitution. He's already an admitted sex offender and known criminal. 

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Trump’s Traitors emulated Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch by storming our Capitol. 

We are in the worst national crisis since the first Civil War, with no end in sight. CNN reports, “Extremists intensify calls for violence ahead of Inauguration Day”. 

We are engulfed in a rapidly heating second Cold Civil War. While not waging war to preserve slavery, today’s insurrectionists are almost all white, and infected with a white nationalist racism and deep resentment for America’s first Black president. They were the ones who embraced Trump’s racist birtherism from the start.

This isn’t a secret.

To better understand their cult-like behavior, I highly recommend the new book, “Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers”, by former Nixon counsel John Dean and Bob Altemeyer.

While there are some Trump followers who are not racists, they are nearly all right wing authoritarians. RWA’s. Granted, many are simply low-information voters, or unwitting dupes of radical Right propaganda.

Holocaust survivors have warned us that  America's surging radical right with its racist white nationalism is strikingly similar to the rise of Hitler's racist nationalism. Trump’s crazed cult of authoritarian followers are cut from the same authoritarian fabric as Hitler’s loyalists. They are proving millions of Americans are no different, and would rise in support of an angry, power-mad demagogue

Like so many German Nazis enthralled by Hitler, we have millions of Americans just as fanatic for Trump and his lies, resentments, hate, and racism.

Thousands of the worst of them rallied to Trump’s “Save America March”. Those words were on the stage banners. It wasn’t a simple rally. It wasn’t just another speech. It displayed a clear intention to march on the capitol. Radical Right groups were decked out in camo and body armor. They brought tactical gear like radios and flex-cuffs. They were prepared to take hostages. Their intentions were obvious. They were ready for insurrection.

They cheered and chanted for their leader, as he denied our fair and free election. They were whipped to a frenzy by the president’s heated rhetoric of resentment, lies, hate, and rage.

This was no grass-roots populist insurrection. It was an attempted "coup d'état", or violent overthrow of the government, by an electorally defeated president.

Responding to their leader’s seditious incitement and ensuing orders, crazed QAnon, militia, Proud Boys, “Three Percenters”, Oath Keepers, and other radicalized alt-Right loylalsits marched on the capitol to “Take our country back”. Had they stopped outside the Capitol and protested, they would not have crossed the line to treason. But they crossed it, and crossed it violently. It was terrorism.

They believed they were following orders from Trump. And Trump wasn't finished. In the middle of the assault on democracy, instead of sending in more security, he called newly elected Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville to urge further obstruction of the electoral certification. 

Some of the terrorists have already been arrested, as all of them should be. The same goes for any Capitol Police who abetted them. Many will no doubt escape the law and order they claim to support.

The evidence against Trump is in his own words. Here are some examples of his seditious incitement of insurrection, coup, and treason. His speech was saturated with the “Big Lie” tactic of Hitler and his Nazis.

“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats, which is what they’re doing and stolen by the fake news media.... Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal. We will not let them silence your voices. We’re not going to let it happen. Not going to let it happen.”

The crowd chanted, “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”

This should be enough to make his and his mob’s intentions obvious. As with most coups, Trump appealed to law enforcement and the military to march with his mob to the Capitol.

“I’d love to have, if those tens of thousands of people would be allowed, the military, the secret service, and we want to thank you, and the police law enforcement. Great. You’re doing a great job, but I’d love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us.”

This indicates an intention that amounts to nothing short of a coup.

More resentment and hate was stoked.

“Cancel culture. They wanted to get rid of the Jefferson Memorial, either take it down or just put somebody else in there. I don’t think that’s going to happen. It damn well better not. Although with this administration, if this happens, it could happen. You’ll see some really bad things happen. They’ll knock out Lincoln too, by the way.”

Then he added his special touch of irony and hypocrisy:

“You hurt our monuments, you hurt our heroes, you go to jail for 10 years and everything stopped. Did you notice that? It stopped. It all stopped.”

We’ll see about that. He returned to tell them the reason they gathered.

“We’re gathered together in the heart of our nation’s Capitol for one very, very basic and simple reason, to save our democracy... We want to go back, and we want to get this right because we’re going to have somebody in there that should not be in there and our country will be destroyed, and we’re not going to stand for that. For years, Democrats have gotten away with election fraud and weak Republicans, and that’s what they are.

If this happened to the Democrats, there’d be hell all over the country going on. There’d be hell all over the country. But just remember this. You’re stronger, you’re smarter. You’ve got more going than anybody, and they try and demean everybody having to do with us, and you’re the real people. You’re the people that built this nation. You’re not the people that tore down our nation.”

This is how Hitler demonized Jews as “destroyers of culture”. It is a striking parallel to Hitler’s methods of invoking the Aryan “master race” and the superiority of the chosen “Volk”, rooted in “blood and soil”.

He continued to hammer on his version of the Nazis’ demonizing “Lügenpresse”, or lying press,

“Our media is not free. It’s not fair. It suppresses thought. It suppresses speech, and it’s become the enemy of the people.”

Trump’s race-baiting was next. Note the common features in his list of enemies.

“And then I had to beat Stacey Abrams with this guy, Brian Kemp. I had to beat Stacey Abrams and I had to beat Oprah... And I had a campaign against Michelle Obama and Barack Hussein Obama against Stacey.”

Nobody was shocked when the Nation’s Andrew McCormick reported this later exchange in the mob.

“This is not America,” a woman said to a small group, her voice shaking. She was crying, hysterical. “They’re shooting at us. They’re supposed to shoot BLM, but they’re shooting the patriots.” A man, possibly her husband, comforted her: “Don’t worry, honey. We showed them today. We showed them what we’re all about.”

Yes, they certainly did show us what they’re all about.

Trump’s next target was the Supreme Court: “Look, I’m not happy with the Supreme Court. They love to rule against me...They couldn’t give a damn. Let them rule the right way, but it almost seems that they’re all going out of their way to hurt all of us, and to hurt our country.”

Their leader went on to list all the fabrications of election fraud that have been debunked and rejected by dozens of courts, up to the Supreme Court.

Then the marching orders:

“I said ‘Something’s wrong here. Something’s really wrong. Can’t have happened.’ And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. Our exciting adventures and boldest endeavors have not yet begun. My fellow Americans for our movement, for our children and for our beloved country and I say this, despite all that’s happened, the best is yet to come. So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue...and we’re going to the Capitol and....we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

Trump and his insurrectionist mob went beyond being merely political enemies of truth, democracy and equality, to being outright traitors. “We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

There was a reason he never used the word “protest”. In fact, during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Friday morning, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said, “As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building. He was delighted.”

And there it is.

House Democrats are following the Constitution by drafting a second impeachment, no matter how few days remain in his term. If insurrection and treason are not impeachable, then nothing is.

While it is unlikely McConnell would hold a Senate trial at this point, history will judge the response by the House as appropriate and necessary.

If criminal charges against Trump are not filed after January 20th, there would be no more rules for presidents, and tyranny will become policy. The republic would be dead.

Insurrection Day

 

"What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States." The truth was spoken by Mitt Romney, the only Republican senator with a conscience during the impeachment trial.

January 6, 2021 will live in infamy. Like the burning ships at Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the falling towers on 9-11, we have the searing images of Trump's America. 

The stunning pictures for this page in history will show Trump's mob committing open insurrection at the Capitol Building. 

This Insurrection Day, Trump and the Republican radical Right brought their war on American democracy to its inevitable endgame. The brainwashed herd mentality of the Trump Cult was activated into a raging mob mentality.

The president’s invitation to insurrection went out on twitter: “Be there, will be wild!”The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal! “

One of Trump’s loyal patriots responded, “I’m thinking it will be literal war on that day. Where we’ll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country.”

How could anyone have predicted what would happen?

What possible harm could be inspired by Toadie Rudy suggesting, “Let's have trial by combat” at the rally?

The BIG Protest Rally speech concluded with marching orders. "We're going to walk down Pennsylvania Ave ... and we're going to try and give our Republicans -- the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help -- we're to try and give them kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country...so let’s walk down Pennsylvania Ave.”

So they walked down Pennsylvania Ave.

Well, not including their brave leader, of course.

The objective of their mission was the US Capital Building, to give the “weak Republicans the pride and boldness that they need to take back our country”.

In their indoctrinated cult delusions, this was a righteous crusade for freedom and justice for Trump. He was cheated out of power and glory by a stolen election. He was cheated by “far left radical democrats” and “weak Republicans”. 

And they were all his fellow victims. Because he TOLD them so.

Onward they marched down Pennsylvania Ave to Capitol Hill.

Security for the constitutional certification of election results was a small fraction of what was deemed suitable for a BLM protest. Trump’s “patriots”, easily swarmed past the capitol police.

I mean, it’s not like there was a large angry mob in the neighborhood that could somehow be a problem.

Barricades were torn down, and the mob stormed the entrances.

As mayhem brewed outside, treachery brewed inside.

In the House chamber, a dozen Republican Senators and other House Republican insurrectionists moved to silence the voice of the American people and overturn a fair and open election.

Their objection over the Arizona votes required the Senate to return to their chamber to debate the objection.

It was time for Mitch McConnell’s speech on the “most important” vote of his career. It was beautiful. Too bad about the late timing thing.

“We’re debating a step that has never been taken in American history, whether Congress should overrule the voters and overturn a presidential election...

Self-government, my colleagues, requires a shared commitment to the truth, and a shared respect for the ground rules of our system.

We cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes with a separate set of facts and separate reality, with nothing in common except our hostility towards each other and mistrust for the few national institutions that we all still share.

...The United States Senate has a higher calling than an endless spiral of partisan vengeance.

It would be unfair and wrong to disenfranchise the voters and overrule courts and the states in this extraordinarily thin basis.”

Finally I agree with him. How long until he forgets that part about “a separate set of facts and separate reality”? 

And when did he care about, "shared commitment to the truth, and a shared respect for the ground rules of our system"? 

Bygones, I'm sure.

Only about half the insurrectionist Senators dropped their objections.

Of course Moscow Mitch had to blame Democrats for being just as bad. He wanted to show he was more decent than they were, what with all their non-seditious and constitutional efforts to hold Trump accountable. You know, as in “attacking the president’s legitimacy”.

Same thing.

Meanwhile windows were smashed and Trump’s Traitors streamed into the Capitol. Some capitol police tried to delay the mob, as another posed for a selfie with a criminal rioter.

The fascist insurrectionists were headed for the Senate Chamber. It was time to evacuate.

The Trump Mob surged through the Capitol, vandalizing and breaking into offices.

Some of them proved their depth of stupidity matched their hate and ignorance. After breaking into the office of the Speaker of the House, one posted pictures of his crime on social media. And he wasn't the only "law and order patriot" to do that.

Then the coup went from bloodless to bloody. Someone was shot and killed at the United States Capitol.

Trump’s America has ended the long tradition of peaceful transition of power. He sent a horde of domestic terrorists into the heart of our democracy.

Enough. It was time to consider the REAL victims.

The compassionate and loving Leader of the insurrection consoled his mob with a pre-recorded televised message.

"I know you're in pain. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen. It was a landslide. But you have to go home now...we love you, you're very special."

And good little goose-steppers obediently stand back and stand by. Well, mostly. Curfews are for BLM and their anti-police brutality and anti-racism protests.

Have we finally settled the debate on "Worst US President Ever"?

During the maelstrom of madness that was raging through our nation’s Capitol Building, public servants honorably served our country. It was during the scramble to evacuate the Senate Chamber.

The Electoral College ballots were rescued from the Senate floor by real patriots. In denying Trump’s insurrectionists their prize, two women scored a very real, and symbolic, victory for American democracy over American fascism.

It's time for the rest of us to do what we can to stand with them.

The MAGAt "Beer Belly Putsch" will fail, but it tells us it isn’t just words and threats anymore. The country needs to see this open coup condemned and shut down, with consequences suffered, top to bottom.

The world watches, horrified along with the rest of us. Trumpism and the radical Right MUST be rejected and repudiated.

The election will stand and justice must be done.