“They Looked At Everything”

I know many of you read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter so what you’re about to read is “old news.” Nevertheless, for those who don’t read her (outstanding) newsletter, I felt that something she wrote in her latest issue needed additional attention.

While I feel confident that most of my readers agree that the 2020 election was legal and valid, the following is just one more arrow to place in our quiver.

Today, Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post reported that Trump’s campaign hired a consulting firm to try to prove that the election had been stolen. The Berkeley Research Group examined the election results in six swing states but could not find anything that would have changed the outcome. “They looked at everything,” a source told Dawsey: “change of addresses, illegal immigrants, ballot harvesting, people voting twice, machines being tampered with, ballots that were sent to vacant addresses that were returned and voted…. Literally anything you could think of. Voter turnout anomalies, date of birth anomalies, whether dead people voted. If there was anything under the sun that could be thought of, they looked at it.” 

The consultants briefed Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, and others on their evidence that Biden’s election was legitimate in December 2020—before the events of January 6—but the Trump camp continued to insist the election had been stolen. 

To read the rest of this edition of Heather’s newsletter, click here.

Please Mr. Biden

I touched on this subject in a previous post, but now I’m going to say it straight out … and directly to the individual involved.

PLEASE MR. BIDEN! DO NOT RUN FOR RE-ELECTION!

There are many reasons behind my request, but the number one reason is You Are Too Old! You seem to be in good physical condition for your age — and you have amply demonstrated that you are mentally capable of understanding and acting on important matters that come before you — but past performance does not always translate into future achievements.

I feel it’s important to point out that if you choose to continue in the office of POTUS and are re-elected, on the day that you will stand before the American people to be inaugurated for a second term as the 46th  President of the United States — you will be 83 years of age. By the end of your term, you will be 86 years of age.

I cannot help but believe that you are aware of the documentation related to the the natural loss of mental and physical capacities that occur through aging.

Certainly the individual who holds the office of POTUS is recognized the world over as a powerful individual … and no one would deny that this is an enviable portrayal. However, there is far more to the position than world recognition — and after nearly four years in the role, I feel certain you are well aware of this.

Before I close this plea, I wish to add that my remarks related to aging are not unfounded. I have been and am acquainted with individuals who are in your same age group. Many are healthy, alert, intelligent, and extremely cognizant of the world around them, yet all of them accept the limitations associated with aging. They know that multiple unforeseen age-related afflictions can, and often do, disrupt and change the course of one’s life without warning.

Please, Mr. President. I implore you to give careful thought to your decision.  The future of the United States is too important to allow personal pride and enviable power to rule your decision.

Let’s Think About This

In a recent column, Steve Schmidt pointed out some of President Biden’s accomplishments:

• He defeated Donald Trump.
• He restored sanity and stability to the Oval Office.
• He has shown skilled leadership during the Russian war in Ukraine.
• His legislation has been “one of the 10 most significant domestic policy achievement of the last 80 years.”

He then went on to say …

[S]ome have declared that it is unthinkable that there could be any Democrat who could conceivably win a national election aside from President Biden, or that the choices are limited to the extremely capable Governor of California Gavin Newsom, the Secretary of Transportation and Fox News tormenter Pete Buttigieg or the Vice President Kamala Harris.

This latter entry really stirred my thinking. Are Democrats so bound by “tradition” that they will automatically re-elect Biden should he run again? And what if he doesn’t throw his hat in the ring? Does the only “natural” choice become Vice-President Kamala Harris? Or does Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, have a running chance? And while I feel his prospects are remote, as Steve suggests, Pete Buttigieg could even add his name to the list again.

I guess what I’m wondering is why must we only choose from the folks “the media” suggests?

In my opinion, what I think we really need is a comparatively unknown DEMOCRAT to emerge from the shadows, step into the limelight, and thoroughly rattle the establishment. (Similar to what took place a few years back on the other side of the fence — but of course in this case, someone with morals and ethics and experience.)

Naturally, the question then becomes … who IS this person? Is there anyone … ANYONE … within the Democratic Party who has the ability to truly shake things up as the “former guy” was able to do within the Republican party?

I would like to think so. But at this point, I’m not sure who it would be. Do YOU have any ideas?

This Made My Day!

Just finished reading an article in Business Insider and this first line jumped out at me:

• A Christian organization has started a petition protesting Trump’s 2024 campaign.

OH YES!!

At press time, 14,904 people had signed the petition — just shy of the organization’s goal of 15,000 signatures!

In the petition, Christians are asked to “speak out” and “make it clear that Donald Trump does not share our values and will never have our votes” … and “another Trump presidency would be a disaster for our country.”

The executive director of Faithful America, who is behind the petition, said this: “Neither the country nor the church can afford another four years of this charlatan’s fascism, racism, misinformation, or ego.”

FINALLY! A group of believers that have seen through the Great Façade! 👏👏

Tuesday’s Elections

The following was included in an email edition I receive of the NY Times “The Morning.” The reporter, Claire Moses, was interviewing Astead Herndon, a political reporter who has been covering this election cycle. Following are (a portion of) his comments in response to Claire’s questions.

I live in Europe, where many people are only now starting to tune into the midterms. How would you explain to them, and others who need a refresher, why this election matters?

If the Republicans take back the House, it would change the scope of U.S. policy. We know they’d try to stop President Biden’s agenda. A Republican House would hurt Biden’s ability to respond to domestic challenges on his terms, like inflation, and to global crises — Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House leader, has signaled that Republicans might stop approving aid for Ukraine.

We’ve also seen a global rise in fears of democratic collapse. If the U.S. elects lawmakers who spread conspiracy theories about elections and who promise to tear down tenets of democracy, that will embolden autocratic leaders in other countries and weaken the United States’ standing in the world.

These midterms also matter because they could signal the start of an even more divisive era of politics. We should not assume we are at the floor of division — we’re going to get lower.

When you say Republicans would try to block Biden, what could that look like?

If Republicans take over Congress, some members will push their new House speaker to start impeachment proceedings of the president and members of his cabinet like Merrick Garland, the attorney general. Some Republicans have been ready to impeach Biden since he took office. Their complaints are about policy and politics, not accusations of the kinds of abuses of power that have historically been grounds for impeachment. McCarthy has tried to minimize talk of impeachment lately, seeing it as polarizing, but the hard right rank-and-file will almost certainly press for it.

You’ve been covering politics for years. What do you think we should be paying more attention to?

Democrats are asking their base to rally behind the idea of protecting democracy — that’s what Biden has said. But that base is mostly working-class Americans and people of color. And many of those people feel like the system has not provided tangible and meaningful change on issues that most affect their day-to-day life — like housing, wages or public safety. (Emphasis mine.)

A woman on last week’s episode of “The Run-Up” told us that democracy has never worked for her. She’s borne the brunt of poverty. Her top issue was housing. That’s not what the Democratic Party is talking about. While Biden and Democrats did pass funding related to housing, that money was drastically cut from the levels that most people who focus on the issue say was necessary to effect lasting change.

And one of his closing remarks pretty much zeros in on what’s happening today:

I also think that the media has done too little to explain Republicans’ built-in advantages. Their control of legislatures in some battleground states is backed by gerrymandering.

Of course, many of us who stay abreast of the current political climate are already aware of all of this. However, for those who tend to pay little attention to “politics,” hopefully they will read this and see why this election is so VERY, VERY important!