John

In case you have not heard, one key point of the Woodward Tapes now in print in his book “RAGE” is that Donald Trump knew the seriousness of Coronavirus in early February.  He knew it could be transmitted through the air and that it would be far worse than the flu.  He deliberately down played it, and continues to do so, at a time when masks and social distancing would have saved thousands of lives.  We are now approaching 200,000 deaths from Covid and the President says “it is what it is”.

My message to all Americans is do not let down your guard.  The Virus is still spreading out there.  It is still killing hundreds of people every day.  Maintain social distancing in public and at work.  Masks are an effective deterrent.  I recommend wearing as mask at all times in public and at work.  If you enter a business which requires or requests masks, take care of yourself and be considerate of others, wear your mask.

Further today, police have a most difficult job.  In our effort to root out bad actors and de-escalate fatal confrontations, we should not forget how difficult and dangerous police work can be every day on the street.  Overnight there has been an ambush shooting of two Sheriff’s deputies in Compton, California.  Both are fighting for their lives in the local hospital.  I ask you to join me in prayer for these officers.

When the Atlantic article broke, talking about Trump’s failure to attend memorial services at the Aisme-Marne, WWI cemetery in France, I decided to withhold judgement as the article was based on anonymous sources.  There were already a number of examples of the President bad mouthing U.S. service members, John McCain, wounded veterans in parades and his failure to act regarding Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afganistan.  The President’s actions in France were always strange, Queen Elizabeth made it out to the cemetery umbrella and all.  The Atlantic article has now been corroborated.  The President referred to U.S war dead as “losers” and “suckers”.  As president, honoring fallen U.S. soldiers, is a duty I would be proud to perform.  I would inquire into the backgrounds of a few, where in the U.S. they came from, who were their families.

Bill Barr’s interview with Wolf Blitzer left no doubt that Barr will distort the truth to benefit Trump.  Barr claimed Jacob Blake was committing a felony at the time he was shot and had a weapon.  Blitzer should have asked what felony?  I saw an unarmed man walk to his car and lean in and get shot seven times in the back.  You would think that the Attorney General would know that in the United States, even if arrested, persons are considered innocent until proven guilty.  Barr also said that China is doing more than Russia to interfere in the upcoming election.  That is apparently also untrue, while the Republicans are still blocking any legislation to prevent meddling by any foreign country.

Domestic disputes are one of the most difficult and dangerous situations which police are called to address.  Tempers are already out of control, people may feel more righteous in their own homes and weapons are often present.  Details of the dispute that led to the police shooting of Jacob Blake are not clear.  Police believed he needed to be arrested and removed, they used a taser, he should not have resisted arrest.  But for the life of me I cannot see any justification for shooting him.  I’ve watched the video several times and tried to put myself in the position of those police officers.  I hope and pray that I would have had the presence of mind to back off.  To me, the need to de-escalate has been so evident in many police shootings.  If Jacob Blake had gotten a weapon out of his car, that would be different.  As it is, shooting seven times in the back is completely unreasonable, possibly attempted murder.

I want to commend Sheriff Glen of Kenosha County for his refusal to deputize vigilantes.  Even if I try to understand the sense of frustration by black Americans, and powerlessness to prevent unnecessary police shootings,  arson and looting cannot be tolerated as part of protest demonstrations.  The best solution is to utilize the national guard early and in force to protect property.  This frees the local police to sort out and arrest those causing violence.  One of the biggest problems with protest demonstrations is individuals coming from outside the immediate community with their own political motivations, to use the demonstration and violence to make some kind of statement.  There should be some legal way for local law enforcement to remove outside agitators or persons carrying guns in these situations.

Also want to commend the boycott actions of professional athletes as a powerful way to condemn unnecessary police shootings of unarmed black men.  Police need new training in how to de-escalate these situations.

In seven years of 100% mail in voting, the State of Colorado has had two, just two, cases of cheating.  The mailman does not count the ballots, the mailman delivers the mail.  Ballots are counted by the elections office, checking the authenticity of the ballot itself then matching the signature to the registered voter’s signature on record.

Voter suppression has been part of Republican election strategy for 10-15 years.  At this moment, the Republican controlled Senate will not pass legislation to address election meddling by Russia and other foreign nations.

Donald Trump’s presidency is defined by a continuous stream of lies, misinformation and cruelty.  Now he is the first president in the history of our nation who has tried to prevent people from voting by strangling the Post Office, a direct attack on our democratic system of government, a direct attack on government of the people, by the people.  President Trump should be removed from office immediately if there is a constitutional way to do so, impeachment, 25th amendment.

If we cannot return the Post Office to normal before the election, the individual states should establish locations, fire stations, police stations, libraries, state offices, where election officials will receive mail in ballots.  This would be safer with regard to public health and still allow people to return ballots in a timely.

I am nearly in tears knowing of so much unnecessary suffering and deaths of so many Americans.  The death toll now exceeds that of U.S. soldiers killed in Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars combined.  I am more than angry about the lack of leadership from our president, beyond lack of leadership the outright stupidity and personal greed of willfully trying to ignore the problem while criticizing medical experts and medical science.  Mary Trump is right, resign now!

I know that I could walk into the oval office this morning and start making things better immediately.  I will wear a mask in public and in the White House and mandate masks in all Federal Buildings and facilities.  I will strongly encourage governors to do the same.  I will support those jurisdictions which need to require that all their citizens wear masks.  I will make sure there is more than enough, a surplus, of personal protective gear for our medical providers and first responders.

And I will read the daily intelligence brief, take actions to prevent foreign interference in the coming election, make it easier for people to vote and I damn well will not tolerate bounties on our service members in Afganistan by Russia or anybody else.

Roger Stone lied to protect Trump.  Trump made sure he did not spend one day in prison.  What else did he know?  Once again where are the Republicans?

Robert Mueller has maintained silence since completing his investigation but Saturday he spoke out about Trump communing Stones’ sentence.

“Congress also investigated and sought information from Stone.  A jury later determined he had lied repeatedly to members of Congress.  He lied about the identity of his intermediary to WikiLeaks.  He lied about the existence of written communications wit his intermediary.  He lied by denying he had communicated with the Trump campaign about the timing of WikiLeaks’ releases.  He in fact updated senior campaign officials repeatedly about WikiLeaks.  And he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stonewall Congress,” Mueller writes in the op-ed posted Saturday evening.

“The jury ultimately convicted Stone of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of making false statements to Congress and tampering with a witness.  Because his sentence has been commuted, he will not go to prison.  But his conviction stands.”

Every time Donald Trump goes off on an angry and hate filled rant about people different than himself I find myself repeating the words of our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”.  Trump’s denial of responsibility regarding the bounties placed on the lives of U.S. troops as well as his continued delusional fantasies about the Coronavirus threat are a form of insanity.  Later today, our president whined about the removal of the Confederate flag from NASCAR races.  NASCAR first removed the Confederate flag after white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine people at the Charleston Methodist Church.  Our president is absolutely brain dead to the pain these Confederate symbols can cause.  His vision of America is an arguably racist fantasy about a time before he was born.

The monuments at Mt. Rushmore, those in Washington D.C and most Civil War battlefields are managed and preserved by the National Park Service.  In South Dakota there is also a very large Native American monument “Crazy Horse” chief of the Lakota.  Obviously it is impossible to tell the stories of the Civil War battlefields without including the Confederates.  What can be done is to include the cultural and historical background of the men who fought and the beliefs and attitudes which caused them to fight.  The Confederate flag as well as statues and monuments of confederate leaders, located throughout the south can still be symbols of oppression and white supremacy.  Some were erected with that intent.  The future of these symbols should be determined by the communities where they are located.  Many belong in museums where their stories, the good and the bad, can be fully told and they are no longer symbols which burden the futures of ourcitizens.

Six young children and multiple other persons were killed by random gun violence in the United States over the 4th of July weekend.  This is another form of insanity.

And today, Wednesday, live long and prosper Lt. Col Alex Vindman, a man of honor and integrity.  Trump White House messing with the Army promotion system looks like vendetta.  Tammy Duckworth looking into it.  Where are the Republicans?

Words escape me to adequately express both sorrow and anger at the depravity, corruption and indifference of President Trump who continued to “make nice” with Putin while the Russians placed bounties on the killing of U.S. and British troops in Afganistan.  I don’t believe for a second that he was not briefed about this.  What the hell has Putin got on President Trump that he, Trump, won’t act to protect American lives?  The worst answer is that Putin has nothing, it is about continuing Russian help with his reelection, just like Trumps denial and mismanagement of Coronavirus is about his reelection.

And I heard the “white power” chant the first time I viewed that tweet.  Maybe I’ll get into the statues and monuments thing in a future post.  Trump is just using it to further divide us.  Right now I am sick to my stomach about his failure to call out Putin about these bounties and take some decisive action to force Russia to stand down.

My fellow Americans, I am calling on you today to urge and request that you not let down your guard about the Coronavirus.  Please do not be distracted by the political shenanigans around this issue.  The virus is still out there.  It is still killing people.  If the danger seems remote to you, remember that yesterday our nation recorded the  highest number of new cases since the pandemic began.  This is not the flu.  It is a contagious and dangerous disease which can be spread by people with no apparent symptoms.  Please maintain social distancing while at work and in all public places.  Masks are effective in limiting the spread of this disease.  I wear one whenever I go out, take care of yourself and be considerate of others.  Please wear a mask.

I put up this web site in the summer of 2017, during the wheat harvest.  I’ve talked about the cruelty of President Trump’s immigration policies and the repeated tragedies of mass shootings.  I’ve talked about racism a few times and called out some of President Trump’s apparently racist statements.  But I never talked about Trevon Martin, Michael Brown, Philando Castile and others.  I never talked about systematic racism or the failures of our justice system regarding people of color.  I failed to do that.

As president, if I could, now, I would go to the site of George Floyd’s death and pray with his family and community.  I would talk about training police to de-escalate situations where there is no imminent harm to others.  I would try to remind a divided nation about the promise of our country, that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights.  I would not be silent, I would do all I could to bring peace and healing.

I will have more to say about the rioting and looting.  For now, the above is enough.

Tuesday morning now after first posting this two days ago.  Living in a rural area, my community has not been caught up in the rioting and looting associated with the protests.  Terrance Floyd quoted this morning saying his brother, “would not want ya’ll to be doing this”, referring to violent protesters.  A simple statement so far beyond the “bitterness, combativeness and self-interest”  of President Trump.

As president I don’t have any problem with non-violent protestors on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House or Lafayette Park.  To all accounts the protestors swept from these areas yesterday by Federal Police were non-violent.  I don’t need to be talking about vicious dogs, weapons and “dominance”.  Although I am not a formally religious person, stopping to pray in these times is needed and I would ask the protestors to pray with me.  Prayers for George Floyd, prayers for our country, prayers for equality and justice.

(quote–Diana Butler Bass)

I  support the use of local National Guard troops, when requested by local government  to help stabilize these situations while police try to arrest arsonists and looters.  I am opposed to use of the Insurrection Act or the use of active duty military to contain or control protestors and I thank Secretary Esper, General Mattis and others for calling this out..  I commend statements by all past presidents acknowledging systemic racism and calling for change.

“As an Episcopalian, I was mortified by the use of one of my denomination’s churches as a backdrop for President Trump’s call for a military crackdown,” wrote author Diana Butler Bass. “As a Christian, I was shocked when he brandished a book of love to sanction violence against American citizens. As a person of faith, I was offended as he made God as a prop, seeking to further divide the nation into tribes of righteous followers versus heathen protesters. And, as a human being I was appalled to watch Trump — with his history of bigotry and racism — cloak himself in a mantle of faith.”

(quote–Colin Powell

“We have a Constitution. We have to follow that Constitution. And the president’s drifted away from it. I’m so proud of what these generals and admirals have done and others have done.”

“I think he has been not an effective president. He lies all the time. He began lying the day of the inauguration when we got into an argument about the size of the crowd that was there. People are writing books about his favorite thing of lying. And I don’t think that’s in our interest,” Powell said.

(quote–James Mattis