The Republican Party has gone completely crazy; they are unhinged.  In addition to all the scandals that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is already involved in, SCOTUS Samuel Alito (a member of the SCOTUS conservative supermajority) is now embroiled in a scandal that involves flying an upside-down American flag at one of his homes and an “Appeal to heaven” flag at another.  Both these flags were carried by those involved in the January 6, 2021 insurrection/riot and are considered by many Americans to indicate support of the January 6^th insurrection/riot and those that participated in it.  Yet, Justice Samuel Alito refuses to recuse from cases that will come before the SCOTUS related to the January 6^th event, Trump’s request for complete presidential immunity, or any other cases involving Trump and his legal woes.

In addition to the SCOTUS, Republicans in the Senate and House have gone all-in in support of Trump.  Some of them, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, went to New York and appeared in court during Trump’s Hush Money Trial and stood behind him in support as he spoke to the press during pauses in the trial for breaks.  Since then, many of them – again, including Speaker Johnson, have referred to the trial as rigged, a sham, a disgrace, and used other denigrating terms to describe it.  Speaker Mike Johnson even went so far as to say that the SCOTUS should get involved and overturn Trump’s conviction, in which he was unanimously convicted of all 34 counts against him by a jury of his peers.  Imagine that; Speaker Mike Johnson, the self-proclaimed Constitutionalist who is second in line to the presidency and who is supposed to represent all Americans, is trashing the American justice system, and conducting himself like a Trump defense attorney!

Once again Republicans have circled the wagons around one of their own.  It does not matter that he has publicly stated that he will be a dictator if he is elected to be president again.  It does not matter that he is a convicted felon.  Trump is their man; he is their presumptive presidential nominee.  Virtually every Republican in the United States congress is supporting Trump whether overtly, covertly, or by their deafening silence!  Not only are these Republicans supporting Trump but most Republicans throughout America are supporting him.  Big business has lined up behind Trump and is holding fundraising activities to help him get elected.  Most everyday Americans, and without doubt, these elected officials and business executives know that Trump is not fit for office.  Notwithstanding, their lust for dominance, money, and power compels them to disregard Trump’s true nature and his existential threat to democracy.  As a result, they view the concerns by many Americans that Trump is unfit for office as an overreaction and discount the real damage that he is currently doing to the country and the greater damage that he can do if he is elected president.  This is shortsighted, frightening, shameful, and disappointing.

Many of Trump’s sycophants and other supporters are encouraging rich Republicans to “come off the sidelines and get involved,” encouraging Republican congressmen to withhold funding from prosecutors conducting the Trump trials, encouraging Republican Attorneys General throughout America to investigate Democrats and do anything else that they can to “defeat these [Democratic] communist.”  Some congressmen are even threating to impede Biden appointments as a protest to Trump’s conviction.  In the meantime while all of this is going on – despite his gag orders, Trump is busy calling Special Counsel Jack Smith a “deranged dumb son-of-a-bitch” calling DOJ employees bastards, and spouting lies and denigrating nearly everyone else who is not pro-Trump in his upcoming trials and the one trial in which he was recently found guilty on all counts, Rudy Giuliani is calling District Attorney Fani Willis a “Ho”, and Representative Byron Donald is telling Black Americans how much better off we were under Jim Crow than we are now.  The amazing part about all of this is that no one in the Republican Party is pushing back on any of this.  They are completely silent!

The 2024 election is a little less than five months from now and the Republican Party is going full speed ahead in their effort to get Trump elected president.  Trump visited capitol hill Thursday and his congressional toadies were there to welcome and support him.  Many of us are asking ourselves, what have we come to as Americans and how could things have ever come down to this?!  My thoughts?  Complacency: we have taken our freedom for granted for so long that we have forgotten that freedom is not free!  It comes at a price and we must fight for it every day by regularly and faithfully performing our civic duty.  That does not only mean that we must vote, but we have a responsibility to stay informed and keep abreast of what is going on in politics whether we like it or not.  To invoke a currently popular slogan, when we see something, we must say something!  We must say it to our elected officials and keep pressure on them to do something about it.  If we do not do this or wait too long before doing it, we will end up in a situation like the one that America is in now.  Hopefully, our current situation is only temporary, one that can be reversed, and one that we will learn from.

We have a two-party system of government in America.  Because we live in a democracy, we have a right to expect reasonable discourse to occur between the two political parties in order to solve America’s problems and foster effective governance based on the will of the majority.  We are a country that believes in the rule of law.  That is key in a democracy and what makes it function effectively.  If we discard the rule of law, work in any way to rig the system in favor of minority rule, trash our justice system and refuse to accept the decisions made that are based upon the rule of law and our overall democratic system, then we are no longer a democracy; we just have not formerly established and declared that we are something other than that!  Right now, only one Party is conducting itself like a Party that believes in democracy and the rule of law.  Only one Party is fighting to preserve those precious, irreplaceable things that are the foundation of a democratic system of government.  That Party is the Democratic Party.  Do you want a democracy or something else?  The choice is a binary one.

Again, the 2024 presidential election is a little less than five months away; you must choose.  If you want a Democracy, the Democratic Party is your only logical choice.  Yes, the Republican Party says that it is the Party of the rule of law and it is their Party that wants to save America and the American democracy.  But, in the words of Rachael Maddow, “watch what they do, not what they say.”  Keep a close eye on what Republicans have been doing since Trump’s one term as president and what they are doing now; not what they have been saying since then and are now saying!  To save our democracy, you must do your civic duty and 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

A lot has been said lately about how great the stock market is doing so, to many, this means that the American economy is doing great.  News flash for those who do not already know it, the stock market is not the be-all-end-all that says that the economy is doing great.  It is a part of what determines the health of the American economy but it is certainly not the be-all-end-all indicator of how the economy is doing.  Why?  Because the top 1% of Americans own 49% of stock, the top 10% own 89%, and the bottom 50% of Americans own only 1% of stock.  So, the top 1% of Americans soar, the top 9% glide, and the bottom 50%…well, they do whatever.  In the meantime, the economy just motors along until it finds its way.

After this very brief lesson on the American economy, I cannot resist adding a lamentation on how overall wealth distribution impacts on the everyday American.  I am sure that somewhere along the way during the more than a decade that I have been posting articles to this blog, I must have lamented the special attention paid to the rich by the American government and the waning attention, if not complete neglect, paid to everyday Americans.  With the downward spiral that our government is in right now, I am compelled to again express my frustration with its disparate treatment of everyday Americans when compared to that of the top 10 percent of them.

It is obvious that the rich are given greater consideration than are everyday Americans when it comes to how our government and its great institutions treat one group versus the other.  It is likely that everyday Americans are treated differently from our rich counterparts because the rich have greater access, just one of their perks, to those in power; our elected officials.  They constantly have the ears of these officials readily available to them through their highly paid lobbyists; lobbyists who likely constantly remind these politicians, just by virtue of being there, who their big money contributors are.  Although everyday Americans know that the rich are given special treatment, we have disregarded it: we know that we cannot do anything about it because we have tried and failed so many times in the past.

Everyday Americans use to feel some small degree of comfort because we had, at least, a few senators and representatives advocating for us.  We had a few government organizations in place that were fighting for us.  Even if they were not successful in closing that gap of special treatment, they were continuing to fight to keep it from widening.  They were relentless in their mitigation on behalf of the larger percentage of Americans who are the target of this disparate treatment despite that there are no lobbyists constantly pressuring them on our behalf.  They kept a bright light shining on this unfair practice.  But those days are long gone.  There is no longer any light that illuminates what these money hungry, power-seeking politicians are doing.  Instead, now, the American congress is too busy with the Republicans’ agenda of retribution and fighting about petty issues.  Further, the Republican half of our two-party system of government acts as if it no longer wants America to be a democracy but prefers it to be an autocracy!

To be clear, what prompted me to once again bemoan how the American government is treating the rich and powerful special while virtually ignoring the needs of everyday Americans is the whining of insurance companies about their declining profit margins.  They are whining about how much money they are losing as the result of the claims that they are paying out.  Everything is fine as long as Americans are paying in money and not making any claims: free money!  Yes, that’s great; for insurance companies.  First, they go to the government and talk it into mandating that everyone has insurance on everything from health insurance to car insurance to home insurance and more, then they complain when they must pay out claims?!  But I am getting sidetracked.

The particular insurance company, which is a subsidiary of CVS, that brought on my need to vent my frustration is Aetna.  According to an article in Newsweek, CVS is concerned about its profit margin and has said that it plans to cut 10% of its Aetna health insurance plans in an effort to prioritize its profit margin.  I do not know what the expected profit margin of a health insurance company is but what I do know is this.  CVS paid more than $63,459,882 in salaries and other compensation to five of its executives in 2023.  The total compensation figure for each of these executives likely include stock and stock options.  And I have no doubt that these are not the only CVS executives that are being paid hefty salaries and receiving “other” compensation.

Like any public owned company, CVS needs to pay its stockholders a reasonable return on their investment but maybe they would be better able to do this if they gave their executives less in salaries and other compensation – which again, likely includes stock and stock options.  But, in large part, because the American congress is dysfunctional, corporations are taking full advantage of the situation.  Corporate greed is alive and well and most American companies are fighting hard to make sure that their hand also is in the average Americans’ pocket before we are stretched to our limit and it is too late for them to get their fair share of the plunders.

The bottom line is that these corporations that are swamped in corporate greed need to take a deep breath, take a step back, see the big picture and closely examine it.  The odds are that they will find that everyday Americans are already stretched to their limit.  And even if these billionaires and multi-millionaires who own these corporations find that they cannot bring themselves under control out of (gulp) compassion and empathy for their fellow Americans plight; surely, they will be able to do it when they consider that persisting in gouging them will ultimately bring about the demise of their own lifestyle.  Surely, they will stop gouging them when they recognize that their fellow Americans need to always have a reasonable amount of money to purchase their already overpriced products and goods and that this will not even put a dent in their lavish billionaire and multi-millionaire lifestyles.

Will they do this?  Who knows; we can only hope that they will.  Just like the truth is not agreeable to a liar, perhaps empathy and even the thought of sharing is incomprehensible to the super rich no matter the potential threat to their existing lifestyle.  Most of them are probably far too busy contemplating how to keep what they have and add to it while always fearing that some other super rich person might be successful at taking it away from them.  Be that as it may, one can always hope, right?

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

All indications are that members of the Republican Party have forsaken their oath of office and turned against the American democracy.  Some Republican members of congress are even publicly repeating Russian propaganda on the House floor.  Further, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to fight hard to prevent America from providing additional aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.  She threatened to force a vote on a move to vacate if Speaker Mike Johnson allowed the $95 billion bipartisan bill to be brought to vote that includes aid to Ukraine.

Speaker Johnson allowed a vote on this bill and it passed.  True to her threat, Representative Green forced a vote to remove Speaker Johnson.  It failed miserably by a vote of 359-43.  Although Representative Greene’s attempt to remove the Speaker was unsuccessful, these shenanigans by House Republicans should be of grave concern to all Americans who value democracy and America’s role as the world leader in fostering and preserving it.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump has managed to normalize things like what House Republicans are doing and many other things that, before his tenure as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and his time since leaving office, would have set the hair on fire of all Americans regardless of their Party affiliation.  But that is not the case now and that is a huge problem for America if we intend to remain a democracy.

Rachael Maddow said on her May 6^th show this week that democracy is mortal; it can be killed.  And she is right.  She said this in her continued effort to help Americans focus on the existential threat to democracy now; and to do something about it now!  She reemphasized that this is not some kind of future threat that we will be faced with but it is already happening.

However, because we have grown numb to Donald Trump’s behavior despite how outrageous, ridiculous, and unacceptable it might be; and have grown weary of trying to correct it so wink at it, we are abetting him in normalizing it.  This is exactly what America does not need right now.  She does not need those of us who want to keep America a democracy to grow weary and quit.  But it is what Donald Trump and the Trump led Republican Party need and exactly what they want.  And they seem to be already getting it when we consider what is happening in real time in the American judicial system.

The United States Supreme Court is considering Trump’s preposterous presidential immunity appeal while slow walking a decision on it, Judge Aileen Cannon has postponed the Trump documents trial indefinitely, and an appellate court in Georgia has agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s decision to not Remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the RICO case he is facing.  And as if all of this was not enough, the Republican Party itself is doing everything that it can to help Trump avoid being held to account and to put him back in the White House.

I explained to readers in articles about Trump that I posted to this website in April, why they should thoroughly scrutinize Trump’s actions and behavior while he was in office – especially leading up to and during the January 6, 2021 insurrection, how he has continued to conduct himself since he left office, and stated that he does not deserve their vote and they should not vote for him.  I also encouraged them to get out and vote in the 2024 election despite all obstacles that they are sure to face.

I reiterate that encouragement in this article because Republicans are obviously putting forth every effort to make it harder to vote: And they are not hiding the fact that they are doing it.  This Trump led Republican Party know that they have done many things under Trump’s leadership that goes against what the majority of Americans want from our government.  They know that this will make it even harder for them to win in the 2024 election and so, therefore, are trying to manufacture an advantage that will help them to win.

Key among the things that Republicans have done is the overturning of Roe v. Wade.  This decision by the Supreme Court conservative supermajority took away rights that women had held for nearly 50 years and, in essence, placed a politician in the room with women and their doctors as regards personal healthcare issues.  It also elicited not-so-veiled threats from some of those same conservatives to take away other rights from, not just women but all Americans.

What is happening in America now is not what Americans want from our government.  We do not want a government by the minority, let alone one person.  Those politicians, whether they wear suits or long black robes, who envision a government under Trump as one that will be worth having because it will allow them to remain in their positions and retain their power are misguided and delusional.  It might allow them to remain in their positions; and that is only as long as they are completely loyal to him and agree with all his policies and everything that he says, but they will not retain their power.  All power will ultimately rest in Trump’s hands and all politicians, again, whether they wear suits or long black robes, will simply be figureheads.

In the end, all of those who are currently humiliating themselves in their effort to ingratiate themselves to Trump but have not yet ended up empty vessels on Trump’s human pile of lost principles, lost dignity, lost honorable legacy, and depleted burned-out souls will ultimately end up there.  No one who willingly enters Trump’s orbit survives; at least, that has not happened yet.  As cynical as this sounds, it is necessary to jolt those off the dime who still believe that someone will come to our rescue.  They will not.

It is on us now and we must save ourselves.  And we can do that if we remain steadfast and continue to fight all the way through the 2024 election.  And if Trump does not win and he and his sycophants cry foul after the election claiming that it was rigged, we must continue to fight until the rot that has penetrated and infected the American government and institutions is isolated and removed.  Only then can we cautiously relax and enjoy some degree of trust in our elected officials to faithfully conduct the business of the American people.  Even then we must remain alert and maintain honorable and trustworthy sentries on the wall of democracy.

Freedom is not free; we must fight for it!  Far too many of us Americans take our democracy and the rights and freedom that we have to the pursuit of happiness for granted.  We have been given what could very well be our only warning to prevent the fall of democracy: the fall of the United States of America; Trump made sure of that.  We must head that warning!  For whom does the bell toll?  It tolls for all Americans.  The need for all Americans to fight for democracy with everything that we have now cannot be overemphasized.  We can fight not only with our vote in the 2024 election, but by getting engaged and staying engaged in the democratic process by always performing our civic duty.

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

Where to start… my, that is a tough one.  Let’s try starting with the fact that there are, at least, two United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) justices who should not even be hearing this presidential immunity argument; they should have recused themselves.  Surely that great new ethics code that the SCOTUS just put together to apply to themselves so that they will be just like all the other courts in the country should have come in handy here.

Meaning, that since these two justices refused to recuse themselves from hearing this argument, Chief Justice John Roberts should have used that brand new shiny ethics code to force them to recuse.  Surely threatening them with that baby would have caused them to recuse!  Oh yeah – I forgot; it doesn’t have any teeth.  It reads more like a surprise grab-bag of suggestions rather than a meaningful ethics code with consequences if any justice should not take their responsibility to recuse seriously.

Yeah, I think that is a good place to start because all the SCOTUS justices heard this presidential immunity argument, which – by the way, they will not decide on until June if they follow their current schedule.  Ethics be damned, right?!  It appears that, under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts and with a conservative supermajority, this court feels that the Republican conservative agenda takes precedence over all; including the American democracy.

And, based on the way that things played out during the hearing, it also appears that those justices appointed by Donald J. Trump, the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, along with the two justices that should have recused are all-in for helping Trump in any legal way that they possibly can.  One would think that these justices would have at least some concern about being fair and the appearance of being unfair.  And if not that, they would be concerned about their legacy and how their children and grandchildren will view them and remember them as a result of them taking part in disrespecting and then destroying this great American institution.  Well, they do not.

Lamentation.  Ah, the Supreme Court of the United States; this great institution that is the highest court in the land.  This institution that was once awe-inspiring for all Americans is now looked upon by many Americans in the same way that they look upon any other political institution that is subject to partisan bias.  The only real difference in their minds is that it is occupied by politicians in long black robes.  These feelings are reflected in the polls; the SCOTUS is at nearly its lowest level in its history when measured by how it is viewed by the American public.

This Supreme Court – again, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, seems to be oblivious to the damage that they are doing to it.  Chief Justice Roberts either can’t or is reluctant to correct its course to save it.  Based on the questions that the SCOTUS conservative justices asked during argument and their unrelenting determination to focus on hypotheticals to prevent future occurrences like that which occurred on January 6, 2021 rather than focusing on what actually happened on January 6, 2021, they are continuing to lean toward helping Trump to avoid being held to account.  The statement by Justice Neil Gorsuch that “we are writing a rule for the ages” is not a rule that is being written for the benefit of all presidents; it is being written for the benefit of Donal J. Trump, the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.

It seems that instead of embracing the once awe-inspiring aspect of the SCOTUS, too many SCOTUS justices have chosen to embrace Trump and the conservative Republican agenda instead.  These justices have no qualms about their partisan bias and now, they are no longer pretending that they do.  They are no longer hiding it regardless of what the American people think about the SCOTUS and regularly express when they are polled on their thoughts about this once awe-inspiring institution.  After all, their jobs are secured by a lifetime appointment.  And under these circumstances, coming out must be truly liberating for them and not at all frightening.

The expression that everything that Trump touches turns to s**t must apply to all politicians whether they wear suits or long black robes.  That certainly does appear to be the case for the SCOTUS since it entered Trump’s orbit.  To be fair, the SCOTUS was already doing a slow burn downward spiral; Trump just did what comes naturally to him, he poured fuel on the fire.  And now, all Americans must face the facts and recognize that as James Carville said, nobody is coming to rescue us, we have to do it ourselves.

And there are those; lawyers and political activists, who are already fighting behind the scenes to block or reverse the blockades – whether they are laws, gerrymandering, or intimidation tactics – that Republicans are putting forward in their effort to make it harder for Americans to vote.  But if democracy is to survive this well-organized and well-funded onslaught that Republicans are perpetrating against the American people to establish and entrench minority rule, America needs all boots on the ground.  This means that the American people who value the American democracy must turn out in force and vote in the 2024 election.

Americans must prepare ourselves for all adversity that we will surely face in November 2024 as we head to the polls and remain steadfast in our determination that nothing will stop us from making our collective voice heard via our vote.  All of those who are involved in orchestrating these undemocratic things to take away our power through thwarting our collective voice must be made to realize that they will not succeed; they are already destined to lose.  America can do this!  We are a resilient people who are at our best when we are under pressure and need to pull together as one.

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

Finally!  Teflon Don will be held to account!  This does not necessarily mean that he will be found guilty of anything; as a matter of fact, he might be exonerated and the judge will tell him that he is free to go.  But regardless of whether he is found innocent or guilty of the charges that arose out of his alleged sexual relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels, he will have been held to account.  I can’t recall a single time that Donald J. Trump has been held accountable for anything that he has done.  That is the problem!  And that is also why he dared America to even try to hold him to account for any of the 91 counts and four cases that he is currently facing.  Obviously, his challenge has finally been accepted.

You see, it does not matter what you, I, or anyone else might think about Donald Trump or what we believe that he has done but it will matter what the 12 jurors in his Hush Money trial believe.  It matters what these Jurors believe because not only will they have the opportunity to hear testimony from witnesses who are under oath but they will also have access to all the corroborating evidence that supports the testimony of these witnesses.  Corroborating evidence can go either way; it can go toward supporting Trump’s innocence or his guilt.  Most important of all, these 12 jurors’ decision will carry weight.  Once they decide Trump’s innocence or guilt – unlike what you or I or anyone else might think, to no avail, about Trump and what we think that he has done and should be punished for; the presiding judge will use these jurors’ collective belief of Trump’s innocence or guilt to set him free or punish him.

Trump has been under a gag order leading up to and during this trial.  However, just like he has done before, he has boldly said things that either violate this gag order or tread extremely close to violating it.  The judge will soon determine which of these things is true.  If it is the former, it is reasonable to believe that the judge will punish him for it.  It is doubtful that this punishment will involve jail time but that is among the available options to the judge.  After the opening statements of the trial today, Trump continued his antics and did not appear concerned about the gag order or any less inclined to test the judges resolve.  The trial will continue tomorrow beginning with a hearing on the previously mentioned gag order.

Judge Juan Merchan has already admonished Trump’s lawyers to control their client after Trump looked toward the jury and angrily mumbled some things under his breath.  Two jurors that had already been selected later requested to be excused; one because she felt intimidated and the other because he said that he could not be fair.  Judge Merchan has also instructed Trump directly to sit down when he stood up and proceeded to leave before court was formally ended for the day.  Despite all of this, Donald Trump continues to conduct himself as he always has.  He appears to have no respect for the judge or jury and this does not bode well for him with either one.  It remains likely that Trump will continue to be Trump throughout this trial.  But if he is found guilty, maybe things will change.  We just must wait and see.

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

Is the not so Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other federal courts helping the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America to avoid being held to account for the crimes that he allegedly committed?  If they are not, it certainly appears that they are.  The SCOTUS, led by Chief Jus…

Amid writing the first paragraph of this article it struck me that I was once again writing an article that served to vent my personal frustrations about the SCOTUS and complain about those who are aiding want-to-be dictator Trump while, instead, I should be striving to explain to readers why they should not support Trump; why they should not give him their vote.

As I reflected on these thoughts it became clear to me that as dangerous and precarious as the situation with Donald J. Trump is and as close as he is to being elected to another term as president, my focus should be on doing everything that I can to alert others to the blatant, existential threat that he poses to our democracy!  And that I should be working to convince them to fight against his serving again as president.

Therefore, I decided to immediately change course and give it my best effort to explain America’s Trump ignominy to those readers, for lack of a better expression, at their level.  I will quickly add that by “at their level” I simply mean from the perspective of those reading this article.  While I admit that I can only surmise what their perspective is, I am certain that most Americans are not political geeks like me.  Many Americans do not like politics, find it a divisive topic when interacting with family and friends, so eschew it completely.

What I offer in my attempt to explain why Donald J. Trump neither deserves your support nor your vote to those who are not political geeks or do not even follow politics closely is simple.  Do you want democracy or autocracy?  It would be easy for me to simply say that, if you think about it, you should want democracy because, by experience, you know that democracy is wonderful and from what you surely know about autocracy and autocratic countries, autocracy sucks.  But if I do that, it would not explain to you from a kitchen table perspective why a democracy benefits you so much more than would an autocracy.  So, please, take some time to think about this democracy or autocracy question during the time leading up to the November 2024 election and especially before you cast your vote.

My effort to explain things to readers from a kitchen table perspective consists of the following questions followed by rationale as to why you are better off living under a democracy.  Women, do you want to exercise control over your own body?  Men and women, do you want access to reasonable healthcare for yourselves and your children?  Do you like having Medicare and Medicaid benefits available to your elderly loved ones and friends and would like to have these benefits available to you once you become eligible to receive them?  Would you like to have Social Security available to you when the time comes?  Do you like having a minimum wage law?  Do you like having input on all these things that I just mentioned and more, and the ability to have civil discourse and even protests if you disagree with them?

All these things and more are things that you have a right to when living under a democracy.  They are not available to you under an autocracy.  Under a dictator or strongman, you might have faux rights.  In other words, you have a right to them if they are in line with the current dictator’s or strongman’s policies to which you had zero input.  Donald J. Trump has shown all Americans who he really is and it is imperative that we believe him.  He wants to be a dictator and he has said so publicly.

That is why it is extremely important that those who are supporting Trump and intend to vote for him must take a step back, take a deep breath and thoroughly examine why you support him and intend to vote for him.  Is it because you truly believe that he did the right thing when he held office before, rightfully resisted – beyond his legal remedies – leaving office after he lost the election, and then – ever since he left, has tried to destroy many of America’s institutions?  Is it because you truly believe that he is doing the right thing now and deserves another chance to lead America as her Commander-in-Chief?  Or, is it due to some nefarious reason conjured up by Trump, which is fueled by a flaw he has discovered in you and is exploiting for his own political purposes?

I am fully aware that there are many Republicans who may read this article or hear about it who, knowing that I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, will be tempted to reject its content out-of-hand.  I implore you not to do this!  Instead, check to see what many of your well-respected conservative elected leaders are saying about Donald J. Trump and how he is an existential threat to democracy.  A threat to the very democracy that guarantees you all of the previously mentioned rights and more.  Further, do not just listen to what those leaders are saying but do further research of your own and bring yourselves up to speed on Donald Trump and as much of the information as possible about his efforts to become president again.

I know that most Republicans disagree with Democrats, and by association that includes me, on policies and how America should move forward.  But I believe that all of us agree that America should remain a democracy.  And if, together, we have the good fortune of keeping her a democracy when all votes have been counted for the 2024 presidential election, we can celebrate that bipartisan accomplishment together.  After that, we can get back to fighting things out through civil discourse to resolve our differences.  On the other hand, if Trump wins and once again becomes president…

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

The gall of Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell is only exceeded by his arrogance.  Shortly after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer finished his senate floor speech in which he called for new elections in Israel, Senator McConnell took the floor and issued, in essence, what was a rebuttal to Senator Schumer’s speech.  Though he did not mention Senator Schumer’s name, it was obvious that he was referring to the speech that he made.

According to ABC News, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said “It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel.  This is unprecedented.  We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continued, ‘Israel’s unity government deserves’ “the deference befitting a sovereign democratic country.  Things that upset left-wing activists are not the prime ministers [sic] policies they are Israel’s policies.  Make no mistake, the Democratic party doesn’t have an anti-Bibi problem, it has an anti Israel [sic] problem…”  “Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government.  This is the very definition of democracy and sovereignty.  Either we respect their decisions or we disrespect their democracy.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is lecturing Senator Chuck Schumer and the rest of America on democracy and hypocrisy?!  This is the same Mitch McConnell who, shortly after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, said “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of [January 6, 2021].  Then this same Mitch McConnell said the following when he recently endorsed Donald Trump – a man with 4 cases and 91 counts against him – as the Republicans’ 2024 candidate for president.  “It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States.  It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.”

These two positions regarding Donald Trump are diametrically opposed!  How can Senator McConnell say that Donald Trump was practically and morally responsible for provoking the January 6, 2021 insurrection and then in good conscience say, as the Republican Senate Minority Leader, that “it should come as no surprise that, as nominee, [Trump] will have my support?!”  And if he does say this, how can he then turn around and lecture Senator Chuck Schumer and the rest of America on democracy and hypocrisy?!

Republican senator Mitch McConnell’s arrogance is blatant but his hypocrisy is subtle, at least to those who do not closely follow politics.  In this case involving Donald Trump, Republican Senator McConnell’s apparent disdain for democracy and penchant for hypocrisy to favor retention of power and Party above democracy is repulsive.  After having made these absolutely opposed statements about Trump, in his arrogance, Republican Senate Minority Leader McConnell rebuked Senator Schumer for being a hypocrite and eschewing democracy while he himself cunningly steeped his rebuttal in Republican orthodoxy and thinly veiled anti-Democratic Party rhetoric.

The stench of his choice to hold the retention of power and Party above democracy is forever and it will leave an indelible stain on his legacy as a shrewd politician.  Further, it will have a negative impact on his long tenure as an elected official and cast doubt on whether his oath of office held true meaning to him.  Although Senator McConnel’s words in his rebuke of Senator Schumer arguably may have merit, Senator McConnell is among the last of Republicans who should be making this argument.

I realize that I risked being called out for blatant redundancy by repeatedly referring to Senator McConnell as “Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.”  However, emphasis was purposely placed on the words “Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell” and repeated for a reason.  That reason was to point out that 1) He is a Republican; and the Republican Party is at the center of the threat to the American democracy right now.

There was a time when the Senate conducted itself differently from the House.  Sometimes that difference was subtle and at times not so subtle; however, it was always discernable.  But now, the way that the Senate is conducting itself on the Republican side of the aisle is just like that of House Republicans.  Its bad conduct is blatant!

2), Mitch McConnell is the Senate Minority Leader.  He is the Republicans’ leader in the senate.  Senator McConnell has always been first and foremost about Party and retaining power.  He has been unfaltering in his adherence to Republican dogma but could still be counted upon to hold civil discourse across the aisle and be open to reasonable compromise to efficiently govern.  That is no longer the case.

Because Senator McConnell’s paramount purpose as Leader is to retain power, apparently even if the price of doing so is the American democracy, he has ceased to be the reasonable leader he once was.  Instead, he has acquiesced to Donald Trump in his blind quest to retain power.  As a result of this shameless choice, he has become a Trump toady and is conducting himself accordingly.  He is using his role as Leader to move his conference to support Trump’s nefarious goal of becoming president.

There is slightly less than eight months left before Americans go to the polls to select a new president.  During that period Donald Trump will continue to stoke fear, hate and as much divisiveness in America as possible.  His supporters who are mesmerized by him and believe his lies will continue to hang on his every word and will likely vote for him without ever knowing who he really is even though he has shown them time-and-time again.

And those like Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who know exactly who he is will likely vote for him either out of Party loyalty, the unquenchable lust for power or both.  Regardless of their reason for voting for him, each of them will help him to move a bit closer to his goal of becoming America’s first dictator; even if “only for a day.”

Those of us Americans who want America to remain a democracy and would prefer not to see our president hobnob with dictators and strongmen, shun our allies, and tell Russia to do whatever the hell it wants to them must do our part, no matter how small, to help assure that Trump is not elected.  We must do all that we can to help educate those who are mesmerized by Trump so, therefore, have bought in to his tactics of lies, fear, hate, and divisiveness.  In addition, we must make sure, despite all obstacles that we may face, to get out and vote in the 2024 presidential election.

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

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson went on Fox News after President Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) speech, in which President Biden confronted Republicans for rejecting the bipartisan border bill.  When the Fox News host asked him if House Republicans rejected the bill offered by Democrats that would have fixed the border problem Speaker Johnson said that the bill did not pass the senate.

What Speaker Johnson said was true.  But what he did not say was that congressional conservative Republicans were fine with this bill until Donald Trump informed them that he was against it.  Conservative senator James Langford of Oklahoma was negotiating the bill along with Democratic senator Chris Murphy and independent senator Kyrsten Sinema.  Further, Speaker Johnson did not say that when Trump implied that he wanted them to reject it; led by Trump’s sycophants, all the Republicans fell in line and did as they were instructed to do.

They did this without even reading the text of the bill, to which many of them had provided input.  Another thing that Speaker Johnson did not say was that although negotiations on this bill had been going on for four months and were almost complete, he (Speaker Mike Johnson) informed the senate that the bill would be dead on arrival in the House before the senate had even voted on it.

Among those senators who voted against the bill was Senator Katie Britt who gave the response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech.  She skewered President Biden for not doing anything about the border situation even after many of the things that she suggested should be done about the border were in that bill.  In her response, she talked about how Republicans are in support of in vitro fertilization (IVF).  Yet, Republicans in Alabama had just passed a law that said frozen embryos were children.  This caused IVF clinics to immediately halt services for fear of being prosecuted for murder if any embryos were accidently damaged to the extent that they were unusable: Senator Britt is from Alabama.

Senator Britt even told a story about an immigrant that was raped and implied, without revealing that it occurred, according to MSNBC host Joy Ried, “under another president’s administration and in Mexico not America, that this was President Biden’s fault because of his border policy.  When on Fox News she was given the opportunity by the host to provide clarification on her raped immigrant story and walk it back, she did not.”  Senator Britt’s response was meandering, short on facts and worthwhile substance.  It seemed designed only as pabulum to get viewers’ votes.

In the meantime, Speaker Johnson made sure to mention how partisan that President Biden’s SOTU speech was, and to emphasize just how partisan it was, he said that it was a campaign speech.  To remember all the partisan stuff that President Biden said and be sure to label it a campaign speech must be the reason why Speaker Johnson forgot to include key details, like those mentioned above, as to why the bill failed to pass the senate.  You know, like in that TV commercial that says in order to remember something, you have to forget something else.  While Speaker Johnson was busy forgetting the “something else” in order to remember all the partisan stuff that President Biden said, other Republicans complained about how they thought and hoped that President Biden would give a unity speech, something that would bring people together.

As regards the comments from those Trump sycophants and other senators who said President Biden took cheap shots at Republican members of congress through his comments; when they had the opportunity, and duty, to take shots at Trump for his conduct during the January 6, 2021 insurrection and their fellow Republicans who aided and abetted him before and after the fact, they did not.  They were all cowards and they took the cowards way out; they remained silent!  To make matters worse, they have continued their silence and have now assisted, whether overtly or tacitly through their continued cowardice, in making him their 2024 nominee for president.

Republicans have circled the wagons around Donald Trump: Donald Trump, this twice impeached ex-The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America who is still facing four cases and 91 counts against him and who just hosted Viktor Orban, Hungary’s authoritarian leader and key Putin ally, at Mar-a-Lago.  This support for Trump is being led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson.  Mike Johnson is relatively new at politics at the level that he holds as House Speaker but he is very smooth, has a personable air about him and is a quick learner.  Since his policies are in line with the small extremist group that has taken the Republican conference hostage and he strongly supports Trump, this makes him a formidable advisory for those who want America to remain a democracy.

For everyone who reads this post it is important that you realize what is happening in America before it is too late and do something about it; use your vote!  Our democracy is being taken away from us.  Trump has said that he wants to be a dictator and there are those among his supporters who say that is what America needs right now.  Some of those same supporters have said that violence should be used, if necessary, to put him back in office.  It is also worth reiterating that Trump met with authoritarian leader Viktor Orban at Mar-a-Lago after President Biden’s State of the Union Speech and heaped him with praise while calling him “great” and an “uncontroversial” leader.  Trump’s behavior and the current situation that America is in should be a worry to all Americans.  In the words of President Biden, if you are not worried about it, you should be.

Accordingly, I implore those who read this article to educate yourselves on the issues.  Do not be fooled by soundbites!  Do not watch what Republicans say, watch what they do!  Two good examples of Republicans saying one thing and doing another are given in this article: 1) Republican senator Katie Britt’s response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech then shortly thereafter, her failure to correct her immigrant rape story when given the opportunity by the Fox News host to do so.  And 2) Speaker Mike Johnson’s response to the Fox News host about whether House Republicans rejected the bipartisan border bill that could have fixed America’s southern border problem.

Again, do not watch what these Trump-led Republicans say, watch what they do.  And 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

It is time to say the obvious out loud; the Republican Party is now the antidemocracy party.  In my humble opinion, it became official when Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race and Republican Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader, officially endorsed Donald J. Trump.  Of course, anyone who closely follows politics knew that Republicans had given up on democracy long before this official announcement based on their behavior.

House Republicans made their intentions clear before they won the House.  They told anyone who would listen that, if they should win, they would go on a campaign of revenge and retribution against the Biden administration and Democrats in general.  And ever since they won the House, they have done exactly that and have refused to govern.  To make sure that Democrats in congress and the rest of America understood that they were not bluffing, a small group of rightwing extremists in their conference made Kevin McCarthy, their first Speaker after winning the House, go through 15 humiliating rounds of votes before he was elected.  During those votes these extremists extracted almost all the power vested in the office of Speaker to vote for McCarthy and, in essence, vested it in their small group.

To further assure that congress and the rest of America understood that they meant business, after about nine months as Speaker – after Speaker McCarthy did something (an attempt to govern) that they warned him not to do, one of these rightwing extremists called for a vote to “vacate” and removed him from office.  It then took three weeks and the failure of three replacement speaker nominees before the current Speaker, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, was elected.  Now House Republicans are back to business as usual, avoiding governing and creating as many problems as they can for Democrats to prevent them from governing.  At times they have hinted at ousting Speaker Johnson if he fails to toe-the-mark but so far, he and they appear to agree with how he is handling things.

Republicans in the senate have not appeared as chaotic in working their partisan agenda as the house has been.  However, now that the Republican primary is over and Trump is their nominee, things for senate Republicans are likely to become more challenging.  Their situation is exacerbated because Minority Leader McConnell not only has announced that he will be stepping down from his leadership role in November but he has just formerly endorsed Trump.  This makes matters worse because none of these senators, who are first and foremost politicians, knows who will become Leader or how pro-Trump that senator will be.  I say matters will be made worse because any reasonable observer can see, based on how they are handling the existential threat to the American democracy, that these politicians are more concerned about retaining power than they are about the threat to democracy or their oath of office.  This has to be a recipe for chaos.

This developing situation in the senate provides a perfect segue back to Senator McConnell and his leadership in the senate.  There is no doubt that Senator McConnell is a shrewd politician who has successfully led Republican senators through many tough situations and almost always held his conference together.  His political prowess is all but unquestionable.  Therefore, there is only one thing that can reasonably be deduced after reading the following excerpt from Senator McConnell’s speech and comparing it with his stance as of the posting of this article.  The excerpt is from an article of his speech after the senate acquitted Trump published in US News on February 14, 2021:

January 6 was a disgrace.

American citizens attacked their own government.  They used terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of democratic business they did not like.  Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police.  They stormed the Senate floor.  They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House.  They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president.

They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth – because he was angry he’d lost an election.

Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.

Let me put that to the side for one moment and reiterate something I said weeks ago: There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of [January 6, 2021].

Sadly, many politicians sometimes make overheated comments or use metaphors that unhinged listeners might take literally.

This was different.

This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories, orchestrated by an outgoing president determined to either overturn the voters’ decision or else torch our institutions on the way out.

The unconscionable behavior did not end when the violence began…

Even after it was clear to any reasonable observer that Vice President Pence was in danger, even as the mob carrying Trump banners was beating cops and breaching perimeters, the president sent a further tweet attacking his vice president…

In recent weeks, our ex-president’s associates have tried to use the 74 million Americans who voted to re-elect him as human shields against criticism.

Anyone who decries his awful behavior is accused of insulting millions of voters…

This body is not invited to act as the nation’s overarching moral tribunal…

We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen.

Here is Article II, Section 4:

“The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”  …

Article II, Section 4 must have force.  It tells us the president, vice president and civil officers may be impeached and convicted.  Donald Trump is no longer president…

In one light, it certainly does seem counterintuitive that an officeholder can elude Senate conviction by resignation or expiration of term.

But this just underscores that impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice.

Impeachment, conviction, and removal are a specific intra-governmental safety valve.  It is not the criminal justice system, where individual accountability is the paramount goal.

Indeed, Justice Story specifically reminded that while former officials were not eligible for impeachment or conviction, they were – and this is extremely important – “still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice.”

Put anther (sic) way, in the language of today: President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, still liable for everything he did while in office, didn’t get away with anything yet – yet.

We have a criminal justice system in this country.  We have civil litigation.  And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either…

Senator McConnell’s stance now?  Per an article in Newsweek by Matthew Impelli titled Republicans Rush to Support Donald Trump After Nikki Haley Drops Out, Senator McConnell said “It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States.  It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.  I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people.”

I mentioned above that only one thing can be reasonably deduced from Senator McConnell’s stance then compared to now.  That one thing is that when the choice presented to him is between honoring his oath of office and protecting the American democracy and honoring his commitment to Party, politics, and retaining power, Senator McConnel’s choice is clearly the latter: Party, politics, and retaining power is king.

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