Category Archives: politics
Opinion | Trump’s Running and the Feds Are Coming: What the Next Two Years Will Look Like Legally — Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories
I found this Opinion piece, written by Politico, to be very informative.
I do have one disagreement, and that’s with the last paragraph. To the best of my knowledge, based on case decisions that I’ve read regarding sentencing, sentences of supervision are not considered a conviction for purposes of disqualifying a defendant from exercising Constitutional rights, such as owning a firearm, voting, and running for public office. A felony conviction disqualifies the person from doing those things. In this matter specifically, if Donald Trump is convicted of a felony, he would not be allowed to run for public office.
The entire article has 9 bullet points. It’s an excellent read.
Donald Trump announced his third run for president Tuesday night in a move that was widely perceived as a gambit to stave off a federal criminal indictment. It won’t work. Trump is likely to be indicted by the Department of Justice, making him the first former president to campaign for the White House while facing charges. The historic nature of this scenario seems fitting for a candidate who has defied every norm of American politics during his seven-year career in public life. While unprecedented, there are certain realities of federal prosecutions that offer a useful roadmap for how the next two years will likely play out in the courts.
1. Will Trump’s announcement affect the Justice Department’s decision to indict him?
Not really. Donald Trump was the immediate past president and one of the most well-known and controversial politicians in the United States. He has been widely regarded as the de facto leader of the Republican Party and a likely nominee. DOJ would not have opened a criminal investigation into Trump if they weren’t willing to consider indicting him.
In other words, the fallout of a potential indictment of Trump was already baked in to DOJ’s decision-making. Even if Trump hadn’t announced, they would have faced the same criticism, and Trump would have likely argued
2. When would the DOJ issue an indictment?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Justice Department waited until after the Georgia Senate runoff on Dec. 6 to make any overt steps — an indictment, execution of another search warrant or an arrest. Once that political event has passed, charges could come before or after the holidays.
that he was indicted to deter him from announcing his candidacy in the future.
Opinion | Trump’s Running and the Feds Are Coming: What the Next Two Years Will Look Like Legally — Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories
9 Year Anniversary On Word Press
I received this last month. Nine years! It seems like yesterday, but it also seems like 9 years ago. I’m 9 years older now and just had the third year anniversary of being a breast cancer survivor. I’ve not consistently blogged since 2018. With each month, I intend to get back to a schedule so I can read blogs I follow; so I can comment on them; so I can continue making new blogging friends. Each month goes by and rather than finding more time to spend on Word Press, there is less time. However, I’ve not given up hope.
Currently, I’m working on something that if resolved, should help thousands of senior citizens in the State of Illinois. Since May, it has taken up much of my time. More and more, I lose faith in the powers that be. They are only as good as their gatekeepers. We have come to a time when those holding positions with government agencies, including agencies headed by an elected official, do not provide email addresses to anyone specific in their office. It’s a general email account and if you do get a reply, it’s from someone who is anonymous.
At times I’ve considered they don’t want to give their name because if the elected official runs for re-election and the matter they disregarded is made public, they can deny having any knowledge.
Don’t worry. After I’ve exhausted all options, I will write a post about it naming names, giving credit where it is deserved, and those who failed to do their jobs.
I think that I have PTSD after four years of Trump’s lies. There are also times when I know I feel too deeply and try too hard to understand people who disrespect the lives of others. Yes – I’m talking about people who rebelled against Executive Orders by Governors to wear masks in public. They argue with store clerks, (and even killed at least one), and get in the faces of those wearing masks. I hurt for nurses, doctors, and hospital staff overall. They need a break and not only that, but people who need surgery and treatment for serious health matters have waited over a year, while hospital beds fill-up with people who won’t wear masks in public and won’t get vaccinated..
Getting off that soap box and back on the subject of blogging, it hasn’t helped that Word Press changed to a block editor. I really wish that Word Press would have given us a choice to keep the classic editor without having to work-around the block editor. Much of my hesitation to write a blog post is because of getting around the block editor.
I do not know if the block editor is the reason I also have problems reblogging others. Most times, I have to go to the reader, search for the post, and click to reblog from there because the button doesn’t work on the actual blog post.
Overall, I’ve had a wonderful time blogging and I miss communicating with so many of you. Here’s looking forward to having more time to spend with you.
Misinformation, Unemployment, Vaccinations
Like many things, most people do not educate themselves on things until they have a need to know. In September 2018, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After biopsy, I was told that the cancer cells were Her 2 positive, which qualified me to receive immunology drugs Herceptin and Perjecta. I was given a book to read about breast cancer. It contains a section on the treatment of Her 2 positive with mRNA drugs, also called immunology drugs. There was no desire within me to know anything about how the drugs were developed or how long they had been used. All I knew is that treatment was not optional for me. I wanted and still want to live.
That was my first knowledge of mRNA science. mRNA is not an invention. It’s a discovery. Messenger RNA (mRNA) was discovered centuries ago. The motivation to use it to treat or cure disease began in the 1990’s. The link here is an extensive story of how mRNA was studied to treat disease.
This year I began speaking with friends about Covid-19 vaccinations and why I did not have to be convinced to get vaccinated – because I already experienced receiving drugs developed using mRNA science. My only concern was the coverage length for the vaccination.
One friend later shared with me how she was talking to others about our conversation. One person responded that she thought the science was new. Now that she understood that mRNA science was used to develop cancer treating drugs since the 90’s, she was encouraged to get vaccinated. Read the rest of this entry
Impeachment, McConnell, and Separation of Powers
What we witnessed on February 13, 2021 with Mitch McConnell’s reason for voting not guilty in the impeachment trial of ex-president Donald Trump, is the Senate playing the Judicial Branch.
The question on whether the Senate had jurisdiction to hold impeachment trial was raised, and voted on. The Senate’s vote was that it had jurisdiction.
In a regular court of law, once a judge has ruled, the issue can no longer be argued, and jurors are instructed not to consider the issue during deliberations. However, the Senate is not a court of law. Mitch McConnell disregarded the majority Senate vote and used the issue of constitutional jurisdiction to acquit ex-President Donald J. Trump.
The argument over whether the Senate has jurisdiction to hold an impeachment trial for a government official no longer in office, is over a hundred years old. In 1862, it was federal judge West Hughes Humphries. In 1876, it was Secretary of War William Belknap. So, why hasn’t a federal court settled the question? Read the rest of this entry
The United States Has A New President
Today, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Kamala D. Harris was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. There are many things to be proud of with this administration. When watching the swearing-in, I first sighed. It was a sigh of relief. No longer will Americans hear outright lies from the President of the United States, such as Covid-19 being no worst than a bad cold or the flu.
After I sighed, I cried, overwhelmed with a sense of relief, of honor, and a renewal in hope for our nation.
Congratulations Mr. President and Madame Vice President.
What I Learned From “Birther” Lawsuits To Correctly Predict The Outcome of Texas v. PA
In August, 2008, they started pouring-in. The “they” were “birther” cases arguing that Barack Obama was disqualified from being President of the United States on the allegation that he is not a “natural born” United States Citizen. As late as November 2010, the SCOTUS was still dismissing such cases. If anyone is interested in the majority of cases, there is a good list on Wikipedia.
The other day, Twitter was buzzing about the Attorney General for the State of Texas petitioning the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn election results in four states. In response to one such tweet, I tweeted the following;
Trump culture has made things unpredictable. After the death of Justice RBG, Trump’s brazenness to quickly appoint a Justice to the Supreme Court on the basis that he needed nine Justices to decide election controversies, made many voters nervous. I hoped that judges and Justices would adhere to the basic requirements before they hear a case.
Regardless of their arguments, Plaintiffs have to meet a requirement in order for any court to hear their claims. That requirement is “standing”. Read the rest of this entry
YES!!!!!!!!!!! — Congratulations Joe Biden – Filosofa’s Word
We the People of the United States of America have chosen sanity over chaos, compassion over hate, intellect over buffoonery, and respect over mockery and false bravado. We the People have chosen Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States. We have chosen well. To say that I am relieved would be […]
YES!!!!!!!!!!! — Filosofa’s Word
Three Counties in California Have Fake Ballot Drop Boxes
Shout out to @Barkiologist for the information.
Orange County Register reports that Jordan Tygh, a regional field director for the California Republican Party, posted a photo on social media of “convenient locations” to drop their own ballots.
They are not official drop boxes. The fake boxes are located in Orange, Los Angeles, and Fresno Counties.
The California Secretary of State says that the fake boxes are located at local political party offices, candidate headquarters and churches.
Republicans and Abortion
I’ve never been one to vote based on issues that are not relevant to my life or the betterment of this country, such as climate change. For at least two decades, I’ve personally heard Republicans say they were voting for a politician because they are anti-abortion and/or anti-gay rights. I always asked if they planned to have an abortion and if they are gay? To that, they wanted to quote from the Bible, in which I had to remind them that the United States does not have a theocratic government.
Frankly, I’m tired of hearing Republicans say that they don’t understand how Christians can be Democrat when Democrats made abortion legal in the United States. That is simply not true. At the time of Roe v. Wade, six (6) of the Justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Republican presidents.
Voting because of wanting laws that control the lives of others is a bit like wanting to be a control freak. Many of these same folks do not comply with the Executive Orders of Governors to wear a mask when out in public to prevent the spread of a virus that can be deadly. They want to exercise their freedom of choice. Hypocrites!
I remember when abortion became legal in New York State. It was in 1970. I remember Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was a case filed in 1971 and was decided in 1973. Roe was a woman who resided in the state of Texas. At that time, Texas only allowed legal abortion if the life of the mother was at risk. Among Roe’s arguments was that she could not afford to go out of Texas to obtain a safe, legalized abortion.
At the time that Roe v. Wade made itself through the judicial system, Richard Nixon (R) was president of the United States.
The nine Justices on the Court and the president who appointed them were; Read the rest of this entry
The un-American, traitorous U.S. President exposed — The Secular Jurist
By Robert A. Vella The breaking news that hit late yesterday shouldn’t be surprising. We already knew that Donald Trump is pathologically narcissistic and sociopathic. We already knew that he isn’t mentally competent enough to serve as President of the United States. We already knew that he is ethically and intellectually unfit to fulfill the […]
The un-American, traitorous U.S. President exposed — The Secular Jurist
Donald Trump Intentionally Infected Blue States and Intentionally Withheld Tests For Covid-19
Just after I posted Trump’s Suspension of Travel From Europe Sealed America’s Fate For Major Covid 10 Spread, news came out that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, developed a national testing strategy. Donald however, was looking for a re-election advantage. As reported in Vanity Fair,
Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert.
That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said.
I took another look at the Department of Homeland Security’s list of airports allowing the landing of planes from Europe carrying American citizens. There are 13 airports on the list. Other than Texas, Georgia and Florida, the planes were not allowed to land in other southern states.
Donald Trump exploited Covid-19 , intentionally allowing the virus to infect Blue States, not provide testing through the federal government, and blame Democratic Governors for the spread and lack of testing.
Now, the Lincoln Project has come out with a video about it.
Donald Trump’s Version of Law and Order Is Nonsensical
Donald John Trump, the impeached president of the United States who Senate Republicans refused to remove from office, uses “law and order” to intimidate three groups. The first group are protesters. If enough of them are blinded by rubber bullets, maybe they will stop protesting. The second group are people afraid of protesters believing that all protests and marches are riots. (Trump has so far identified that group “suburban housewives”.) The third group are Republicans who have strange, generalized beliefs that all Democrats are evil.
In an unbalanced, prejudicial, generalized manner, Trump represents all protests as riots. He postures all as taking place in cities with Democratic mayors or states with Democratic Governors. There are too many cities and states to list, but not all looting and vandalism occurred in Democratic led cities or states. Additionally, there were attacks by people upon protesters that Trump does not mention. There was also great physical harm caused by police on protesters and journalists.
Maybe Trump is threatening to send mercenaries to American cities after he realized that there are police who understand, agree with, and will not harm peaceful protesters.
While it is true that some protests included damage to property and looting, Trump is not addressing the root “law and order” issue.
On May 25, 2020, where was law and order for George Floyd?
Indeed, an officer of the law casually tortured Floyd for over 8 minutes until he died. The video of Floyd’s death went viral, waking-up many people to just how “law and order” is abuse of power and cover-up with dishonest police reports. Read the rest of this entry
Donald Trump Is Either Ignorant or Intentionally Deceptive About Universal Mail-in Voting
Donald Trump represents that mail-in voting is different than absentee voting. His position is that absentee voting requires requesting a ballot while mail-in voting does not. Trump also represents a factual error about mail-in voting. He postures it as ALL states mailing ballots to registered voters whether or not they want to vote by mail.
THAT IS NOT TRUE FOR THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
I reside in the State of Illinois where I am a registered voter. In the mail, I received an “Application For Vote By Mail”. It is not a ballot. I would need to fill-out the application and wait to receive the ballot by mail.
Trump’s generalizations include an assumption that only Democrats want mail-in voting for the general election. There is a pandemic in America. Covid-19 acts differently in people, but it can be deadly. People not only have to think about themselves, but also those around them; family, friends, co-workers. No sane person wants to gamble with their life.
Maybe it’s because a disproportionate of minorities die from Covid-19 that it’s assumed the number of Democratic voters are being reduced. As of today in the United States, there are almost 170,000 deaths from Covid-19. States such as Texas and Florida have seen almost 10,000 deaths from Covid-19. Georgia and Arizona have almost 5,000 deaths from Covid-19. (Stats from CDC on 8/16/2020) Read the rest of this entry
Trump’s Suspension of Travel from Europe Sealed America’s Fate For Major Covid 19 Spread
That suspension meant that Americans in Europe needed to return home, and Trump gave them 48 hours to do so, packing them into airports like sardines for hours.
Trump has praised himself for his decision in January to restrict travel from China in order to contain the coronavirus, claiming that his decision saved millions of lives. His response to travel from Europe however, opened the back door for Covid-19 to enter the U.S. Many Americans did not want to be stuck in Europe and returned to the U.S. on the same weekend, bringing the virus with them. Exposed travelers into the U.S. from Europe sealed the nation’s fate for a major spread.
On March 12, 2020, Trump suspended all travel to the United States from Europe for 30 days. Americans had 48 hour notice to make travel arrangements back to the U.S.
We should never forget that it was Trump’s decision that caused a major spread of Covid-19 across the United States.
On March 13, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security published its outline for Americans returning from Europe.
““Effective for flights taking off at 11:59 PM EDT on Friday, March 13th, Americans returning from all restricted countries will now be required to travel through the following 13 airports:”
Those airports were;
- Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas
- Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York
- Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California
- Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington
- Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia
On March 14, 2020, 40,000 passengers returning from Europe crowded into the 13 airports.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), on March 13, 2020, the United States had 1,896 confirmed Covid-19 virus cases. Two weeks later, on March 27, 2020, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 103,321. Read the rest of this entry
Confederate Flag and Monuments
When I was a little girl, I only saw the confederate flag on television programs or in movies. It caused me to think that maybe the North and the South sat down at a negotiating table and decided on conditions to end the Civil War. Why else would there be a flag flown in addition to the stars and stripes, right? Why else would a nation have statutes of generals that fought for the South, right?
Through grammar, high school and college, nothing was taught regarding why the United States honors people and a flag that lost America’s Civil War.
In the following video, ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jeffrey Robinson addresses the history of the monuments that the current U.S. President does not want removed. It’s informative and a real eye-opener.
Donald Trump’s Disinfectant Cure For Covid-19
Need to laugh?
The Governor of Illinois gives a briefing around 3 p.m. CST. About 3 times a week, that briefing is followed by one held by County and City officials. When they have finished, I’m usually off to the kitchen to start cooking dinner.
Thursday was different. I had left-overs so after the local briefings, I turned to MSNBC. I was hoping it was too early for the Donald Trump liar-a-thon, but I was wrong. When he spoke about killing coronavirus by injecting people with disinfectant, I went numb for a few seconds. UNBELIEVABLE!
Twitter has been ablaze with comments, memes, and jokes about Trump’s cure. Among them all, I found the following extra funny because it gave no clue that it wasn’t serious and seriously funny. Enjoy.
No Donald Trump. The Cure Is Not Worse Than The Problem.
Regarding the coronavirus sweeping across the United States, on March 22, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet;
“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAS WE WANT TO GO!”
During his briefing on March 23, 2020, Trump made it clear that his perception of a highly contagious virus with potential to kill is a “problem” rather than a public health issue. Rather than avoid the spread of the virus, he wants people to return to work. He wants the stock market to go up.
According to Politico, the prospect of resuming typical business has horrified public health leaders.
“At a White House briefing Monday night, Trump seemed adamant that the economy would come back to life “very soon,” insisting that the government can fight the viral spread while also going to work — ‘we can do them both at the same time’.”
Let’s be clear about something. The White House recommended “social distancing” but Trump, neither anyone in his administration, gave stay-at-home orders. He can’t rescind nor change orders that he didn’t issue.
As of March 24, 2020, Governors of 16 states have issued stay-at-home orders. The mayor of Atlanta issued a stay-at-home order for that city.
Donald Trump lacks jurisdiction to order Governors and Mayors to cancel their orders. Read the rest of this entry
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 