Uncategorized – Page 12 – earlthepearl137

If We Turn off the lights, the Party is over.

January 25, 2024 by earlthepearl137

The two-party system has been a dominant feature of U.S. politics, almost from the beginning. George Washington, our first President, did not run for President on a Party ticket. George Washington was not elected by a popular vote in the way modern presidents are chosen. Instead, he was unanimously elected by the Electoral College. He is the only President who ever won with a unanimous vote of the electorate. Later, when different political parties formed, he was considered a member of the Federalist Party. The Federalist Party was one of the country’s first political parties. It was led by figures such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. The party favored a strong federal government and was supportive of the Constitution. The Federalists declined after the War of 1812 and eventually dissolved.

For as far back as I can remember, the major political parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. However, there have been third-party candidates representing other political viewpoints. In 2020, the Libertarian Party nominee for President was Jo Jorgensen. The Green Party candidate was Howie Hawkins. Don Blankenship was the candidate for the Constitution Party. None of these third-party candidates garnered any electoral votes, and they knew ahead of time that they wouldn’t, but they wanted to have a platform to express their views, and they did.

Many different political parties have come and gone over the years. The Whig Party emerged in the 1830s as an opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson. The party attracted a coalition of anti-Jackson forces, including former National Republicans and Anti-Masonic Party members. The Whigs were active in the mid-19th century but collapsed due to internal divisions over issues such as slavery.

The Know Nothing Party, also known as the American Party, gained prominence in the 1850s. It was characterized by nativism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and opposition to Catholicism. The Know Nothings were influential for a brief period but faded away due to the national focus shifting to the issue of slavery.

The Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) formed by former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, was a short-lived third party. Roosevelt ran as its presidential candidate after losing the Republican nomination. The party advocated for progressive reforms, but it ultimately declined after the 1912 election.

The Dixiecrats (States’ Rights Democratic Party) formed in 1948 as a faction of Southern Democrats dissatisfied with the Democratic Party’s civil rights platform. Led by Strom Thurmond, the party opposed desegregation. While not a long-lasting party, it reflected regional discontent within the Democratic Party.

These parties played significant roles during their respective times but either disbanded or declined due to changing political landscapes, internal conflicts, or shifts in public opinion. The two major parties in the U.S., the Democrats and Republicans, have remained the dominant political forces for many years. Both parties have evolved over time, adapting to changes in the political and social landscape. The Democratic Party has a longer history, while the Republican Party emerged as a response to the sectional conflicts of the mid-19th century.

The Democratic Party is one of the oldest political parties in the world and has its roots in the Democratic-Republican Party formed in the 1790s in opposition to the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, advocated for states’ rights, agrarian interests, and strict interpretation of the Constitution. It eventually split into factions, with the followers of Andrew Jackson forming the Democratic Party. That party embraced the idea of popular democracy and expanded suffrage to a broader segment of the population. Jackson’s election in 1828 marked a turning point in the party’s history.

The Republican Party was founded in the mid-19th century in response to the contentious issues of the time and the expansion of the United States westward. Opposition to the spread of slavery into new territories was a key factor that led to the formation of the Republican Party. Activists, former Whigs, and anti-slavery Democrats came together to form a new political force. The Free Soil Party, active in the 1848 and 1852 elections, opposed the extension of slavery into the newly acquired territories, and many Free Soilers later joined the Republican Party. The Republican Party was officially founded on March 20, 1854, in Ripon, Wisconsin. The party’s first platform focused on opposition to the expansion of slavery and promoting industrialization.

The election of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, further solidified the Republican Party as a major political force. The election played a role in the secession of Southern states and the onset of the Civil War.

So, while it is difficult for us nowadays to picture any political parties other than the Democrats and the Republicans, there have been many many groups that have formed over the years, and now it seems that there is yet another one forming, the MAGA Party, led by Donald Trump. He has steadily siphoned off almost half of the Republican party, forming his new party, a party that wants to suspend the Constitution and give the President more power, similar to the authoritarian powers of Vladimir Putin in Russia, Kim Jong Un in North Korea, and Viktor Orban in Hungary. These powers would also include immunity from prosecution for any and all crimes committed by the President, including the assassination of his political rivals.

Is this the end of the Republican Party? Not likely. The current party leaders lack the guts to stand up to the Trump mob, and even Nikki Haley, who is running against him in the Republican primaries, has stated publicly that she will support him if he is the Republican Party’s nominee for President. Eventually, new, more courageous leaders will emerge, though, who will take back the ideals of the Grand Old Party, but that will first require a crushing defeat of the MAGA Party in the November election.

We need two strong political parties in this country. I feel that the liberal Democratic Party is the gas pedal that propels the country forward, and the conservative Republican Party is the brake pedal that keeps us from skidding out of control and running off the road. One, without the other, is not good for the country. So, I call upon all Democrats to help save the Grand Old Republican Party from the MAGA cancer that is killing it from within. Help restore sanity in government by solidly crushing the MAGA Party in November.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

The Northern Lights Have Seen Queer Sights.

January 23, 2024 by earlthepearl137

It must have been about 65 years ago that Brother X and I put on a play for our Cub Scout troop. Off-stage, our Dad read the Robert W. Service poem The Cremation of Sam McGee, while we acted it out on stage. It was a story about a man who died hunting for gold during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Well, Brother X is still acting it out, as he chose to spend a portion of his Golden Years visiting Iceland this month to finally see the famed Northern Lights.

The poem is one of my favorites, and many of its lines are still quoted by family members today. My Mom’s favorite line was, “A promise made is a debt unpaid.” I promise that if you click on the link below, you will see why the poem is an American classic.

Peace and Love, and all of the above.

Earl

Ring out the old; ring in the new.

January 1, 2024 by earlthepearl137

It’s a brand spanking new year, and another chance to “get it right.” I started the year by toasting it with a tall glass of Moscato Sangria. Oops, there goes “Dry January.” No problem, that wasn’t one of my resolutions, anyway. So, this still may be the first year that I don’t break all my New Year Resolutions in the first month. The odds are actually very good this year, because, for the first time that I can remember, I didn’t make any resolutions.

I did not resolve to lose 20 pounds this year. That’s a resolution I’ve made every year for decades, and my weight continued to hover just south of 250 lb. every year. The resolution never worked in the past, so it seems pointless to continue making it. I do have a plan to burn off a whole lot of calories eventually though. When I die, I want to be cremated. That’ll be a sure end to all my weight problems, but I’m more than willing to wait for it.

I did not resolve to learn a new language in 2024. I’ve been trying to learn Spanish for decades, but the little German I learned while in the service still inhabits almost all the brain cells dedicated to learning a foreign language. My new neighborhood is largely Spanish, so I thought that would finally be the jumpstart my brain needed. My first week here I learned how to ask for a pound of turkey, “una libra de pavo, por favor,” but when the counterperson handed me my package, I still reflexively said, “Danke Schoen.” Most of the Spanish people in the neighborhood speak English, so I did not resolve to learn Spanish this year.

I did not resolve to save more money this year. In the Book of Isaiah in the Bible, it states: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.” I’m 75 years old, seriously overweight with a heart condition. So, my plan for the future is to eat, drink, be merry and hope that The Bible was just as wrong about tomorrow as it was about a bunch of other things.

I did not resolve to make new friends in the new year. Quite the opposite, I just learned how to “Unfriend” people on Facebook, and I plan to remove all the so-called “friends” there who I do not actually know and who I wonder why I ever confirmed their Friend Request in the first place.

I will get more sleep in 2024, but that’s not a resolution. That’s just that my body insisting on taking more naps.

I did not make any resolutions to visit new places or explore new things. If I can’t get there via YouTube or Google, I’m not going there.

Every year I resolve to declutter my apartment, and every year it just gets more cluttered. So, this year I will not resolve to declutter my apartment. I will just try not to add more clutter, but that’s not a resolution, that’s just wishful thinking.

I did not make any resolutions to learn a new musical instrument. I’m just hoping that I will find one of the old musical instruments that I haven’t yet unpacked since I moved in here.

I will reduce my carbon footprint in 2024. That’s not a resolution, though. That’ll just be the result of me reducing all my footprints in 2024, by plopping my butt in a comfortable chair and sitting there as much as possible.

If you make any resolutions in 2024, I wish you good luck with them. I’m just hoping that I’m still around next year to repeat my lack of resolutions.

Eat, drink, be merry, and have a Happy New Year.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

December 15th

December 21, 2023 by earlthepearl137

In my last rant, I mentioned a few dates that will live in infamy. Today, I want to talk about another day that we don’t hardly remember, but it should be a National Holiday, December 15, 1791. The “Founding Fathers” signed The Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1987. Almost immediately, 12 Amendments to their original Constitution were proposed. These matters were so important to the brand-new citizens of the United States of America, that the necessary mandate of 3/4ths of the States quickly voted to accept 10 of those Amendments. Those 10 Amendments became known as the Bill of Rights and took effect on December 15, 1791.

As of that day, the Constitution guaranteed the American people freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to peacefully assemble, the right to petition the government, the right to keep and bear arms, and the protection from quartering troops in private homes without consent. We also were guaranteed protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, protection against self-incrimination, and the right to due process of law, and all those rights were given in just the first 5 amendments. The other 5 Amendments in the Bill of Rights guaranteed Americans the right to a fair trial and protection from cruel and unusual punishment, among other things.

Recently, the Constitution in General and the first two Amendments specifically have been the subject of much debate. Language has evolved over the past 232 years, and interpreting both the intent of the Founding Fathers, and the spirit of the Amendments has now become a political football. What is and what isn’t protected by free speech? Does freedom of religion include freedom from religion? Does “Fake News” have the same freedom as real news, and what is real and what is fake? Can every citizen own a basement full of assault weapons?

Now, thanks to the State of Colorado, another Amendment has jumped into the spotlight, the 14^th Amendment, an old Civil-War era Amendment written with the intent on keeping Confederates, a.k.a. insurrectionists, out of office in the United States. It is just one small section of the 14^th Amendment that has caused all this fuss. It is known as Section 3 – Disqualification from Public Office. It states:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Using this Amendment, the State of Colorado has stricken Donald Trump’s name from the primary election ballot there. Did Donald Trump engage in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution of the United States? That’s something for a court to decide. Did Donald Trump give “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”? Well, he promised to pardon all those convicted of insurrection and other charges resulting from their activities in the Capital on January 6,2021. I’d say that offering pardons to convicted insurrectionists most definitely qualifies as giving aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution. Basically, he said, “Vote for me, and I’ll set you free.” Now, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, it was in a song by the Temptations called Ball of Confusion.

Now, some Trump supporters think that we shouldn’t use an old Amendment against their “Orange Jesus.” They claim that the 14^th Amendment is out of date because it was ratified way back in 1868. Well, despite being old, it’s still the law of the land, and, for that matter, the Amendment that permits Trump supporters and everyone else to voice their dissenting opinion dates back even earlier to 1791. Their 2^nd Amendment right to bear arms is also 77 years older than the 14th Amendment, as it dates back to 1791, also. If you want to talk about updating and rewriting old Constitutional Amendments, I think that the weekly mass murders committed in The United States dictate that the language and intent of the 2^nd Amendment should be resolved first.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I’ll repay your time by including a link to a video of Ball of Confusion that shows all the lyrics. I went on YouTube to listen to it and played it over and over. The song came out in 1970, but I was totally amazed at how good it still was and how it easily brought back memories from more than 50 years ago. I was also saddened, though, because, unfortunately, 53 years later, it is still an accurate description of the world of today, a ball of confusion.

(37) Ball of Confusion – Temptations (lyrics) HD – YouTube

So, despite all our progress, things haven’t changed all that much in 50 years. The problems we had then are still with us today.

“…and the band plays on…”

One thing that is the same is that this world still needs a whole lot more Peace & Love.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

On Day One

December 7, 2023 by earlthepearl137

Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy.

I watched a replay of the Republican Debate on YouTube last night. Thankfully, I was able to play it at 1.5 speed, which saved me about 40 minutes. As a Democrat, I don’t normally enjoy watching Republican Debates, but this one was different. Instead of attacking Democrats, they were attacking each other. They are all trailing Donald Trump in the polls by massive numbers, but instead of taking him on, they fought with each other. They should have made Donald Trump regret skipping the debate by using the entire time just to bash him. Chris Christie did use much of his allotted time to point this out, while he also mentioned that Donald Trump will probably be a convicted felon by Election Day. He was heavily booed for his truthfulness by the Republicans in the audience.

Surprisingly, Ron DeSantis had, what I thought, was the best answer to the GOP Trump dilemma, though. He said that Republicans should not just be thinking of the next election but the one after it, and that instead of pushing for Trump now, they should work to elect a President who could serve two terms.

I hope Joe Biden was watching. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Democrats to also consider running someone who could serve two terms. If Joe Biden drops out of the race, we might be able to elect someone who would occupy the oval office for the next 8 years, instead of having to renew the fight in 4 years with a new candidate. This would be a great time for Joe to both “take one for the team” and retire with honor. He answered the call in 2020 when his country needed him, and now, like John F. Kennedy said, “It is time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans.”

While most of the Republican debate time was spent yelling at one another, the moderators did occasionally bring up a few issues, one of which was the conflict between Israel and Hamas. We learned days earlier that Israeli Intelligence was warned ahead of time that Hamas would strike Israel on October 7^th, Putin’s birthday. The warning was ignored as being preposterous. Reminds me of when our intelligence agencies were informed in 2001 that some Arabs were taking flying lessons, but were not interested in learning how to take off or land. We did not act on the warnings and that led to September 11, 2001, another day that will live in Infamy.

When asked recently in a town hall interview with Sean Hannity if he intended to be a Dictator, Trump “joked” that he would only be a dictator “on day one.” His words resonated with his GOP challengers. I didn’t really get much more out of the debate, but I did hear those three little words, over and over again, and it frightened me. The four hopefuls on stage didn’t go as far as Trump, but the GOP Presidential hopefuls all made bold statements on the sweeping changes to Democracy that they would make “On Day One” if they became President.

When I was a kid, the town siren went off at noon every day. It was the same air-raid siren that they would use to make everyone aware of an enemy attack. As kids, we always worried that our town, and plenty of other towns in America would be vulnerable if the Russians ever attacked us at noon. I don’t hear the noon siren go off anymore, so that no longer worries me. I am now afraid, instead, that our people, our country, and our Democracy will suffer a massive attack from within “on day one” if any of these GOP Presidential candidates captures The Whitehouse in 2024. If that should happen, Tuesday, November 5^th, 2024, Election Day, should be added to America’s list of days that will live in infamy. Please don’t ignore the warning signs this time and be sure to vote against those who are hell-bent to destroy Democracy. The Country you save just might be your own.

Peace & Love, and all of the above.

Earl

It’s time for this Circus to end

November 30, 2023 by earlthepearl137

Drawing by Eric Fischl

Why is Donald Trump involved in so many legal cases? I grew up in New York, so I first heard the name Donald Trump a long time ago. He was always in the newspaper where they always had a photo of him at a high-class club with a high-class model. He, himself, though, wasn’t very high class. He fancied himself as a rich tycoon playboy. He also acted like he had the Midas touch, turning every business deal into a fortune all by himself. As I grew up, I learned that much of his wealth was inherited from his father, and his business deals weren’t always successful. Many of his companies were forced to declare bankruptcy. Rumors also abounded that he had used discriminatory practices in his real estate business. Nobody in authority went after him though, because people didn’t take him seriously. He was just a clown who could always be found on Page Six of the Post.

He used his fame to increase the value of his real-estate holdings, merely by putting his name on the buildings. Eventually, he spread into other areas – Trump steaks, Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Casinos, Trump Shuttle, and Trump Magazine. His business ventures weren’t always profitable, but they all added to his name recognition, and that was enough to keep him in the limelight. He wound up starring in his own reality TV show, The Apprentice. His big catchphrase during the show’s long run was “You’re fired.” People loved hearing him say that, and he had millions of adoring fans. He then used his growing fame and name recognition to become the 45th President of the United States, and that’s where his storybook life started unraveling. He had bitten off more than he could chew. When one of his companies was in financial trouble, he could simply declare the company bankrupt. You can’t do that with the National Debt, though. You can’t make trillions of dollars in National Debt go away by declaring bankruptcy. This was a financial problem he couldn’t solve in the courtroom. Then, his problems became even worse. Covid hit.

The top scientists in the world weren’t sure how to handle the epidemic. Neither did he, but he assured everyone that it would all go away when the weather warmed up. The weather did warm up, but so did Covid. It killed more than a million Americans and cost him the election in 2020. Then, he crossed the line. He fired up his base and got them to believe that the election had been stolen. He fanned the flames until a full-scale insurrection took place at the Capital Building, where his followers attacked Capital Police to try to prevent the counting of the electoral votes for Joe Biden. He became the first President in U.S. history to fail to concede the election gracefully. There were other contested elections in American history, and in 1876, the supporters of Samuel Tilden declared that he was robbed of the Presidency and demanded “Tilden or blood.” Samuel Tilden put an end to that by conceding the election and telling his followers to accept Rutherford B. Hayes as the President. Al Gore took his fight to the Supreme Court, which ended his non-violent protest by declaring George Bush the winner in Florida and the winner overall. Al Gore then conceded the election and rode off into the political sunset.

Donald Trump didn’t concede. He plotted to find a way to hold onto power. January 6^th was his Rubicon, and he crossed it. He still looked like a clown with his orange face and ridiculous comb-over, but he was now taken seriously. He violated his oath to the Constitution and posed a clear and present danger to Democracy itself. That opened the floodgates against him. Prosecutors, who had in the past looked the other way, when his circus came to town, now knew that they finally had to take a stand. When the U.S. Senate refused to find him guilty of acts for which the House of Representatives had impeached him, local prosecutors picked up the fallen torch and took up the challenge. They ripped the band-aids off old wounds and dug up the graves where his violations had been buried for years. They attacked him in New York, Florida, Georgia, and eventually in Washington, D.C. For 76 years he had been the Teflon Don, but now he had gone too far. He was no longer a mere con man fleecing suckers to build an empire. He was now a crazed narcissist who was willing to tear down an entire country to establish his own empire in the ashes.

That’s when Americans went from laughing at Donald Trump to worrying if he would unleash his base to commit unspeakable atrocities to keep him in power or at least out of jail. Nobody laughs when his circus comes to town anymore. He is a wannabe dictator, who calls his political foes “vermin,” just like Hitler did in his rise to power. It’s not a laughing matter anymore. He must be stopped, but to keep Democracy alive, he has to be stopped legally. He and his thugs have hinted at “2^nd Amendment solutions” for their own problems, but we have to take the higher ground to end his reign of terror. Our weapons must be the courts and the ballot box. So, we will have to endure months, and maybe even years of court cases before he is finally stopped, but he will be stopped, because he crossed the line, and the majority of Americans know it. He will still have his neo-nazi cult members who follow his orders, but we’ve dealt with Nazis in the past, and we are plenty strong enough to trounce them again. It’s time for the American people to let Donald Trump know that his days as ringleader are over, his circus is not wanted, and he’s fired. He probably deserves an actual firing squad, but putting him in jail will have to suffice.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

On a School Night

November 18, 2023 by earlthepearl137

My heart goes out to the Trump family. Those poor people. The subject of numerous Witch hunts, Indictments falling like autumn leaves around them, political opponents wanting to lock them up, former cronies plea bargaining to testify against them, and rude fat men in gaudy clothes trampling on their dear departed mother’s grave in golf spikes, screaming “Fore” instead of “Four more years.” How much more does this family have to endure?

Now the mean old New York Attorney General, Letitia James, wants to put Donald’s children on the stand to testify against him. Donald Jr, the eldest at 540 months old, will be expected to know Generally Accepted Accounting Practices, a subject that was never brought up in the Trump household. Cooking the Books was the job of incredibly well-paid fully trusted accountants, who didn’t realize that they were expendable and would be thrown under the bus at the first sign of trouble. Ivanka, the baby of the group, at just 468 months old, is immune from prosecution due to the statute of limitations running out, but she will still have to somehow explain to her husband Jared that he is going to have to babysit their baby mama children while she goes to New York for the trial. Eric, the 516-month middle child will be tested to see if he can walk and chew gum at the same time. Otherwise, Judge Engoron may remove him to a foster home.

At the same time, Georgia District Attorney Fanni Willis wants to put The Bronze Bomber in jail for tinkering with the Presidential election there. “Is it a crime to go looking for 11,780 votes in a closet somewhere in Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger’s office?” said Trump. “I’ve got way better stuff I keep in boxes in the bathroom at Mar a Lago.” “I’m willing to trade nuclear secrets for 11,780 votes. I asked Rudy Guiliani to help me on that one, but he had a melt down – literally.”

Then to make matters worse, poor Donald wound up with Jack Smith as a Special Prosecutor in his Insurrection trial. This particular Mr. Smith didn’t leave his job prosecuting war criminals to go to Washington to just talk, talk, talk. He’s not too fond of Trump talking either, and he keeps requesting gag orders against the Strawberry-blond bombshell.

Then Trump lost a rape case to Jean Carroll, and porn queen Stormy Daniels is defying a non-disclosure agreement to tell everyone that the Donald’s penis looks like a tiny little mushroom. Now, political cartoonists draw his hands even smaller than they used to. At least the Donald still has Melania right there at his side, just a few thousand miles away. She says that she will stay loyal to her husband, because she doesn’t want to end up buried in a sand trap on a golf course like Ivana.

The Donald doesn’t have much going for him legally these days, but he is making a fortune on merchandise. Red MAGA hats were his big sellers, but now Mug Shot Mania has taken over and Mug Shot shot glasses are lined up in right-wing bars across the Red States. Unfortunately, the Conservative Evangelicals who support him are not allowed to be caught drinking in public, but they do have the collectors item glasses in their home bars hidden in the basement.

One glimmer of hope remains for our poor tortured hero. The Republicans in the House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson as speaker. He wants to replace the Constitution with the Bible, and there’s nothing in the Bible about punishing a man for just looking for 11,780 votes or cheating on his taxes, as long as he’s not a homosexual, a drag queen, or providing Johnson’s son Jack with porn.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

Critical Coup Theory

October 29, 2023 by earlthepearl137

On July 21, 1861, in Manassas, Virginia, the first major land battle of the Civil War took place. Northerners called it the Battle of Bull Run, whereas in the South it is known as the Battle of Manassas. It ended in a Confederate victory when the Union forces were eventually forced to retreat. The battle shattered any illusions that the Union had that the conflict would be a short and relatively bloodless affair.

On January 6, 2021, an army of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building and for a time overran it, hoping to prevent the confirmation of Joseph Biden as the winner of the Presidential election. Eventually, Capital police quelled the riot and restored order so that the votes of the American people and the Electoral College could be confirmed. Once again, Americans hoped that this first battle would end the conflict and that it would be a short and relatively bloodless affair. Again, we were wrong. While many in Donald Trump’s MAGA army did go to prison for their role in the conflict, their Cult Leader General remains at large and our uncivil war continues and threatens to get very bloody.

Earlier this month I wrote that one path the MAGA world had to continue their war on Democracy was to put a MAGA supporter two heartbeats away from the Presidency by electing one of their own as Speaker of the House. They even considered naming Donald Trump as the Speaker, but the job remained vacant for three weeks until they were able to bully and physically threaten other Republicans and their families to unanimously name Mike Johnson the new Speaker.

Mike Johnson was one of the architects of the plan to stop the certification of the vote on January 6^th. So, he is now 3^rd in line for the Presidency, with the Republicans determined to remove President Biden from office via impeachment. Donald Trump is also pushing for the 80-year-old Biden to be removed from office for mental incapacity. This would move Mike Johnson to within a heartbeat of the Presidency, and there are many MAGA thugs ready, willing, and evil enough to attempt to end that precious heartbeat.

Then should Mike Johnson become President, he can name Donald Trump as his Vice President, and then resign the Presidency. Boom. Dictator Trump will take over.

The mills of justice are grinding slowly against the twice impeached, often indicted, disgraced ex-president, but they need to speed up. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our Democracy. He is making a mockery of our justice system by threatening witnesses and even suggesting that some witnesses such as General Milley should be executed. He has clearly violated his bail agreement and should be in jail, not given small fines that amount to pocket change for the presumed billionaire.

Our justice system is not just if anyone is above the law. If the MAGA thugs are allowed to continue their reign of terror, we can be sure that they will eventually pass a law that Critical Coup Theory can never be taught in American schools.

For the sake of our country and our Democracy, lock him up.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

The Battle for America

October 3, 2023 by earlthepearl137

Kevin McCarthy fought furiously for the job of Speaker of the House. Now Matt Gaetz is challenging him for that position. Why?

I asked my new friend ChatGPT to provide me with a little background.

Where is the Speaker of the House in the Presidential Succession plan?

ChatGPT

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is fairly high in the presidential succession plan in the United States. The presidential succession plan is outlined in the Presidential Succession Act, which establishes the order of individuals who would assume the presidency if the President and Vice President are unable to serve. As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, here is the order of succession:

Vice President
Speaker of the House of Representatives
President pro tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security

So, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is second in line after the Vice President in the presidential succession plan.

Since I have heard rumors that Donald Trump’s name might be submitted for that position by MAGA loyalists, I asked Chat one more background question.

Do you have to be a congressman to be voted Speaker of the House?

ChatGPT

No, you do not have to be a member of the House of Representatives or a congressman to be elected as the Speaker of the House. While historically, the Speaker has typically been a member of the House, the Constitution does not explicitly require the Speaker to be a member of Congress. The Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Representatives from among their own ranks, but there is no constitutional requirement that the Speaker must be a sitting member of the House.

In theory, a non-member could be elected as Speaker, although this would be an extremely rare and unlikely scenario, as the Speaker’s role is closely tied to the legislative process and the leadership of the House of Representatives. Typically, members of the majority party in the House nominate and elect one of their own party members as Speaker. In practice, the Speaker has always been a member of the House.

So, the Speaker of the House is just two heartbeats away from being the President, and the cult of Donald J. Trump has a longshot way to get him back in the Whitehouse, through this back door.

Of course, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris stand in Trump’s way.

So, what does the MAGA crowd decide to do? They opened up hearings to see if there is any way that they can impeach them, starting with Joe Biden. Do they have any evidence of impeachment-worthy High Crimes committed by President Biden? No, but that doesn’t stop them. They are hoping that if they dig and dig and dig, they will find something, anything, that they can pass off to fellow like-minded Republicans as an impeachable offense.

They tried to overthrow the government on January 6^th, 2021, and failed, but they didn’t accept defeat and walk away. They continue to try and overthrow the legitimately elected President so that their cult leader can regain the Presidency.

Six of the eight debaters in the GOP Presidential debates raised their hand to acknowledge that if Donald Trump is named as the Republican candidate for President in 2024, they will support him, even if he is convicted of multiple felonies before then. They are under the control of the Donald J. Trump cult, and they have admitted it publicly. At this point in time, the Republicans don’t even have a “lesser of two evils” candidate. They are all submissive to the cult, except for the two candidates who didn’t raise their hands, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson. Chris Christie is polling at 2.8% of Republicans favoring him. Asa Hutchinson is polling at 0.5% of Republicans. The Cult has a firm hand on 96.7% of the Republican Party candidates, and they will do anything to return their beloved wannabe dictator to power.

Those of us who want to preserve our Democracy cannot sit idly by. Make sure that you are registered to vote. The United States, in its storied history, has dealt with Barbary pirates, Foreign Governments, Nazis, and terrorists. We can deal with crazy cults. 81,283,098 voted to remove Trump from office in 2020. We need even more voters in 2024 to make sure that he and his co-conspirators never return. Register and vote. The Country you save may be your own.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl