Latest Un-Trumpublican Thoughts on the Pandemic

Too many Americans, taking a “hint” from President Trump and those, including many Republican governors, who mouth his jumbled and uneducated thoughts, seem to think that the Cofid19 Pandemic is almost over.  At the Republican Convention, I mean Trump Rally, speakers referred to the Pandemic in the past tense, as if it were history.  Larry Kudlow, economic advisor, was a good example.  What medical school did he attend, anyway? Folks, it ain’t over … and won’t be for a long time.

From the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC, the following 2017 statistics are available regarding the leading causes of death in the United States.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

• Heart disease: 647,457
• Cancer: 599,108
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
• Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
• Diabetes: 83,564
• Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173

Source: Deaths: Leading Causes for 2017, table 1 pdf icon[PDF- 2 MB]

Obviously, Covid19 is not included in these 2017 numbers, and if it were, I suspect there would be a overlap with the 2017 figures for chronic lower respiratory diseases and influenza and pneumonia, both totaling about 215,000.   In any event, from what I gather from governmental and other sources, there would be no more than that number this year from Covid19.  “Over 200,000 deaths” will be nothing to be proud of, even for Trumpublicans.

Unfortunately, it is conceivable that Americans will get used to this amount of expected annual mortality from Covid19, particularly since many Covid19 deaths already appear, in the eyes of some, as influenza, pneumonia and chronic lower respiratory disease deaths.  We seem to accept these death statistics from other causes (heart disease, cancer, etc.)  as a matter of routine. Regardless of this, however, what distinguishes Covid19 from the other leading causes of death is the fact that it is highly contagious.  The numbers for the other leading causes of death can be counted on to remain relatively stable, but that is not true of Covid19.  Unless steps are continually taken to keep its spread under control, its prevalence as a cause of death can quickly “spike” out of control.

Because many deaths from Covid19 are among those whose income levels are such that they are not able to take some of the steps necessary to avoid that disease’s spread (social distancing, not going to work or school if there are symptoms present, living in close quarters with others, not receiving other medical care regularly, unavailability of testing, even for those without symptoms), those who can easily afford to take such precautions very well may discount the Covid19 numbers and consider it something to accept along with other ‘non-contagious’ causes of death. 

Except for already vulnerable seniors, they may be taking it to be “somebody else’s” disease. Just take a look at those taking advantage of social and commercial “reopening,” and note who they are.  You will see what I mean. There is a racial component to this dichotomy.  Clearly, Covid19’s numbers differ for the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

This is the mistake some States and the Administration in Washington make in encouraging the relaxation of restrictions and the opening up of our society, socially and economically.  Some of those involved know better, but put politics first. At a minimum, those infected, even in reduced amounts, often working in the food service and hospitality industries, continue to come to work and can infect others.  The same goes for opening schools and other gathering places while infection rates remain significant.  

It is sometimes said that a locale's positivity rate (percentage of those tested who test as being positive for the virus) not higher than 5% is sufficient to open up schools, for example.  That means that the statistics suggest that one in twenty untested children in a classroom, even withouth symptoms, might conceivably spread the virus to the other nineteen, who can take it home.  Is that good enough for you? That is why Covid19 is different from other causes of death. 

That is why wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding close contact with crowds and other such precautions may become a permanent part of our way of life.  Covid19 is contagious while cancer and heart disease, for example, are not.

Only with (1) the appearance and world-wide availability of a proven vaccine, (2) the providing of mandatory periodic testing for the virus for everyone including those without any symptoms, at least in the United States, and (3) making comprehensive medical care readily available for all citizens, can this be changed.

Writing to government officials and newspapers about this really doesn't work.  All it does is make you feel good.  You can, however, help change things when you vote for a President and your Congressperson in November.  

JL 

Required Reading Assignment: 

Heather Cox Richardson's daily newsletter.  Check it out today and every day!  If you are not getting it each morning, subscribe to it (for free) by going to https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ or 

JUST CLICK HERE.  Today's newsletter must be read! 


I personally conclude that Trumpublicans (there is no longer a Republican Party) are attempting  to, and succeeding, in putting democracy in America on the defensive, and are well on their way to destroying it.  Their emphasis on "law and order" is just a distraction to avoid facing up to Trump's abject failure in dealing with the Covid19 pandemic which some rightwingers say has killed only 9,000 .  (See above article and Professor Richardson's newsletter.)  

A vote for Trump, or anyone still calling themselves Republicans (they are his "enablers,") is a vote against democracy in America.

JL 

A Right Wing Column (Marc Thiessen) Might Wake You Up

Minority voters, especially Black voters, will be crucial to a Democratic victory in November.  The President is aware of this and has included an appeal to minority voters in his message to his loyal family members and his loyal appointees present at the Trumpublican "convention's." sessions.   (The enormous number of American flags at these events, which were rallies and not conventions, was necessary to remind those in attendance that the event was taking place in the U.S.A. and not Russia or even war-time Germany, where similar events are and were routine.)

Marc Thiessen, right-wing columnist, wrote this Washington Post column which I dub his directory of "Uncle Toms."  Taking minority voters out of the Democratic base is the Preseident's aim and his carefully selected minority speakers are his tools.  Here is the column, lifted from one of the papers that carry it:

Trump makes an outstanding appeal to Black voters

Marc A. Thiessen

While Democrats spent most of their convention last week trying to fire up their lukewarm base, President Donald Trump spent the first night of his convention working to expand his with a concerted appeal to African American voters.

It began with a powerful speech by Kim Klacik, the dynamic young Black congressional candidate in Maryland’s 7th district who became an Internet sensation for her amazing campaign ad in which she gave voters a walking tour of her devastated Baltimore neighborhood.

“The Democrats have controlled my city, Charm City, for over 50 years, and they have run this beautiful place into the ground,” Klacik said Monday night.

“Abandoned buildings, liquor stores on every corner, drug addicts and guns on the street . . . “

Next came Georgia Democratic state Rep.

Vernon Jones. “As you can see, I’m a man of color, and I’m a lifelong Democrat,” he said. “The

Democratic Party does not want Black people to leave the mental plantation they’ve had us on for decades.

He praised Trump for “the most inclusive economy ever, with record low unemployment for African Americans” and for criminal justice reform that “ended once and for all the policy of incarceration of Black people which has decimated our communities, caused by no other than Joe Biden.”

Then came former NFL star Herschel Walker, who talked about his 37-year personal friendship with the president. “He keeps right on fighting to improve the lives of Black Americans and all Americans,” Walker said. “Some people don’t like his style, the way he knocks down obstacles that get in the way of his goals.

People on opposing teams didn’t like it when I ran right over them either. But that’s how you get the job done.”

Finally, there was a powerful address by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

He talked about his grandfather, forced out of school as a thirdgrader to pick cotton but who lived to see his grandson become the first African American elected to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” Scott said.

Why would Republicans expend this much time and effort on the first night of their convention trying to win over the Democrats’ most loyal voting bloc?

For one thing, Biden’s African American support is soft compared with Hillary Clinton’s: In recent live polls, he leads among Black voters by an average of 67 percentage points, well below Clinton’s 81-point margin in the 2016 exit polls.

Second, Trump has an outstanding record.He promised Black Americans during a 2016 speech in Charlotte that “whether you vote for me or not, I will be your greatest champion,” and he has delivered.

Third, Trump is making a concerted effort to win back the suburban voters who supported him in 2016 but who defected to Democrats in the 2018 midterms.

These voters heard speaker after speaker call Trump a racist last week, so it was powerful to hear a Black American such as Walker say: “Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump.”

Like Walker, Trump spent the first night of his convention on the offense gaining yardage. It was an outstanding start.

Marc A. Thiessen is a columnist for The Washington Post.

I would hope that Black voters are not gullible enough to fall for this kind of malarky.  Some will fall for it.  You must act to counteract that!

Demand that Donald Trump and his Republican enablers take steps to recognize that (1) there are racial inequalities in this country that must be remedied now, and not in the future, (2) that the Covid19 pandemic is not over and its spread must be stopped, even at the price of a prompt return to economic normalcy and that (3) the United States is governed by the Constitution, not the Executive Branch of government.

You can do your part, if you agree with me, by doing something concrete to make sure your State's electoral votes go to Joe Biden in November, even if you feel his is too far to the right or too far to the left for you.  Joe is just right!   Here's how to do it.

(1)  Make sure you are properly registered to vote.

(2)  Plan on voting by mail or at an advance voting site, either way, at the earliest possible moment. Don't wait until Election Day.

(3)  Contact your voting precinct leader to find out specifically how you can work to retire Donald Trump.   Every vote counts and your efforts may be the difference that produces that winning vote.

JL

Keep practicing social distancing, wear a mask when out of your home and keep washing your hands!  That will reduce the spread of the virus, which can only be documented by increased testing, even of those without symptoms.  

And if the President or Florida's governor say something regarding Covid19, ignore it!  They both are politically motivated ignorant fools.  Listen only to scientists and physicians.

Stay Well!  We Need You!

Letters From an American, a "Soldier" in the Butterfly Garden and Two More Felons

Richardson

Each day Heather Cox Richardson, Professor of History at Boston College (which really is a university but prefers the designation of “college”), publishes a commentary on what is going on in American politics.  The postings are called “Letters from an American,” a play on the title of a series of letters written in the late eighteenth century, entitled “Letters from an American Farmer,” by French-American writer J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur.   First published in 1782, the considerably longer title under which the letters were originally published is “Letters from an American Farmer; Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs not Generally Known; and Conveying Some Idea of the Late and Present Interior Circumstances of the British Colonies in North America.”

The twelve letters cover a wide range of topics, from the emergence of an American identity to the slave trade.  Some of it is even pertinent today.  They provided much information to Europeans about what was emerging on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean as the Eighteenth century drew to a close.  Professor Richardson tries to provide a similar amount of information on what is happening, right now, today, on our side of the Atlantic.  She touches every base on what is happening in American politics each day, imparting a sense of immediacy to the news yet maintaining the empiricism of a historian.

You can subscribe to “Letters from an American” by CLICKING RIGHT HERE.   Once you do, you will receive an Email each morning, discussing the previous day’s events in depth.  There is no charge to sign on to receive these postings, although for a modest monthly payment, one can become part of the site’s ‘community’ and post comments on it.  Every item discussed in “Letters from an American” is footnoted with its source.

Today’s Email (posted late on 8/23) from Professor Richardson, if you can’t wait to subscribe, can be found by CLICKING RIGHT HERE.  (There’s also an opportunity to subscribe there, too.)

JL

Two More Felons

In preparing the prior posting about “Corruption-Central,” I neglected to include two additional low-life Trump supporters, both convicted felons, lawyer Michael Cohen and General Michael Flynn.  Add their reservations for beachfront villas at Guantanamo Bay to those of Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and Roger Stone.  (I am really jesting about Guantanamo.  I am sure the Russian government would be glad to arrange for comfortable dachas for each of the aforementioned felons somewhere far from Moscow.)

A Visit from a Soldier

I am tending to the Butterfly Garden on a daily basis, due to more time being available because of restrictions brought about by Covid19.  A recent visitor to the garden, whom I believe has bred there, is a "Soldier" butterfly.  It looks something like the Monarchs, but is a bit darker as are the Queens and Viceroys which I believe also are visiting the garden occasionally.  Here is the "Soldier," as photographed yesterday enjoying a milkweed snack. 

Danaus eresimus tethys (Soldier Butterfly)

JL

Bonus:  Some Thoughts from George Will

And George Will, dean of conservative pundits, who was never for one minute fooled by Donald Trump, included this in one of his columns last week.  It is worth thinking about, as is most of what Will writes.

“Victoria Nuland, former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, recalls George Kennan’s 1946 *“Long Telegram” in which he said that in opposing the then-emerging Soviet threat “much depends on the health and vigor of our own society.”  Nuland adds, “The first order of business is to restore the unity and confidence of U.S. alliances in Europe and Asia.” 

Voters’ principal consideration this year should be which presidential candidate is most apt to accomplish Nuland’s recommendations.  Although life is full of close calls, this is not one.”

Do you agree with George Will?

*The “Long Telegram” outlined what we had to do to contain the Soviet threat and included establishing and maintaining alliances.

Stay Safe ... Wear a Mask when Out ... Avoid Crowds ... Wash Your Hands ... Ignore Trump and DeSantis (both fools)

Biden Opens Struggle for America's Soul, Local G.O.P. Primary Won by Nut Job, the Bannon Scandal Breaks, The Post Office Scandal Continues and a Bit about this Blog

Biden Accepts Nomination

Only your votes can make him our 46th President

Last night, in a powerful speech, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden attacked President Trump's failures and promised to bring an end to this "season of darkness" in what amounts to a struggle for America’s soul.

Make sure that you are registered and that you vote as early as possible in person or by mail.  There is no choice, as Biden's words made it clear.  Trump must go.

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About Emails and This Blog

Up until about eighteen months ago, each time I added a new posting to my blog (www.jackspotpourri.com), I sent out an Email to about 140 Email addresses, summarizing what the posting contained and suggesting they look at it via a link which that Email contained.    Eventually I realized that most of these recipients couldn’t care less about the blog so I stopped doing it that way.  Instead, I fully relied on a link to my blog which appears on any Emails I sent to anyone.   I found that there was no reduction in the number of people accessing the blog on their own or from that link.

I do, however, still maintain an Email list of about 40 addresses of those whom I feel are really interested in following the blog and might not be getting those other routine Emails with the link to it mentioned above.  Usually the Emails I sent to these 40 addresses include something, usually political, which I feel is particularly worthwhile.  And of course, there is a link to the blog on that Email.  I have found that traffic on the blog increases whenever I send out an Email to that “list of 40.”  That is really the underlying purpose of the list of 40,” to juice up the number who visit www.jackspotpourri.com.

This message, which you now are reading, recently went out to that “list of 40,” and is appearing on this blog itself at this time.  If you know anyone whom you feel should be added to that “list of 40,” just provide me with their Email address.  They need not live in Cascade Lakes.  The blog has followers all over the world, as enumerated in the my posting on August 14, 2020.

                                                    

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Nut Job Wins G.O.P. Primary to Oppose Congresswoman Lois Frankel

Congresswoman Frankel

The Republican primary for the seat in Congress from Florida’s 21^st Congressional District (Lois Frankel’s seat) was just won by Laura Loomer, who easily defeated some normal (?) traditional Republicans, getting 42.5% of the G.O.P. vote.  Loomer is what I would call a nut job, banned from most internet media for her baseless, conspiracy-founded postings.  She will run against Frankel in November, lose in what is a very strong Democratic district but take advantage of her candidacy to continue to spout poisonous lies. Her primary loyalty seems to be to the QAnon organization of right-wing nut job conspiracy-believers.  Of course, the First Amendment allows her to say what she says.   Most important is that the President welcomed her victory and accepted with it her inane ideas and those of her supporters.   He doesn’t care where his support comes from.

QAnon followers have given up on reasonable thought processes, and profess cult-like ideas similar to those which can inspire real acts of violence such as the pizza shooting in Washington by a nut job who believed a Clinton-led group of perverts was imprisoning children in the basement of a pizzeria, and the Walmart shooter in El Paso who drove 600 miles to try to prevent a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”  So "nut jobs" can really be dangerous. 

The President accepts this kind of dangerous support from screwballs like Loomer knowing these are the kind of people who are gullible enough and ignorant enough to vote for him.  The parallel which comes to mind are the mindless followers of Jim Jones’ cult of forty years ago, 900 of whom swallowed the ‘Kool Aid’ he had prepared for them and died. 

In straightforward reporting of the primary election results, the Palm Beach Post article said that it was “a stunning achievement for the self-described ‘Most Banned Woman on the Planet’ and raises a major question:  In 2020, what defines a Republican and what does the party stand for?” 

I can answer that question!  There is no longer a Republican party.  The alleged party using that name today just contains (1) nut jobs like Loomer, (2) racists and bigots of many varieties (3) believers in gun violence as a right and (4) pathetic office-holders who know that without Trump’s support and that of the Loomer-type people, they would be out of a job.  But even they will go down to defeat in November, when they will find that their being Trump supporters will be proven to be a burden rather than an advantage.   If Rick Scott or Marco Rubio or Ron DeSantis had to run on the same ticket as Trump this year, they would lose!

But remember, Loomer received 42.5% of the vote in the G.O.P. primary.  That’s a frighteningly big number when you recognize that Republicans are dangerous to the health of America!  Trump and his enablers proved that in more ways than one.   

JL

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Late Breaking News from Corruption-Central 

I won’t even go into yesterday’s arrest of Trump 2016 advisor Steve Bannon for fraud in connection with funds he was privately raising to help pay for Trump’s wall on the Mexican border.  Keep watching TV (not Fox) and reading the papers. 

One of the more scenic locations
for villas to be built at Guantanamo

Suffice it to say, a lot of the money collected through Bannon’s efforts went somewhere other than toward building that wall.  What was done was clearly illegal.  But because they had a friend in the White House (who claims he didn’t know anything about it) they carelessly left a paper trail, documenting their lawbreaking activities and those involved in it.  So it looks like Bannon is headed in the same direction as the others involved in electing Donald Trump to the presidency, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates (and others), all convicted felons, some of whom are avoiding imprisonment at this moment because of their relationship with the “lawbreaker-in-chief.”  It is inconceivable that he himself will not be drawn into the web and with no one to pardon him, also become a candidate for a beachfront villa in Guantanamo, where they all probably will end up.

                                                    *   *   *   *

The Post Office Story Continues

Postmaster General deJoy testifies before Congress today. Keep watching TV (not Fox) and reading the papers to keep up with the story.  He’s another millionaire crook who bought a government appointment through campaign donations.  Although he supposedly has stopped cutting postal services and operations, the fate of the hundreds of mail sorting machines, perhaps already destroyed, dismantled or just plain missing in action, is unknown.  Doing what he did to the Postal Service, probably at the direct request of the President, violates the Constituion.  That is a crime.  There should be a place reserved for him as well in Guantanamo.

Postal mail sorting equipment - fate unknown

Trump needs to sabotage the Postal Service in order to reduce the amount of voting which will be done by mail in the upcoming election in part because of the Cofid19 pandemic, a tragedy which will keep many away from physical voting places.  The more people who vote, the greater will be his defeat, and the weaker his arguments about election fraud, certain to be made, will be.  So vote, please!

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More                                          

How much longer can he
dodge indictment?

And the Courts have once again ordered that Trump’s tax records be made available to the Southern District of New York’s Federal prosecutors.  Looks like all of the Donald’s chickens are coming home to roost at the same time … and they have diahrrea!  Tragically, Trump is skilled at postponing legal actions for years, and years, and years, and more years, till they finally go away.  Ask anyone to whom he owed money.  So,

Keep watching TV (not Fox) and reading the papers.

Senate Intel Committee Backs Mueller, Voting by Mail and Threat of a Civil War

Senate Does Right for a Change

Okay, the Senate’s Intelligence Committee (bi-partisan but nevertheless Republican-run, remember that) has finally come out and said that there was indeed collusion between the 2016 Republican presidential campaign and Russia, and that when asked about it, Donald J. Trump answered with a less than a truthful answer.  They didn't come out and say he lied, but came pretty darn close.

This was pretty much the same conclusion at which the Mueller Report arrived, but hesitated to state, mincing its words because it doubted that the President could be accused of anything so awful, leaving that to Congress.

Barr

The President’s lackey and apologist, William Barr, Attorney-General and ostensibly the people’s lawyer, not the President’s (although he fails to understand this), saw fit to clarify the Mueller Report, confusing its conclusions and whitewashing it.  Now, it is unmistakable that the Senate Intelligence Committee is saying that the Mueller Report was correct and that Barr was wrong.

Does anyone in government or in the media, regardless of party, see any reason why Barr’s resignation is not already in the hands of the President and both Houses of Congress?  This scoundrel belongs in jail along with Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, both convicted felons for lying about that same collusion to the FBI, but through the good graces of the President, currently able to remain in their homes.

Guantanamo

As I have suggested on numerous occasions, the government should provide such felons, Barr included when he is convicted, with beachfront villas at Guantanamo Bay. 

*  *  *

 Is Another Civil War Possible?

Bull Run -  First Battle of Civil War

We are on the brink of another Civil War in this country.  The results of the November election will push us closer to it, regardless of the result.

A Democratic victory, giving them the Senate and the White House, will anger the 40% of Americans who, in my opinion, are still gullible and ignorant enough to believe Trumpublican lies and prefer an autocracy or oligarchy (your choice) to democracy.  And the President has even vaguely intimated that should he lose, he will accuse the winners of some kind of fraud and refuse to leave office.  This 40% encompasses the radical right including armed militias, Second Amendment supporters, anti-LGBTQ bigots, racists, conspiracy-believers and those who are still fighting our original Civil War.  They will not go quietly away, content to fight for statues of Confederate generals. 

Ensuing disorder might even go so far as to require the National Guard to restore order, and one can question who commands the National Guard anyway, the States’ governors or the Federal armed forces.  The approximately ten weeks between Election Day and Inauguration Day will be very interesting.

But on the other hand, a Republican victory leaving Trump in the White House with a Republican Senate will arouse the left-wing, progressive community to a level far in excess of the nationwide demonstrations, sometimes bordering on violence, which took place earlier this year motivated by the police murder of George Floyd. They may not have militias but as the BLM movement illustrates, the forces on the left have enormous power and the potential for violence.  They are no longer married to the non-violent behavior which Martin Luther King learned from Mahatma Ghandi and which dominated protests until recently.

Martin Luather King, disciple
of Mahatma Ghandi

We also should not ignore the history of assassinations in our country.  Clearly, some were carried out or attempted by the insane but others had political motivation.   We cannot ignore the fates of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, John Kennedy as well as unsuccessful attempts on the lives of Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and the killings of 
Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy cannot be ignored either.  The potential for such internal violence in the United States is always present. Few other nations can match it.  Throw that into the mix and we are ready for another First Battle of Bull Run (or as some Southerners still call it, First Manassas, if you prefer).

JL

                                                           

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Postal Service Saved ... Apparently

The Postal Service cutbacks seem to be reversed and under control because they clearly crossed the line which thinking Americans, even Republicans, saw as impenetrable.  Trump and his cohorts got the message that the Post Office was off limits as a tool of the President to discourage "voting by mail."   Some will still be discouraged from voting by mail, but Congress and the American public spoke up and the coward in the White House chose to go out and play some golf, I suppose.  Advice:  Vote by mail, but do it as early as possible!

Russia is Watching and Listening ... as We Try to Get Rid of our Lawbreaker-in-Chief

Getting Rid of our Lawbreaker-in-Chief

Lawbreaker-in-Chief

The Republican majority in the Senate has enabled President Trump to violate provisions of the Constitution and innumerable laws which are on the books.  They will do nothing about it because they need his base to survive primary challenges and in closely-contested States (and Congressional districts as well where this also applies), to try to eke out wins on Election Day.

Normally, an Attorney General who recognized that he works for the country and not for the President would be in the forefront of litigation in these situations, but Bill Barr sees his office as one to protect the President, and will do nothing.  “Bill, *GOD will get you for that.”

The Attorneys-General of many States are already, or will be, taking action to remedy this situation, and will probably ultimately prevail in the Courts, but that will take years.  That is the way Trump has finessed much litigation against him over the years, drowning his attackers in legal hogwash, until they relent, usually running out of money, or statutes of limitations run out.

That is why the upcoming general election is vitally important in terms of turning the Senate Democratic and removing Trump from the White House.  Because of the Covid19 pandemic, “voting by mail” will be crucial in that election and that is why the President attacks that process daily, along with the United States Postal Service, whose effective operation is vital to “voting by mail.”  This action alone should be enough to justify litigation against Trump once he is defeated in November and a new Administration comes into power with the ability to recognize a lawbreaker and treat him accordingly. 

Trump will be dishing out distractions from now until the election, in terms of the Israeli-UAE deal and baseless “birther” attacks on Kamala Harris, and more yet to come regarding Hunter Biden and the motivation into the investigation of Trumpublican links with and support by Russia.  Attacks on the media will continue too.  Trump and his Republican enablers will stop at nothing to turn attention from his malfeasance.  It does not bother them to lie.

At this point, my advice for voters interested in saving the United States from this “wanna be” despot is to vote by mail, but at least three weeks prior to the election, and checking online as to the receipt of their ballot where possible, and if voting “early” in person, to do that as early as possible. Trump will attempt to nullify both kinds of votes, or at least lose them or delay their inclusion in the final tally.  Voters must be sure, however they vote, to “cross their ‘t’s and dot their ‘I’s.  

Republican scoundrels will stop at nothing to win this election and keep Trump and many of his enablers, including Attorney General Barr, from facing the risk of incarceration for the laws they have violated.   The oath government officials take is one of primary loyalty to the Constitution, and not to the President.  This also applies to the military which might be the nation’s salvation, if all else fails.

*Good Old Democrats

JL

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The Russians are Watching 

For all those gullible or ignorant enough to believe Trumpublican lies about there not being Russian attempts to influence our elections by infiltrating the internet, here is some first-hand evidence to the contrary.  Google Blogspot, through which this blog is distributed, keeps track of those who access it.  Here are the figures, by countries, for the past seven days:

United States	217
Russia	69
Germany	7
Portugal	2
Romania	2
Belgium	1
Switzerland	1
Finland	1
France	1
Israel	1

Our intelligence agencies, not Vladimir Putin’s, tell us that the Russians watch our Internet closely, looking for weak spots where they can in some way, shape or form, insert their propaganda, usually attempting to sow discord among Trump’s opponents and making him look good.   

Russia's Internet Research Agency's HQ
in Saint Petersburg

This blog is included in where they spread their net, looking for likely avenues to contaminate.  Note the number of times during the past week they have checked out www.jackspotpourri.com!   

Why else would they stop by this blog that many times in a week?  They have not succeeded in their efforts with this blog, but I am sure their message is there, getting through chiefly on right-wing blogs which sop up pro-Trump lies, a specialty of the Russian Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg.  These lies end up in the pronouncements of those who dream of conspiracies by the "deep State" and work they way toward undeserved credibility by being passed on through semi-legitimate media such as FoxNews, or even enunciated by Trump before microphones.

(And don't tell me those 69 "hits" were just plain ordinary Russian citizens!  The lesser numbers for other countries mentioned were probably just that, but the number of the Russian "hits" almost guarantees government involvement.) 

JL