VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

In the 2024 presidential election…

Like your life depends upon it…

It does!

The wheels of justice turn slowly… especially for the rich and powerful.  They can extend their day of being held to account for, what seems like, an endless period of time.  Notwithstanding, in these cases – finally, the color of the skin, gender, ethnicity, religion, or whether one is straight or gay, does not matter: Show me the money!  Show me the money is the demand from all those who defend these people from any mess they get themselves into.  Sure, those who defend them will tell you that morals are not a consideration where these kinds of things are concerned.  This is America, they say, and everyone has the right to a defense; not only to a – emphasis on “a” – defense, but the best defense… that money can buy!  That is our system of justice!

So, you see, one can’t automatically label these highfalutin lawyers as being without morals and principles.  But it is reasonable to speculate that 99.999 percent of them do not get involved with poor folks 99.999 percent of the time.  Can’t you just see them kicked back in their big offices in their big expensive chairs, behind their big expensive desks, smoking their big expensive cigars, drinking their top-of-the-line whiskey while wearing their super expensive suits?  But again, that is the American justice system.

On life’s spectrum, everyone would like to experience the good life: Some would love to be exactly like these lawyers while others would be perfectly content to land anywhere along that “good life” spectrum… as long as it is the “good life.”  Unfortunately, far too many of the rich and powerful seem to fear that if ordinary Americans can have an ordinary, relatively successful, and happy life somewhere along this “good life” spectrum, that it will somehow negatively impact them.  Therefore, they do everything in their power to deny these Americans that life.

My intension is not to motivate any American to be envious of those who have tremendous wealth but, instead, to point out that there is a great flaw in the American justice system and flaws in numerous other systems in this great country called America: Our leaders and the preponderance of the American people are working to fix this!  But we do not stand the slightest chance of fixing this if we opt to change America from a democracy to an autocracy: if we opt to elect Donald J. Trump to again be The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America!  There is absolutely nothing wrong with each American standing on their principles and voting their conscience.  However, if America is to remain America as we now know her, the Constitution must be factored in and those thoughts and principles, of necessity, must be mitigated by this great document that the founding fathers of America toiled to create.

Despite all our differences – large or small, making easy things difficult – and fighting back-and-forth among ourselves; as some of our dedicated leaders, Democrats and Republicans have said, we have much more in common than we have that divide us.  It is obvious that there are many Americans who support Donald Trump.  They truly believe that he is the person that America needs to lead her right now.  Those are the people that I am appealing to.

I know that most of you are aware that Trump is an incessant liar who has said that he wants to be a dictator.  I know that you are aware that he loves strongmen, identifies with them, and lavishes them with praise.  I know that you know that in the closing stretch of this election that he is, no matter the reason, stirring up divisiveness and hate and gaslighting the American people.  And it is reasonable to assume that despite all this you will vote for him.

I believe that most of you are standing on your principles and beliefs.  My plea to you is that you will factor the Constitution into your thinking and vote, instead for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to be the next President and Vice President of the United States.  It is important that you recognize that this is a plea and not an admonishment.

You can adhere to this plea in good conscience and with the thought in mind that you will keep your power and voice in determining the direction in which America should travel.  You will keep your power and voice via a new Republican Party that will be built on the foundation of the previous Republican Party that existed before Trump wrenched it away from the true Grand Ole Party that was dedicated to the American people, the Constitution, and – not “making America great again” – but keeping her great by way of fighting for the conservative principles that this Party was founded on and participating in mapping the direction that America should travel to the benefit of all the American people.

This phoenix – led by solid, principled Republican leaders who love America, value the rule of law, respect the Constitution, and believe that their oath of office is sacred and has meaning, is more likely to rise if it has your support.  It is possible that this can happen without you but it is better if it happens with you.  It is better if it happens with you because, with you, it will be better for America.  There are only seven days left for you to make your decision as to whether to save the American democracy; to save America!  Make the right decision and you will help to preserve the American way of life while retaining your opportunity to live and fight another day as a loyal, dedicated Republican.  Make the wrong decision and…

Time is of the essence if Americans are to come together to successfully complete this daunting task we are faced with.  But in times of challenge and controversy, Americans have always been up to the challenge and have remained in the fight.  And in the words of Vice President Kamala Harris, the next president of the Unites States of America; “…and when we fight, we win”!

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!  May God bless the United States of America!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

In the 2024 presidential election…

Like your life depends upon it…

It does!

There are only 21 days left until election day 2024 and coward Republicans are giving it everything they have got to die, at least, a thousand-and-one times.  They want to show the entire world that Shakespear came up short on his “…cowards die a thousand times” thing.  And they are likely thinking, 21 days is more than enough for us to claim the record: Shakespeare ain’t got nothin’ on us!

Some of these cowards are truly corrupt, some just want to retain their job (a.k.a., in this case, power), some are conflicted and unable to break the cycle of their ambivalence, and all of them are scared sh**less of Trump.  Then, there are those who are simply lovable reprobates.  They have proven that they are not scared sh**less of Trump by virtue of some of the things they have said about him and/or done to prevent him from winning the 2024 election.

Still, they just cannot bring themselves to vote against him due to their loyalty to Party; after all, Trump is a Republican.  Enter Senator Mitt Romney.  Is Senator Romney a lovable reprobate?  If he is, there are at least a few other coward Republicans like him.  Sorry, Mitt Romney supporters – I like Mitt Romney too and believe that he is a good person – but I must list him among the cowards.  I must do this because, unlike Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, no matter the reason, he did not stand on principles and uphold his oath of office; even when democracy is at stake!

I said that there are a few other Republicans like Mitt Romney but there is only one that immediately comes to mind and that is – sorry, fellow Democrats who might think that I have completely lost my mind, former president George W. Bush.  Good Ole “W.”  Fromer president Bush has remained completely silent and off the radar.  With democracy at stake, his voice, and the voices of other Republicans like him, would be of invaluable help in the push to get Kamala Harris and Tim Walz elected and assure that America remains a democracy!

Unfortunately, even though Trump is openly threatening to take retribution against his political enemies, unfriendly news media, and virtually anyone who has criticized him and failed to bend the knee, kiss his…ring and yield to his will, these Republicans have failed to do all that they can do legally and without violence to help assure that he will never be president or hold any public office again!  I specifically say “legally and without violence” because Trump is already widely publicly projecting what his campaign is doing and what he is saying that he will do if elected, onto Democrats.

The race is tight!  To be frank, everyone knows that if the situation were reversed and Donald J. Trump had everything going for him that Vice President Kamala Harris has going for her and Vice President Harris had everything going against her that Trump has going against him, it would be as if the word “tight,” or any synonym did not exist.  For all intent and purposes, the 2024 race for president would already be over before even one ballot was counted.

Why?  We all know that misogyny and racism still exist in America.  And we also know that, just beneath the surface, it is prevalent.  While right now it is bubbling just beneath the surface and remains there because the American people, with the assistance of the American government, have worked and continue to work to keep it there, Trump is stirring it up for his personal benefit.  He is doing this because even though he is benefiting from it as is, his political calculus seems to be that it will work even better for him if it is on the surface and agitated by his harsh rhetoric.

To the lovable reprobates; I get it.  And from what I have observed, there are plenty of other Democrats who get it.  You want to “keep your voice” in the Republican Party.  Hopefully, you mean the new Republican Party that can possibly be built on the foundation of the pre-Trump Republican Party and not Trump’s Party.  Because in Trump’s Party, there is no doubt that you would have no voice.

I would love to see a post-Trump Republican Party, headed by Liz Cheney – since she was the first to stand on her principles, step forward, uphold her oath of office and stand up to Trump and say no – that would do battle with Democrats.  Because, headed by Liz Cheney and filled with the other strong Republican women…and trickle of men that stood with her, Americans could be sure that there would be civil discourse to resolve problems, without violence, that would be based on sound principles and the Constitution.

America needs a healthy two-party system of government.  Of course, the lovable reprobates should have a voice in this new Republican Party and the building of it.  But, because of their wavering resolve “at their times of challenge and controversy,” their voices would be suspect…as one would expect that they should be.

A return to a healthy two-Party system will be great in the future.  However, emphasis must be placed on “in the future.”  Americans must deal with our current situation now!  And right now, America is faced with a binary decision.  In 21 days, the American people must decide whether we want to remain a democracy or become an authoritarian country that is ruled by a dictator.

If we make the decision to elect Trump as president, there will be no future with the possibility to rebuild the Republican Party and a healthy two-Party system.  That system cannot exist in an authoritarian country; at least, it cannot have a meaningful existence.  Accordingly, I remind all Americans again that Donald Trump has said that he wants to be a dictator: We should take him at his word.  Although he has tried to distance himself from it lately, the complete plan as to how he would rule going forward if he is elected is laid out in “Project 2025.”  We have the power to prevent this from happening with our collective vote!

So, always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

In the 2024 presidential election…

Like your life depends upon it…

It does!

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is pathetic!  He is second in line to the presidency in the presidential order of succession and he couldn’t even bring himself to denounce the rhetoric of Donald J. Trump and members of his family who blamed Democrats for the attempted assignation of Trump.  His response to the anchor of This Week, George Stephanopoulos, when asked if he supports the following statement by Eric Trump was contemptable: “They impeached him twice.  They went after his Supreme Court justices.  They weaponized the entire legal system.. And then, guys, they tried to kill him.  They tried to kill him, And it’s because the Democratic Party, they can’t do anything right.”

According to ABC News, here is Speaker Johnson’s response.  “I think what they’re alluding to is what we’ve all been saying.  They have got to turn the rhetoric down.”  [He added, I] “didn’t hear all the comments.”  He Continued, “For years now the leading Democrats in this country, the – the highly – highest elected officials and the current nominee for president have gone out and said that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. … It’s absolute nonsense.  And they have incited dangerous people to do dangerous things.” …”We need to all look at these things in full context.  What they’re referring to, though, is the absolute open attacks that have been engaged by Democrats against President Trump since the day he came down that golden escalator in 2016.”

The This Week anchor continued to push back, ‘“I don’t know what more context you need, Stephanopoulos responded, reading the quote from Eric Trump.”’  According to ABC News Speaker Johnson then responded, “George, I’m not going to parse the language what people say at rallies.  I could give you pages and pages of crazy comments by the leading Democrats in this country.  That’s not what this is about.  We have talked about the greatest collection of challenges that this country is facing, probably since World War II, maybe the Civil War.”

There were a few more pitiful excuses that Speaker Johnson offered in his response but the gist of what he said is captured in the preceding paragraphs.  To give ABC News full credit, virtually all the information in those paragraphs, beginning with the Eric Trump quote, was taken verbatim from their recent article entitled, “Johnson punts on GOP rhetoric, 2020 election outcome.”  I chose this method of presenting this information to you so that you would get the full impact of how Speaker Johnson, the person who is second in line to the presidency, responded in the event that you did not read this ABC News article.  His response was ludicrous!

If you are not familiar with Speaker Johnson and his record in congress, especially over the past few years, you should become familiar with them.  They will help you to better understand why you should be sure to vote in the 2024 presidential election and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.  Democrats need a sweep to be sure that America will remain a Democracy.  Trump does not hide the fact that he admires and respects strongmen around the world and he has said that he wants to be a dictator… but just for one day.  He has talked about suspending the Constitution and, even now, talks about giving police officers “one day, just one day” to be “rough, real rough” with those who he believes have broken the law.  And based on Trump’s record for lying, the “one day” rhetoric is meaningless.  It is pablum and gaslighting of the American people at its worst!

The Republican Party as we know it no longer exists.  It has been taken over root and branch by Donald J. Trump and is now the Trump Republican Party.  There are members in Trump’s Republican Party who pine for the pre-Trump Grand Ole Party and, though they know that it no longer exists, use it as cover for their cowardice as leaders.  They say things like “I want to keep my voice in the Republican Party” – one can only hope that they are referring to the pre-Trump Party, and provide other pitiful excuses even though the American democracy is at stake.

These Republicans are spineless and travel in whichever direction the wind or current carries them.  Being spineless does not necessarily mean that they are bad people.  But it does mean that they should not be leaders!  True leadership roles have no room for those with mollusk characteristics that will allow them the ability to ooze through the slightest crack in the wall then morph into any convenient shape when on the other side of it!  America needs leaders who “in times of challenge and controversy” stand on principles and truth and uphold the Constitution, not those who exhibit mollusk characteristics during these times to manufacture “moments of comfort and convenience for themselves!”

Donald J. Trump, the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, has Republicans froze with fear.  A few brave Republicans, a trickle of men but mostly women, have avoided this fear.  They have stepped up, stood up to Trump and said, no more; we will no longer tolerate your lies, hate-mongering and distain for the truth and rule of law.  These Republicans have resolved to work with Democrats to save democracy while looking forward toward the future and the opportunity to forge a healthy Republication Party built on the foundation of the one that they lost to Trump:  To establish a new Republican Party that will foster, once again, a healthy two-Party system.

To those Republicans who are cowards who put forward excuses to not stand up to Donald Trump and failed to stand with these brave Republican women… and trickle of men; shame on you!  Election day 2024 is less than a month away but there is still time for you to step up, uphold your oath of office, and be the leaders that you were elected to be.  So, I leave you with these words of Thomas Payne to encourage you and inspire you to do the right thing.  “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

We, the American people, have the power to remove those from office who are unwilling to undergo the fatigue of supporting freedom; that power is in each person’s vote!  Do not waste your power by not getting out to vote, not picking one of the candidates for president on the ballot, writing in a name for president, or leaving the top of the ticket blank!  Every vote matters!  So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line