Republican Rescue

My original plan, when I first thought of reading, and then writing a blog post on Chris Christie's new book, Republican Rescue , was to entitle the eventual post, I'm Reading Chris Christie's New Book...... So You Don't Have To ,but that plan changed once I began reading the book.

I hadn't actually been aware of Christie's book until I came upon an article about how abysmally awful the sales of the book were. At the time I read the article, Republican Rescue had failed to sell even 3,000 copies. It was those low sales numbers which actually led me to want to read the book.Obviously, if sales were that bad, Christie had pissed off a lot of people. I wanted to find out why.

I wouldn't say that I had ever been a fan of the former New Jersey governor, but I didn't really have any particular dislike for him. When he was running for President, he didn't seem to be someone I'd vote for in the Republican primary, but had he managed to become the Republican candidate for POTUS, I'd certainly pick him over any Democrat.

I'm sure many of the folks angry with Christie are Democrats who would be upset at any Republican.....especially one who might have been in Trump's camp at one time. I was also sure that maybe of the Republicans staying away from his books are those who see him as a turncoat against Trump. I've got my own problems with Trump now, so I wanted to see how Christie saw this need to rescue the Republican party.

Let's go back to the presidential campaign of 2016.

As readers of one of my other blogs may remember from 2016, I often compared the idea of voting for either Trump or Hillary Clinton to the question as to whether one wanted mustard or mayo on their shit sandwich. However, after Donald Trump had won the election, I thought I'd give Trump the benefit of the doubt, and see what he'd do as POTUS.

For the most part, I was happy with most of the things Trump had managed to accomplish, although I wasn't really thrilled with his personality. At the beginning of 2020, like a lot of folks, I was sure Trump was headed for re-election. I feel safe in saying that it was COVID that killed Trump's return to the White House.

One of the reasons I wanted to read Chris Christies new book was to see how he viewed the last days of Trump's presidency. It turns out that Christie and I are in agreement on that. As Trump refused to accept defeat, I became more disillusioned with the President. With Trump's reaction (or rather non-reaction) to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021, I knew I was finished with Trump. Christie appears to be finished with him as well.

The full title to Christie's book includes "Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden". It's Christie's hope, and mine as well, that the Republicans can escape from the really bizarre elements trying to make their way inside the big tent. He does a good job of explaining who these crazies are. Let's all hope the Party is successful.

Two Minute Hate

 

As I once mentioned in a post on another blog, with every U.S. Presidential election cycle, a reference to 1984 and Big Brother is leveled against one - or sometimes, both - candidates. In that post, I included images of Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump as Big Brother. The post also includes a similar image with Hillary Clinton.

In an earlier post on this blog, I wrote that I would be reading (and re-reading) a number of dystopian novels this month. I've just finished re-reading 1984 and I noticed something that has been frequently used in Presidential elections, but never mentioned out loud, as far as I can tell.

Early in the novel, Orwell writes of the Two Minutes Hate where Outer Party members of Oceania view a film of enemies of the State - usually Emmanuel Goldstein - and are encouraged to openly display their hatred for the enemy. While I was reading this section, I immediately thought of the Left's reaction to Donald Trump. The hatred is similarly coming from raw emotion, rather than logic.

It didn't take long for me to understand that not only were these "Two Minute Hates" recently directed at Trump, but had been used earlier by Republicans against Obama and Hillary Clinton. The Left had also used the same tactic against George W. Bush.

As I write this, I haven't noticed the same "Two Minute Hate" technique used against Biden. Perhaps because his persona as a tried old man works better for the Republicans.

Unfortunately, noticing this doesn't help stop it. Just more evidence of the U.S. going to Hell in a hand-basket.

Biden's Name Will Not Appear On Stimulus Checks

According to an article at  thehill.com , Biden's name will not appear on the upcoming round of stimulus checks. The article goes on to say that the stimulus checks sent out during Trump's term had President Trump's name on the memo line of the checks.

Having received the stimulus money thru direct deposit, I had no idea that Trump's name appeared anywhere on the check.

The article quotes White House press secretary Jen Psaki as saying:
"We are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which is why the president’s name will not appear on the memo line of this round of [stimulus] checks."

Apparently, the checks will be signed by a career official at the Bureau of Fiscal Service.

First of all, will the checks actually be "signed" by anyone? I imagine the signature will be a facsimile. Even if the check did have Biden's name on them, he wouldn't be signing each individual check. The poor guy would get writer's cramp long before many of the checks was ready to mail out. Not having Biden's name on the stimulus checks will in no way speed up the process.

I think Trump's wanting his name on the check was typical, over the top Trump behavior. Biden's decision to go in the opposite direction is just a way of undoing anything Trumpish.

Will Trump Run in 2024?

 

According to Daniel Dale at CNN, there is a Tweet making the rounds that claims Trump will be banned fron running in 2024 if he is impeached a second time, but Dale goes on to say No, impeachment itself would not ban Trump from a 2024 run.

The piece gives us these facts:

1) Trump would lose his post-presidency pension only if both the House voted to impeach him and then the Senate voted to remove him from office; impeachment itself, without removal, would not result in Trump being denied any benefits.
2) The law makes clear that presidents who have lifetime Secret Service protection never get a $1 million travel allowance.
3) It is unclear that Trump would lose lifetime Secret Service protection even if the Senate voted to remove him and prohibit him from running.
4) Even a Senate vote to remove Trump would not prohibit him from running in 2024; for the Senate to ban him from the presidency, it would have to hold an additional vote on this question.

While it may be legally possible for Trump to run in 2024, doing so would be a terrible mistake and certainly not good for the country. Of course, that wouldn't stop Trump.

Supposing Trump were to run again, I doubt the Republican Party would risk putting him on their ticket. He would have to run as a third party candidate.

Trump running again for POTUS would most assuredly lead to President Kamala Harris being reelected. I say President Harris and not Vice-President Harris, because we all know that Biden will either step down before his first (and only) term is finished, or he will be removed by via the 25th Amendment.

This talk of removing Trump with the 25th Amendment is actually a trial run on the real objective - removing Biden and putting in Harris.

If Trump really wants to Make American Great Again, he needs to stay out of politics.

Enough is Enough

 

In May, 2016 during the Presidential election, I said that choosing between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was like being asked if I wanted mustard or mayo on my shit sandwich. I could not support either candidate.

However, when Trump won in 2016, I said I would give him the benefit of the doubt, and for the most part, I've agreed with what he's done as POTUS.

I don't think, however, that I ever drank the kool-aid being served by those caught up in the Trump cult of personality.

We all knew, before the November 2020 election, that whichever side lost that side would call the results fraudulent and accuse the winners of cheating. Many Trump supporters are doing just that now. Hell, they're acting like Democrats.

Trump, and many of his supporter are refusing to accept the election results, in spite of the fact that State Judges, Federal judges, the Supreme court and Trump's Attorney General say there is no evidence of the type of fraud that would overturn this election.

In 2016, I wrote two posts where I compared Trump to Mussolini [Trump - Benito Mussolini with (Bad) Hair. and Benito Mussolini With Trump Hair. ]. I had changed my view of Trump after the 2016 election, but now I think I may have been correct the first time.

President Biden?

As I write this, both Fox News and CNN show Biden to be ahead of President Trump in electoral votes - both projecting Biden to be closer to the magic 270, although the two networks disagree on the totals so far. Fox is giving Biden 264 with CNN giving Biden 253.

The election isn't over at this point, and either candidate can, in theory win. However, to my way of looking at the numbers, Biden has the much easier path to victory.

So, what can we expect from a Biden presidency? Probably not much.

It looks as though the Republicans have maintained control of the Senate, and Biden will have difficulty getting anything passed - much less something radically Leftist. Even if Biden wins the Electoral College, he will not have won 25 States, which shows that future control of the U.S. Senate by Democrats is unlikely.

The U.S. will remain divided in spite of Biden's claim that under his Presidency there will be no "blue States, no red States, just the United States". Biden has no original ideas, and he stole this line from Obama. It didn't come true under Obama, and it won't under Biden either.

I don't expect Biden, should he become POTUS, to survive the first term. If he wins, Kamala Harris will become the first female POTUS.

During the first year of a Biden/Harris presidency, the radical Democrats in the House will attempt to push their agenda onto the American public. This will probably lead to the Republicans flipping the House in 2022.

This election settles nothing.

Michael Moore's Insane Trump Rant

On another of my blogs, I posted my thoughts on Michael Moore's recent rant on Trump having contracted COVID-19.

I wanted to link that blog post to Facebook, but that blog is still banned from Facebook. I've posted a link to that blog post here to get around that ban.

Click on.

President Pence or President Harris?

 

One of the many talking points put forward by the Right since it became clear that Joe Biden would become the Democrat candidate for POTUS, is that Biden is merely a Trojan Horse and not the real Presidential candidate the Dems will attempt to elect in November. Quite a few believe Biden will never complete a first term if elected, with some going so far as to say he won't finish 2021.

Contrary to what nearly everyone believed would happen at the first Presidential debate, Joe Biden did not melt down in an obvious display of senility that would wreck his chances of winning the election. That's not to say he's in fine health. It's very well possible that the meds he's taking simply kicked in at the proper moment.

Now that Trump has been diagnosed with covid 19, the President's health has become an issue as well. Being POTUS, he has access to the finest medical care available on the planet. Still, at 74 years old, the President falls within the group that is most vulnerable to covid. Although his weight is a problem, he doesn't appear to have any of the other risk factors. However, even if he survives covid, the disease can have a serious effect on his future overall health.

Trump is 74 and Biden will turn 78 on November 20th. All things considered, I doubt if anyone would be really surprised if neither of the two make it to January 20, 2021. This has been the year of surprises, after all.

All this makes the choice for Vice-President especially crucial this election. I will certainly be watching the Vice Presidential debate on Oct. 7 (Oct 8 here in Philippines).

There is a real possibility that we could have a President Pence or President Harris in the very near future.

Evolution of a Word

 

On one of my other blogs [ sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken] I had written, on two different occasions - Trump : Are We Finally On "The Road to Understanding" ?  and  Oh, He's Such a Trump - my coming to learn of usage of the word "trump" as a positive, upbeat compliment. At one time, calling someone a trump meant that the person was a dependable and exemplary person.

My discovery came about after having read two novels written in 1917 - one written by Ethel M. Dell, The Hundredth Chance, and the other, The Road to Understanding, by Eleanor H. Porter.

In Chapter X (The Head of the Family) of The Hundredth Chance, after the character Jake helps his friend Bunny, we have this:

"You're no end of a trump!" said Bunny with tears in his eyes.

 In Chapter IX (A Bottle of Ink) of The Road to Understanding we find this:

"What a trump dad had been to offer it! What a trump he had been in the way he offered it, too! What a trump he had been all through about it, for that matter. Not a word of reproach, not a hint of patronage. Not even a look that could be construed into that hated 'I told you so.' Just a straight-forward offer of this check for Helen, and the trip for himself, and actually in a casual, matter-of-fact tone of voice as if ten-thousand-dollar checks and Alaskan trips were everyday occurrences".

The point I made in those two earlier posts was that in 1917, calling someone a "trump" was a good, positive compliment, while in 2017 calling someone a "trump" would be considered fightin' words to half the population of the United States.

My reason for bringing this up now is because of the book I am currently reading.  Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. Like most men and boys, I stayed away from Alcott's work because, well, it was written for girls. I recently decided to read the novel because it's considered a "classic" and therefore I should get past my prejudices and read the book.

Not deep into the novel, I discovered Alcott's use of the word in question. It appears at least three times in the work.

"As she spoke, Amy showed the handsome flask which replaced the cheap one, and looked so earnest and humble in her little effort to forget herself that Meg hugged her on the spot, and Jo pronounced her 'a trump', while Beth ran to the window, and picked her finest rose to ornament the stately bottle."

" Three cheers for dear Father! Brooke was a trump to telegraph right off, and let us know the minute he was better......"

"Well, my love, I consider him a trump, in the fullest sense of that expressive word, but I do wish he was a little younger and a good deal richer."

Little Women was first published five years after the Civil War so the word has been used as a compliment, at least since then.

My Only Comment on Trump vs Biden 2020

Normally, in a U.S. presidential election year, my blog posts increase. Although this particular blog was not around in 2016, I did write quite a lot about the election on my sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken blog.

Anyone familiar with that blog in 2016 will recall that I did not support either Clinton nor Trump in that election year. I very regularly compared choosing either candidate as choosing whether to have mustard or mayo on your shit sandwich. However, as I wrote the week after Trump won the election, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going forward. After four years, I have to say that I've generally supported Trump, although I'm not crazy about his personality.

Due to the unreliability of the Philippine postal system during these days of COVID, I won't even attempt to send in an absentee ballot this time around. If I was in the U.S. now, I feel like I'd have no other choice than to vote for Trump. I wouldn't be enthusiastic about casting my vote, but for the life of me I can't understand how anyone could hate Trump so much that they'd vote for Joe Biden....a man who has lost all common sense.

As I write this, I'm thinking this will be my only comment on the election this year. We'll see how that goes.