November 13, 2020

Dear: My Fellow Americans

After the 2016 presidential elections, we were all concerned about the integrity of our election process, especially in the face of Russian interference. All of our intelligence agencies agreed that the Russians were trying to create chaos and cause uncertainty in our free and open elections. They may have been trying to help me, but there is no indication that they were successful in their efforts. However, we took the warnings to heart. I have been working diligently with all of our national security agencies to make sure that we did not have a repeat of 2016. Our goal was to have the fairest and most secure election ever. Despite all of the naysayers, we were tremendously successful. A group of federal, state, and local election officials stated that the election “was the most secure in American history.” “There was no evidence” that any voting systems were compromised. I ordered the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to disseminate this information immediately. Previously, the New York Times had contacted all fifty states, and no incidents of voter fraud were reported. I would say, “Mission Accomplished.”

As we assist the incoming Biden team with an orderly transition of power, it gratifies me to know that we left the electoral system in better shape than when we found it. President-elect Biden should be secure in the knowledge that all of the American people will accept him as the legitimate, 46th President of the United States.

Yours truly,

Donald J. Trump

President of the United States

November 11, 2020

Happy Veterans Day. The active military may be our firewall against a non-violent takeover of the US government. If I wanted to takeover the government, here is what I would do.

1. I would not concede the election.

2. I would claim voter fraud without a shred of evidence.

3. I would recruit my Attorney General to look for voter fraud.

4. I would have members of my party publicly support my efforts.

5. I would install loyalists at the Defense Department.

6. I would use state TV to spread my conspiracy theories.

7. I would prevent the GSA from releasing funds and office space to facilitate a transition of power.

8. I would prevent White House people from cooperating with the incoming administration.

9. I would prevent the President-elect from getting national security briefings.

10. I would threaten to replace the heads of the FBI and CIA.

11. I would eliminate direct communications with the mainstream media.

November 11, 2020

“Hey hey, Donny J., how many folks did you kill today.”

November 10, 2020

Donald Trump has laid bare what a President with no respect for norms and guard rails can destroy in running the executive branch of the government. Intelligence experts are concerned about what someone like Trump might do to monetize national security intelligence. In order to constrain current and future Presidents, here are some weaknesses in our systems that need to be investigated and corrected.

1. Who can fire Inspectors General, and what constitutes a fireable offense?

2. What really constitutes a national emergency?

3. To what extent can the President redirect funds authorized for the military?

4. For what circumstances can the President use the military?

5. How do we enforce of The Hatch Act?

6. Clarity on a President’s personal liability while in office

7. Can the President stonewall Congress, obstruct justice?

8. What is the extent to which the President can appoint “acting” officials?

9. Can a President blatantly lie with impunity?

10. What is the appropriate use of Twitter accounts by government officials?

11. Can a President disclose classified information to adversaries?

12. How do we better police a President’s conflicts of interest

13. Can a President be sued for campaign violations?

14. Can a President receive campaign aid from foreign governments?

15. Should a President be required to provide evidence when claiming voting fraud?

16. What is a President’s power to threaten and dismiss career civil servants?

17. Can a President use the White House counsel and Attorney General for political purposes?

18. How regular must an administration hold press conferences?

19. Should the disclosure of tax returns be required by law?

20. Should a President be required to release medical records?

21. Should the White House and other symbols be allowed to be used in political campaigns?

22. Should a President be allowed to threaten to lock up his opponents?

23. How should we handle Presidential transitions?

24. What is a President’s authority in nominating Supreme Court Justices? What is the Senate’s prerogative in confirming nominees?

25. Who should get security clearances?.

November 10, 2020

In 1967, Muhammad Ali fought Ernie Terrell for the heavyweight championship of the world. Prior to the fight, Terrell refused to use Ali’s Muslim name, instead using what Ali referred to as his slave name, Cassius Clay. In the 8th round, Ali started taunting him with “What’s My Name?” He proceeded to torture him for the rest of the fight.

Joe Biden is the President-elect, yet neither Donald Trump nor his sickening sack of sycophants will refer to him by his new title. We expect such boorish and destructive behavior from Trump, but we should be genuinely concerned when constitutional officers like McConnell, Graham, Cruz, McCarthy et. al. echo Trump’s claims about election fraud. We should all be concerned as AG Barr wades into the controversy. We should all be concerned as Trump installs a climate change denier at the EPA. We should all be concerned when Trump fires the Secretary of Defense, and threatens to fire the heads of the FBI and the CIA, leaving America vulnerable. We should all be concerned as Trump slow walks the transition, preventing Biden and his people from getting national security and coronavirus updates. As the Mayor of Philadelphia said about Trump, “Put on your big boy pants” and get out of the way.

I was hoping to be done with Trump by now. I was ready to move on to more substantive discussions about policy, but here we are still mired in Trump’s swamp. I just hope there is some way for Biden to torment Trump with “What’s my title?”

November 9, 2020

That’s a relief. Now that it is over, where do we go from here? Democrats are feeling elated by a Presidential victory. At the same time, they are feeling deflated by a feeling of impotence in the face of a Republican Senate. Senators representing 153 million citizens will have the say over Senators representing 168 million citizens. The Supreme Court is firmly in the hands of the Conservatives. The Democratic mind races to imagine the worst. Congress will be gridlocked, the Affordable Care Act will be overturned, and women will lose their right to control their own bodies. There is hope coming from the state of Georgia, but the idea of winning two Senatorial races seems remote. Here are some things to hope, however.

The Republican Party will realize it is holding a losing hand in denying climate change, and betting its long term future on oil, gas, and coal. Rather than denying climate change, maybe Mitch & Co. can engage in substantive discussions on how to deal with it, and provide assistance to those workers most severely affected. Biden has already said he will rejoin the Paris Accords. The Republicans need to rejoin reality.

The Republican Party will move beyond Trump, and agree that the pandemic is a public health issue, and not a political issue. Hopefully, they will embrace the recommendations of the Biden COVID Commission. A united front will go a long way to beating the virus, and getting everybody back to work and school. As a country, we need to prove to ourselves that we can come together in a national crisis.

The vast majority of people support the Affordable Care Act, and support making healthcare available to all. The pandemic laid bare the gaps we have in our health care systems. Maybe the Republicans will give up on their repeal and replace suicide mission, and realize extending Medicare benefits to all is not the apocalypse. Biden wants Medicare to be available to all. He doesn’t want Medicare to replace private insurance. This isn’t Socialism.

Reasonable gun safety legislation is not a repeal of the Second Amendment. The sight of vigilantes at the polls armed with automatic weapons scared the crap out of everyone. We lead the world in gun ownership and gun deaths. That’s not a coincidence. Let’s discuss the facts without the NRA polluting the discussions with scare tactics. Why is it the people with the most guns are the most scared?

We need a commission to investigate issues related to voting. The commission should be composed of Democrats and Republicans. It needs to discuss the voting rights act, efforts to limit access to the polls, disparate election systems, the role of the judiciary, gerrymandering, dark money, foreign interference, the electoral college, and more.

Infrastructure spending should cross party lines. Everyone agrees it should be a major priority. We should have a Marshall Plan for our own country. Corporate America should embrace this more than any other group. If infrastructure funds are directed to energy-related projects designed to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, more the better.

I think Democrats and Republicans are capable of having an adult discussion on immigration law and enforcement without the bellicosity. The reality is we need immigrants. Reasonable people can disagree on who, how, and how many. Let’s move beyond a puerile discussion of a wall, and who is going to pay for it. We need secure borders, we need DACA recipients, and we need entrepreneurs from all over the world.

We need to shore up our international alliances with our friends starting with NATO, and we need to be firm with our adversaries. We need to reengage with the WHO. The Iran Peace Plan needs to be revived. The ill-fated Trans Pacific Partnership should be renegotiated with more favorable terms for American manufacturing. This can be a bipartisan effort.

Income inequality and systemic racism are facts, and not the hysterical rantings of Socialists and AntiFa. Maybe we can agree to remove the misunderstood terms Socialist and Fascist from our discussions. Reparations and defunding the police are non-starters. Maybe we can address the issues that will make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans regardless of color. We can raise the minimum wage to a living wage, guarantee equal pay for equal work, provide healthcare benefits for all, fund equal education for all, provide food relief and childcare relief, and more. These benefits will have to be paid for by a more progressive tax code for individuals and corporations.

Typically, new administrations only scratch the surface of all of the things they would like to accomplish. Joe Biden will not be as successful as LBJ with Democratic control over both houses of Congress, and a sympathetic Supreme Court. Regardless, let’s start scratching.

April 3, 2020

While he is sheltering in place, Joe Biden is busy vetting possible candidates for Vice President. He has publicly committed to nominating a woman for Vice President, and he has many appealing candidates to choose from. I think he will choose Kamala Harris. By the way, I did get Joe Biden right.

At the risk of stating the obvious, she is a woman. She is also a woman of color, having parents of Indian and Jamaican descent. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) set Biden on his current arc with his timely endorsement before the South Carolina primary. He delivered the African-American vote, and he deserves payback.

She is tough and tested. She served as Attorney General for California, our most populous state. She confronted Biden in the first debate on busing. The American public saw her in the debates. She has been vetted. She knows how to handle herself on the campaign trail, and would be a worthy foe for Pence in debates.

Biden has said that he wants someone, who can step in immediately. Kamala Harris is experienced. She has been the junior Senator from California, serving on the Budget, Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees. All of these committees have had vital roles recently dealing with the coronavirus, the Mueller Report, and the Ukraine scandal.

She and Biden are reasonably in agreement on most of the issues important to Democratic and Progressive voters. She wants to expand healthcare; she wants stricter gun safety laws; and she wants tax relief for lower and middle income taxpayers while raising taxes on the top 1% and corporations.

She is 55 years of age, and photogenic. Democrats do not have to worry about losing her seat in the Senate because California is a Democratic stronghold led by a Democratic Governor. Like Joe Biden, she comes from a modest background, which will appeal to the Sanders-Warren voters. And lastly, she has already withstood the spotlight of being lampooned by Saturday Night Live.

April 22, 2019

I am going to go out on a limb and declare Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Why?

• He is currently leading in the Democratic polls. Trump’s numbers are mired around 37%, and dropping.

• His age is not a factor when compared to an old and clinically obese president.

• He will bring back the Obama voters, who defected to Trump. “Anyone but Hillary” will not be a factor.

• He will win the midwestern states that Hillary Clinton lost.

• He will receive overwhelming and united support from the other Democratic candidates, whose number one goal is to beat Trump

• Whatever issues he may have regarding his past will pale in comparison to Trump’s.

• His governmental experience dwarfs Donald Trump’s.

• He is a tough, blue collar guy, who can go toe-to-two with anyone.

• His family has a history of military service. Trump’s does not.

• His platform will emphasize issues that Americans care about like healthcare and the environment.

• His pick for Vice President will emphasize diversity, a stark comparison with Mike Pence.

• Republicans quietly want Trump to lose before he destroys the party, and will stay away from the ballot box.

• Russia will not be able to interfere.

• Numerous, ongoing investigations will continue to erode support for Trump.

• Trump will get nothing done in his last two years.

Joe Biden does not have to get everyone. Trump lost the popular vote in ‘16 by 3MM votes, and Democrats won the House in ‘18 by 8MM votes. Trump won by the slimmest of margins, and he has done nothing to improve his numbers. Trump’s tide is going out.

November 6, 2020

“War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells may be an apt metaphor for the current election environment with both sides claiming that the other side is a bunch of aliens. Everyone feels threatened. A learned friend of mine, whose specialty is international politics, is scratching his head and beard trying to understand how anyone could have voted for Trump based on the evidence. How can people look at the same set of facts and come to such different conclusions. Obviously, there are two sets of facts. There is a War of the Words. There are the facts, and then there are the alternative facts, conspiracy theories, and lies put out by the right-wing media. The pictures of crowds shouting “Stop the Count” and “Count the Votes,” instigated by Trump and his enablers, are a stain on America.

Trump is losing (maybe he has lost by now), and is also losing it, but 68 million people voted for him. Who are these people, and what did he do to them? Did he eat their brains? After making up a string of fabulously false lies about the election, leading Republicans like Graham, Cruz and McCarthy came to his defense. Is this the zombie apocalypse?

Everyone is hoping that the good guys win, but, for some people, it is difficult to tell the good guys from the aliens. Here is the way to figure it out. If you were looking to destroy America, real aliens would compromise elections, encourage violence, destroy the environment, ignore a pandemic, disseminate false information, handout automatic weapons, put children in cages, drive people into poverty and unemployment, create food shortages, and degrade the infrastructure. In the movies, the good guys always win. We’ll see what happens.

November 5, 2020

When Barack Obama took over in 2008 from George W. Bush, the country was facing the Great Recession. Obama campaigned on healthcare, infrastructure, and education, but his first propriety became rescuing the economy. We were heading for a depression with countless casualties, and it had to be addressed. Obama never complained about the hand he was dealt. He didn’t blame anyone even though there was plenty of blame to go around. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work. The faux deficit hawks in the Republican Party fought his attempts at aggressive stimulation, but we still embarked on one of the longest economic recoveries in history. This is the recovery that Trump inherited, and then squandered.

We now have another Democrat ready to roll up his sleeves, and take over from another failed Republican. He needs to address the pandemic and economic mess left to him by his predecessor. Without complaining, this will be his first priority. Initiatives on healthcare, the environment, voting rights, gun safety, income inequality, and infrastructure may have to wait. Is this the Republican strategy? Screw things up so badly that Democrats have to fix a wrecked economy every time they take over. And, as it was last time, Republicans will fight aggressive attempts to stimulate the economy in the name of deficit reduction.