I recently read an article in the New York Times by Michael Wines that talked about the long lines that voters waited in while trying to vote in the presidential election this year. That same article also talked about voter ID requirements that have been put into place since the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the John Roberts led Supreme Court and how although many of those ID requirements were struck down by various courts around the country, some states disregarded the rulings and applied them anyway. It went on to say that even in those states that in good faith tried to abide by the courts’ rulings, they experienced so much confusion during the election that many of the officials at polling places applied these outlawed standards anyway.

It further said that there were long lines due to the purposely limited number of polling places and problems with voting machines. The frustration that resulted from these new voter ID requirements caused many people to just stay at home and not vote and for those who did venture out to vote, all of the previously mentioned problems combined caused many people who were in line to give up without casting their ballot. The article also said that many ballots that were mailed in were not counted and tossed out due to signatures that did not appear to match those that were on file. Republican officials at all levels of government were aware of these problems but were content to wink at them because it served their partisan purposes.

Finally, the article stated that likely little can be done about what occurred during the 2016 election and although the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been fighting these voter ID requirements in the courts and will likely continue to fight them all the way up to a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, with the election of President-elect Donald Trump and those that he would nominate to the Supreme Court, victory for the ACLU would be unlikely.

Is this really happening in the year 2016? Is this really democracy and what democracy is all about or have those that we have elected to represent us just completely lost their minds?! The right to vote and voting are core principles and major building blocks that help to form the very foundation of our democracy. Have our elected officials become so aloof that they presume to take away the right to vote of those who elected them to office simply because it suits their partisan purposes and boosts their political clout? Have they become so arrogant that they openly do this and do not even fear any backlash let alone consequences? In light of what is happening, I believe that they have!

It seems that politicians no longer go to Washington to represent those who elected them; they go there to build their political capital so that they can either run for higher office, line their own pockets or do both of these things. There is a reason why President-elect Trump won the election and our politicians had better realize this and do something about it before it is too late. They had better stop listening to all of these highly-paid lobbyist, return to how things were when statesmanship held meaning and was not just a 13-letter (bad luck for America?) word, and start listening to the people who put them into office if they want to see America prosper and grow.

Voters are aware that if our elected officials are to be able to govern effectively that there will have to be compromise. We know that we will very seldom, if ever, get everything that we want. Most of us are simply middle class hard-working people who want a few simple things out of life. Things like being able to earn an income that will enable us to own a nice home in a nice neighborhood, own a nice car (and maybe a recreational vehicle), have some reasonable semblance of a savings account, send our children to college – should they choose to go, and be able to live comfortably when we retire.

Most of us don’t envy the rich folks. Sure, there are those among us who would not mind being one of them, although there are likely many more of us who eschew this desire because we would not want to bear the stress that they endure to protect their money at all costs and their burden of the struggle to choose between shunning their personal greed – which, by the way, would not in any way diminish their lifestyle – or altruism. We do not want to take their lifestyle away from them so that we can have the previously mentioned things. But we do want them to do their part and pay their fair share to assure that America remains strong and financially viable. We want them to realize that, among them, they need not be the recipients of an astronomical percentage of all generated revenue in perpetuity out of the fear that if they are not, then they will cease to exist.

So our politicians should commit right now to return to the days when, although they were never looked upon without some degree of suspicion by their partisan counterparts, when push came to shove they were statesmen who always put country first and did the right thing regardless of their party affiliation. Whether or not politicians choose to do this is their decision. But this hell-inspired determination by the Republican Party to take away the right of legitimate voters to vote in the name of Party unity and to assure that their Party’s visions and policies will prevail is not their decision. No matter how virtuous that they perceive those visions and policies to be, the decision to vote or not to vote lies with each legitimate American voter who holds that right. And for the Republican party to take it upon themselves to deny any legitimate voter the right to vote is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Partially as a result of this obstruction along with all of those previously mentioned things, America has taken an unexpected giant step to the right and elected Donald J. Trump to lead the way forward. This is a democracy, the people have spoken and although many Americans are in a state of shock because we did not believe that anything like this could ever happen here; it has indeed happened. And all of us who are traumatized by it must resolve ourselves to the fact that President-elect Trump will become the President of the United States of America. We must accept this but as Democrats we must also continue to stand on our principles and fight hard to always make America a better place that is fair to all of its citizens. As President Obama said, perfect is unattainable but better is good.

At this point, it appears that President-elect Trump is stoked by a Steve Bannon mentality that is relentlessly motivating him to relegate many Americans to a second-class citizen status in the name of making America great again; this “better” is not among the ingredients in his “make America great again” plan. What he must realize is that he is no longer Donald J. Trump the candidate but he is now Donald J. Trump President-elect of the United States of America and that it is incumbent upon him to be the president of all of the American people.

He has likely by now been made aware of deep, dark secrets of America that Americans, other than its presidents, will never know. If he is a true patriot, he will embrace and accept these secrets on behalf of all American people and hold them forever in confidence. And despite the promises, and there are obviously many, that he made to his supporters before becoming privy to these secrets, he must make country his first priority and truly be the president of all of the American people.

Whether or not he will chose to be the president of all of the people remains to be seen. As things stand right now, however, based on those that he has thus far chosen to surround himself with since becoming President-elect, he has decided to thumb his nose at America and instead follow a path of divisiveness, racial and religious animus, and hate. He deviated from all of the norms during the primaries and general election and, against all odds, was successful. Hopefully this will not provide impetus for him to continue in that vein once he becomes president.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

President-elect Donald Trump, congressional Republicans and elected Republicans throughout America prevailed on November 8th. Let there be no doubt about the fact that President-elect Trump won with the assistance of all of these Republicans even though they said that he is a con man who is unqualified and unfit to hold the esteemed office of President of the United States of America. They were a dominate tag team that gave us Democrats a whipping that we should never forget; and they did not even respect us enough to spare us the shame and humiliation of this whipping by taking us behind the woodshed to do it, they did it in public for all the world to see.

But just like they gave us a good whipping whether we admit it or not, all of them are responsible for assisting President-elect Trump to win this election whether they admit it or not. And they should be held accountable for this come the 2018 and 2020 elections no matter how hard they try to squirm their way out of it. They were a dominate, devastating and effective tag team because while congressional Republicans were obstructing all of President Obama’s policy efforts and blocking his nominees to fill open positions – the latest of which was Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, elected Republicans around the country were working hard to put laws into place to prevent legitimate voters who normally vote for Democrats from voting.

That plus WikiLeaks, the Russians, and their secret weapon in the form of FBI Director James Comey won the day for them. This is not the kind of Republic that the great majority of Americans envision and espouse. The election of Donald J. Trump the nominee was a poignant, sobering and disheartening day in history for far too many Americans. Ethnic minorities and targeted religious groups took the brunt of President-elect Trump’s hateful fury and this has emboldened hate groups and encouraged their reemergence to prominence.

I don’t know what kind of a president that Donald Trump will prove to be but I do know what kind of a candidate that he was. He was a candidate that appealed to the darkest fears of Americans and during his entire campaign he spouted a message of divisiveness and hatred. He now says that he wants to be the president of all of the people. He says that he wants to pull the country together and be my president despite the fact that the KKK and all stripes of white supremacists are coming out of their dark corners, celebrating his victory and proclaiming him as the hero whom they have long awaited. President-elect Trump cannot prevent them form doing this but he can disavow these groups, denounce their ideals and publicly state that this in no way represents what America stands for. He can avoid placing people on his staff who agree with the ideals of these groups and have regularly encouraged and promulgated their message of hate and divisiveness. But he has not done this.

President-elect Trump will be the president of the United States and I will respect his title and the esteemed office that he will hold. However, I do not respect the man. I do not accept the things that he, based on the rhetoric of his campaign, espouses and I do not accept a “Trump’s America.” I cannot and will not accept an America that reduces people of color to second class citizens, disparages women, ostracizes people because of their religion, works to obstruct or prevent legitimate voters from voting and purposely pits Americans against one another in the name of a so called effort to “make America great again.” I will peacefully fight against the implementation of a “Trump’s America every step of the way. America has always been great, is great now, and will remain great unless we succumb to this so called effort to “make America great ‘again‘.”

We must keep a close eye on President-elect Trump after he becomes president and monitor his every action closely. If he makes any effort to implement any of the hateful and divisive things that he talked about during his campaign then Americans, elected officials or not, must fight him every step of the way to prevent them from being implemented. President-elect Trump is not irredeemable but he has proven that he can and will lie effortlessly. And he has proven that his word carries little, if any, weight and that he will say whatever is expedient in the moment to please the audience that he is addressing if it will garner him the complements and adoration that he so much desires and seems unable to exist without.

I was traumatized by the election of President-elect Trump and can be counted among the many Americans who are anxious about him and his policies and concerned about how he will lead America forward. Already by talking about dismantling the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), scrapping Roe v Wade, defunding Planned Parenthood and dissolving treaties and other agreements that we have with allies, it appears that his leading America forward involves a large dose of first leading her backwards.

Only time will reveal President-elect Trump’s and his tag team Republicans’ true intentions. During the interim we can only watch and wait…and plan for 2018 and 2020. However, while we are watching and waiting we must remain vigilant; otherwise, we run the risk of being taken by surprise and losing yet again. But like Secretary Clinton’s running mate Senator Tim Kaine said while quoting William Faulkner after their loss; “they kilt us but they ain’t whupped us yit.” Stay vigilant!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Despite the overwhelming odds against him achieving his lofty goal to become the commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation in the world Donald J. Trump is now the President Elect and poised to be the 45th president of the United States of America. This occurred despite the fact that he insulted veterans, women, people with disabilities, religious groups, almost every ethnic group in America and belittled leaders in our government while praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders in China. It occurred despite the fact that he refused to accept the determination by 17 intelligence agencies that it was the Russians who hacked the DNC’s and Hillary Clinton emails. It occurred despite the fact that he made matters worse by defending Russia throughout the entire course of his campaign and even encouraged them to continue to hack Secretary Clinton’s email.

I have said before that Mr. Trump wants to put America in reverse, by destroying Roe v. Wade, defunding Planned Parenthood, working to repeal the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), dismantle treaties and other agreements with our allies, and the list goes on. He wants to do all of this to, from his perspective, “make America great again.” Many of the people that he selected to run his campaign espouse ideals that would make people of color second class citizens. When he says that he wants to “make America great ‘again’”, does that mean that he wants to push people who look like me back to the ‘good ole days’ of Jim Crow?

I hope that this is not the case but with the people that he selected to lead his campaign it is hard to believe otherwise. America has been a divided nation for a while now, but it was divided as a rainbow coalition. However, at first blush, it appears that those who swept Mr. Trump into office are a solid block of suburban and rural white voters and not a mixture of races. This does not make those supporters bad people; it simply indicates, at least initially, that our country is strongly divided based on race. And from my perspective, that is definitely a step backwards; a step in the wrong direction, which seems to be the direction that Mr. Trump wants to take America. It is frightening! As Eugene Robinson said on MSNBC yesterday, it seems that it is an America of the future versus an America of yesterday and the America of yesterday is winning.

The late author and poet, Maya Angelou said that “if someone shows you who they are, believe them…” Donald Trump has showed America who he is and I believe him. But I do not believe that by electing Mr. Trump that, as Americans, we have showed the world who we are. I refuse to believe that Mr. Trump represents who we are as Americans because I do not believe that he represents how the great majority of Americans feel. I believe that America is much bigger and much better than the one envisioned by Mr. Trump in the rhetoric of hatred and divisiveness that he spouted during his whole campaign.

Although Donald J. Trump personifies the substance of America’s timeless nightmare of every sort of prejudice and hate that exists in America and is the evidence of how far we have not come, he is also the unwitting catalyst of the perpetuation of the knowledge and hope that all Americans have and must stubbornly cling to. That knowledge is that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And that hope is that America will always continue to welcome those “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and remain the premier example of democracy while we always strive to “form a more perfect union.”

Because America is by choice a melting pot of peoples, to sustain this knowledge and hope will likely mean that at times we will struggle to do so. But that is okay; we must embrace our diversity, realize that as Americans we are one, and always know that we are stronger together. The America that Mr. Trump envisions and is advocating through his message of divisiveness and hate is not the kind of America that the great majority of Americans want. To divide us and pit us against one another portends a dark future for America that can only culminate in chaos and destruction.

Election Day has come and gone and Americans have made what was, from the beginning of this election, a stark and serious choice as to who they want to lead America forward beginning in 2017. They have now answered the question as to who they want that person to be. It is Donald J. Trump. It is now too late for all of those who could have voted but stayed home, for whatever reason, to have any impact on the race. By electing not to do their civic duty they allowed others to make their choice for them. If they find that they do not like the direction in which Mr. Trump decides to take our country – out of embarrassment, they should not gripe and complain. They should remain mum and reflect on what might have been had they simply remembered the slogan “your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!” and voted.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Considering everything surrounding the FBI that has happened during the final 11 days prior to this year’s presidential election, should Secretary Hillary Clinton nominate someone other than Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court? I think that she should. And I am fairly certain that Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders would prefer that she select someone else as well. I won’t go further and presume to state how these senators might feel about whether or not she should replace FBI Director James B. Comey because I have no real feel as to their feelings about him to even begin to speculate; but from my perspective, I believe that she should also replace him.

My position concerning these individuals neither means that I believe that Judge Garland and Director Comey are not qualified to hold these positions nor is it meant to unfairly sully their character in any way. Permit me to explain my rationale for my position on this issue: I will start with Director Comey. With the stakes being so high with regard to the path that America needs to take as we move forward; in light of the fact that Director Comey is a Republican – or at least was one recently – and in light of the decision that he made 11 days prior to this election to release information on the Democratic candidate, which implied that he might reopen the investigation into her so called email scandal while refusing to release any information at all on the Republican candidate, I contend that there is just cause to closely scrutinize his motive for taking this action and seriously consider replacing him.

Based on the above misstep alone – especially since he took it in spite of Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s recommendation against doing so, I believe that he should be replaced. But there is more. Even after this mistake during the final 11 days of the election, the FBI released more potentially damaging information related to the Democratic nominee’s campaign with even fewer days remaining before the election. Further, information that could have a negative impact on the Hillary Clinton campaign continues even now to dribble from the FBI. Under the circumstances, whether the promulgation of this information is condoned by Director Comey or stems from leaks, his credibility as the head of the FBI is ruined.

Perhaps, you might say, one can argue that Director Comey should be replaced but what does all of this have to do with Judge Garland? Here is what it has to do with him. Judge Garland is also a Republican and he was, in part, nominated by President Obama as a compromise candidate because he was thought to be a non-controversial choice that the Republican Senate would move quickly to confirm. This conjecture by the Obama administration has proven to be wrong because President Obama nominated Judge Garland on March 16, 2016 and as of November 3, 2016 Republicans still have not confirmed him.

Instead, they initially talked about confirming him in a lame duck session if the Republican nominee is not elected to be president. Now, they are talking about leaving the number of Supreme Court Justices at eight until a Republican president is finally elected. The bottom line is that, whether Director Comey’s actions were the result of an accident, incompetence, or his loyalty to the Republican Party they likely impact – as they should – on the thinking of many Democrats as to how Judge Garland might function given a similar situation in the Supreme Court.

This does not make Judge Garland a bad person but neither does it make Democrats bad people who, regardless of how well respected that he is on both sides of the isle, speculate about what he would do if confronted with this kind of situation in the Supreme Court. Instead, it is my contention that it makes all parties concerned human.

And, again, with the stakes being so high with regard to how America will move forward, I am among those Democrats who believe that Secretary Clinton should nominate a more liberal candidate. Someone whom she feels comfortable with, can at least trust to avoid conducting themselves as FBI Director Comey has conducted himself, and who will to the best of their ability make decisions based on their interpretation of the law and conduct themselves in accordance with respect for the highly esteemed office that they have been entrusted to hold.

Even if Secretary Clinton is elected, if the election does not also result in the election of a senate controlled by Democrats, she would likely not be able to get her candidates confirmed. As regards Judge Garland, even if Republicans decide to select the option to confirm him in a lame duck session, if it is possible to withdraw his name, Secretary Clinton should do that. The Republicans should not be allowed to have their cake and eat it too – as they have become so accustom to doing, by being pliable only if the situation is handled based on their rules and only if they are obliged to do so.

For far too long Republicans have spoken with pride about refusing to accept anything that even looks like compromise and if not given their way 100% opted for Washington gridlock instead. And for far too long Democrats have chosen to be the good guys (some might refer to this ‘good guys’ label as the adults in the room while others might refer to it as spineless) and accept these Republicans’ antics with only passive gripes and complaints. But regardless of your title preference for these well-intentioned Democrats, they must stop being passive and stand up to these Republicans or they will continue to bully them.

Common sense would dictate that bullying Republicans would come to their senses and agree to work to find common ground and compromise. However, the scary thing is that it is plausible that playing politics for so long where compromise is concerned, with little to no resistance from Democrats, has deprived them of common sense. Common sense has long since left and so now trying to force Republicans to accept compromise is like playing a game of chicken with a kamikaze pilot; their whole mission is focused on winning whether or not they survive the crash.

For those Republicans who at any cost want less government, smaller government, virtually no government at all or in whatever terms you want to put it, this game of chicken could be a long sought after and welcomed challenge. What if Democrats do not swerve in time to avoid the crash threatened by these self-made kamikazes? What would happen then? Would America just ultimately self-destruct? It is no wonder that they are afraid. Maybe I should be afraid too; and possibly would be if I were in their shoes and had their grave responsibility in this matter.

But, in the heat of my emotions and concern that Democrats should not tolerate being bullied by Republicans, I digress. This article is meant to drive home the point as to why Secretary Clinton, if she is so fortunate to win this election, should replace FBI Director Comey and why she should also withdraw Judge Merrick Garland’s name from consideration for Supreme Court Justice and replace him with her own nominee.

So I will get back to the point; based on all of the previously mentioned reasons, Secretary Clinton should submit the name of someone of her choice to replace Director Comey and submit her own pick to be Supreme Court Justice even if Republicans obstruct the confirmation of her choices to replace these individuals. Because just like their standard bearer, Donald Trump, has so skillfully done over the years in many of his battles with the courts via blocking parrying and delaying until things were resolved in his favor Washington Republicans have obstructed President Obama’s agenda masterfully for eight years. So a Clinton decision to replace Director Comey and submit her own pick for Supreme Court Justice can’t make matters any worse…or can it?

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Do Republicans really want to go there? Do they really want to go down the Repwikidonputinrush (pronounced, Rep wiki don pootin rush) road? I do not expect you to know what Repwikidonputinrush means because it is a word that I just coined for this article and so is not in the dictionary yet. As a disclaimer I want to say DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH UNTIL IT GETS THERE BECAUSE THAT COULD BE FATAL. Anyway, what it – the word Repwikidonputinrush means, is ‘Republican, WikiLeaks, Donald (Trump), Putin, Russia. So – now that you know what this newly coined word means, I ask again, do the Republicans really want to go down this road?

The Trump campaign and the Republicans have been regularly invoking revelations from WikiLeaks that are selectively and slowly being dribbled to the press to indict Secretary Hillary Clinton for her alleged dishonesty and poor judgment and solidify their assertion that she should not be President of the United States. By the way, it is worth noting that 17 U.S. intelligence agencies have said the information in these revelations was stolen via hacks into the DNC’s and Hillary Clinton’s emails by Russia.

Despite what these intelligence agencies have said, Mr. Trump and these Republicans are still using WikiLeaks’ information to bolster Mr. Trump’s assertions that Secretary Clinton is not fit to be president and that the election is rigged to help her win. What is just as interesting is that Donald Trump has always adamantly defended Vladimir Putin and Russia against the United States claims that Russia is responsible for these hacks and he continues to do so. It is no secret that he has heaped praise on Mr. Putin while at the same time belittling American leaders including President Barack Obama.

On October 26, 2016 I posted an article to this blog which stated that Mr. Trump and the Republicans believed that they had received a golden egg from the mythical golden goose that would help them not only to hold on to their majority in the Senate and House, but it would help them and America to get rid of Obamacare once and for all. Well, it appears that the mythical golden goose has presented them with a second golden egg. This egg is in the form of FBI Director James B. Comey. This time, however, the egg might not be so mythical and it might be much easier for Republicans to turn it into a political windfall.

Just 11 days before the election and against the advice of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director Comey decided to send a vague letter to a number of Republicans stating that he might have found more Hillary Clinton emails that might be relevant to the Hillary Clinton closed investigation that, if actually relevant might cause him to reopen the Clinton email investigation. Say What! What does his statement really mean?

Well, Mr. Trump and the Republicans knew exactly what they wanted it to mean so they took it and ran directly to the media. As a result, the polls that were widening in Secretary Clinton’s favor have taken a dramatic turn and things are starting to tighten up. Amazingly, Republicans still want to put Donald Trump in the White House! Those Republicans who at one time or another said that Mr. Trump is a con man who is unqualified and unfit to be President of the United States should be held accountable for what they are doing and at best for them, should suffer some form of severe political punishment short of not being reelected and at worst that punishment should result in the election of someone to replace them.

I don’t know why Director Comey chose to do what he did. I want to believe that it has everything to do with his desire to preserve his integrity and nothing to do with his loyalty to the Republican Party or desire for political gain. However, with someone who is for all intents and purposes his boss telling him not to do what he ultimately decided to do of his own volition, it is hard for me to accept that belief. I have to also wonder what he would do if he instructed one of his agents to not do a certain thing and that agent, for whatever reason, did it anyway. Apples and oranges because the relationship between Attorney General Lynch and Director Comey is not exactly the same as that between Director Comey and his employees? Maybe; but it is certainly still food for thought.

Further, I don’t know if what Director Comey did will help to catapult Donald Trump to a win or simply help more down ballot Republicans to be successful. Even if it only helps Republicans to retain control of the House and Senate it will still be bad because that will only mean continued Washington gridlock. But whatever the case might be no voter should let this deter them from casting their ballot on or before November 8. Why? Because your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

As regards FBI Director Comey, there are a lot of things that I don’t know about his actions but what I do know is that he, not the voters that he said he was so concerned about in his letter to his employees explaining why he did what he did, single-handedly likely changed how America will be governed for at least the next four to eight years and possibly even decades to come. Director Comey is the only person who truly knows the answer to why he did what he did. And based on the kind of man that his track record says that he is, I hope that he did it for all of, at least in his mind, the right reasons.

When the new president takes office, whoever that might be, I do not know if they could replace him with someone else simply because of how he handled the above mentioned situation even if they wanted to. If Secretary Clinton wins, with the way that the Senate has handled President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, even if she had that option available to her and decided to replace Director Comey, I’m not sure that she could get a replacement in place before she is term-limited even if she manages to stay in office for eight years.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

It has been a long time since the Republicans ranted on a regular basis about the evils of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) and how they will save Americans from it by destroying it root and branch. But recently the press handed them what they believe to be a golden egg from that wonderful mythical goose that will not only prevent them from losing seats in red states that traditionally vote Republican but are now wavering, but it will help them to rid America of Obamacare once and for all. All that we have to do, these reinvigorated Republicans believe, is to generate 1.21 gigawatts of power – in each direction – to propel us through that black hole back to the point in the past where we had the optimum leverage against Obamacare, grab that leverage, and bring it back to the future; the here-and-now! Just like Doc and Marty McFly did in that car that Doc made! Voila, right?

Whether or not this can be done, it appears that the desperate Republican Party is willing to try it. Because ever since headlines in the mainstream media have begun to appear that say premiums for Obamacare will likely increase by an average of 22 percent in 2017, Republicans cannot hide their glee. Even those who have been almost impossible to find because they have been avoiding the press so that they won’t have to answer questions about their standard bearer, Donald Trump, are suddenly popping up like weeds during a refreshing spring rain after a long dry spell and rolling out the old Obamacare rhetoric. Even The Donald himself is trying to take advantage of what might be the only lifeline, despite its precariousness, for his failing campaign to harbor even the slightest hope of a win on November 8. Of course he could not be satisfied with the projected average of a 22 percent increase so he exaggerated this rate in a recent speech to his base.

Republicans are cheerfully shouting to the top of their lungs things like, we told you so; Obamacare is a disaster; and we are going to repeal and replace Obamacare with something that is patient-centric, much better, and less costly. What they are not telling us even in a whisper let alone shouting it as loud as they can is what they are going to replace it with; what that ‘something’ is that will be patient-centric, much better and less costly that they will replace it with; and why after all of this time they haven’t yet revealed a detailed plan to the American people of what they plan to replace it with.

Another thing that they are not telling us is the part that the Republicans played in a concerted effort to assure that Obamacare would fail. They are not telling us that their part is firmly entrenched in the statement that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made shortly after Senator Barack Obama became president in which Senator McConnell said that his number one priority was to make President Obama a one-term president. They are not telling us that they decided that come hell-or-high water – which has so far proven to include gridlock, a plethora of do-nothing congresses, and risking or ruining America’s pristine credit rating, their plan was to make sure that the policies and bills that President Obama championed and other things important to his legacy would fail; things like Obamacare.

Most states, if not all of them, that were headed by a Republican Governor or that had Republican-led or heavily Republican legislatures have fought relentlessly to prevent Obamacare from succeeding. In some cases these states have not only fought hard to prevent it from succeeding but they have, in essence, sabotaged it by refusing to expand their state’s Medicare programs. Had they worked with the president, not only would premiums likely not be going up in 2017, but they would probably have been a lot more affordable in the first place and the program itself would likely have been well on the path to being a success if not already successful.

Perhaps the reason that Republicans have not revealed their plan is because, like their standard bearer Donald Trump who has refused to reveal his foreign policy plans to Americans until after the election (and maybe even after, based on his statements, he has defeated ISIS), they don’t want to reveal their plan to the enemy. They want it to be a surprise; they want to keep us in suspense. But are we, the American citizens and voters, the enemy? Only if they have no plan and are trying – again, like their standard bearer – to dupe us and want to make sure that they don’t foil their chances, no matter how slight, of winning the election. If that is the case, then we likely are considered to be the enemy.

There is a saying that “a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.” In the case of Obamacare and this phantom plan that the Republicans are offering, a bird in the hand (Obamacare) is better than a million in the bush offered by this hidden plan, which amounts to “no plan at all” that the Republican Party is trying to sell us (caveat emptor). But it is obvious that that will not prevent them from trying to use it to put Donald Trump in the White House. This is happening despite the fact that many of them who just recently jumped off of his bandwagon because they finally believed that he did not even have the slightest chance of winning might be back on it again because they see a slight glimmer of hope for him and once again believe that hitching their quest for political success to him might still provide some political advantage.

There is about two weeks left until Election Day. This is an extremely important election and it is extremely important for all of those who are eligible to vote to make sure that they exercise that right. Too often too many of us as Americans take this right for granted and so nonchalantly decide not to vote. We should never waste our vote; but especially in this election, an election that has the potential to change the face of America and have a long-term impact on her future. I believe that a wasted vote comes when we either stay at home – for whatever reason – and not vote, or cast a protest vote for someone whom we know does not stand the slightest chance of winning.

So whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent always remember that your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it! Knowing this, you must be sure to get informed and get out and vote on or before November 8; preferably before that date. If you vote early, you can avoid the crowd and the chance that you might need to wait in a long line. I can attest to that because I already voted: no wait, no stress, no problem.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

I haven’t posted an article in so long that you might have thought that I had gone missing. Well, as it turns out, it was the hard drive on my computer that was AWOL and not me. Anyway, I’m back and following is the article that I want to share with you.

Donald J. Trump continues to be extremely dangerous to the American way of life and a change agent as to how the world sees us. While his son, Donald Trump Jr. is saying that the presidency would be a step down for his dad if he should win the election, Donald J. Trump continues to talk down America and our political system. His latest claim is that the system is rigged for Hillary Clinton in an effort to assure that she wins the election. Therefore, he says that he will only accept the results of the election “if I win.”

As a result of the problems that The Donald alleges are occurring in the presidential election process, the Russians have requested to have monitors present at polling places around the country during the November 8 elections. Of course, their request has been denied. But don’t be surprised if it is supported by Mr. Trump. Although he has repeatedly denied that he is cozy with Russian president Vladimir Putin, he has been one of his most adamant defenders throughout this election cycle. One of those denials occurred during the latest, and final, presidential debate; so did his latest defense of Russia (President Putin).

Countries around the world have always looked to the United States for leadership and as the ultimate example especially when it comes to democracy. Donald Trump is making a mockery of that long-held respected position and is spawning doubt in the minds of world leaders and their fellow countrymen as to whether or not we are still up to the task. That should not be! Americans have worked too hard and too long in our effort to perfect this democracy to allow Donald J. Trump – or the likes of him, to tear it and America down! That is chief among the reasons why it is so important to vote early or get out and vote on November 8.

Although many Republicans are beginning to come around, publicly condemn Mr. Trump for his actions and withdraw their support from him, they should not get any credit for that. The time to step up like true statesmen and show strong leadership in tough situations – of which this is obviously one, has long past. In the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Not only did these Republicans fall far short of that mark, but they are continuing to try to suppress the rights of those legitimate voters throughout America who desperately want to vote.

This situation with Donald J. Trump should not be about preserving ones job; it should be about preserving all of what is good about America! Where is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell?! Where is Speaker Paul Ryan?! Where is RNC Chairman Reince Priebus?! Where are the Republican statesmen?! Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the person who when he was Senate Minority Leader pledged to fix a broken senate when he became Senate Majority Leader, has long been the king of showboating in “moments of comfort and convenience” and hiding- almost to the point of becoming the invisible man, in “times of challenge and controversy.” Perhaps congress should establish a Select Committee to find out where his hiding place is and then investigate why he is always missing in action in times of challenge and controversy. Why not? They eagerly investigate everything Hillary.

Speaker Ryan, RNC Chairman Priebus and the other congressmen might not be as hard to find as Majority Leader McConnell but they are doing just as much as he is to denounce Donald Trump and stop him from ruining America; and that is virtually nothing. Mr. Trump has openly talked about how as a billionaire it makes him smart to pay zero dollars in federal taxes over a period of almost two decades. He has admitted how he has used laws in America to avoid paying his debts. He has insulted people of almost every ethnic background and said that he wants to bar all Muslims from entering this country.

He has degraded women and openly bragged about how he could grab them by their genitals and get away with it because of his celebrity. He has regularly touted foreign leaders like those in Russia and China and ranted about how smart they are and how stupid America’s leaders are. He has fervently defended Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia against accusations that Russia is responsible for the hacking of the DNC and Hillary Clinton emails even though 17 American intelligence agencies have said that Russia is responsible for the hacks. And this man wants to be our president? What more does anyone need to know to determine that he is not the person who should occupy the Oval Office?

Some among the rich and powerful use our country’s law system, which is purposely skewed in their favor, to impose their will upon the poor and weak to strip them of their rights and valuables. In their insatiable greed, they also lust after that inalienable crown jewel that all people possess but cannot take it regardless of how rich and powerful they are; it must be surrendered. That crown jewel is our dignity. Mr. Trump is this statement personified; when it is juxtaposed with his behavior and personality, it is nearly a perfect fit. Too many politicians – in this case Republican politicians, have already surrendered their dignity. We as American voters must not surrender ours.

As a final point, I have a message for those who are struggling to make a decision – especially Evangelicals, who might be among those considering casting their vote for Donald J. Trump. That message is that the challenges that we face in life can sometimes be overwhelming. But to give up and in essence do nothing will ultimately make matters worse; it will exacerbate the struggle to retain and grow that substance of things hoped for and that evidence of things unseen. When one can acquire and retain that unique substance, and internalize and grow that captured substance and evidence, then nothing will be impossible for them. Of all people who are considering voting for Donald Trump simply because he is the best option between two bad choices knowing that they are horrified by his behavior and rhetoric but yet repulsed by Secretary Clinton because they believe that she is completely untrustworthy, Evangelicals should understand this.

For those – again, especially Evangelicals – who are using the rationale that they are picking the lesser of two evils to justify their selection I say that these are just popular words that many of those in the valley-of-decision find it convenient to use in lieu of getting informed and making what is a tough decision. You have a moral and ethical responsibility. Therefore, instead, you should carefully examine each candidates record and decide based on that record which of the two is likely to best lead our country in these dire times. And after you contemplate my message to you and review each candidate’s record you still feel compelled to vote for Mr. Trump, then that is what you should do.

I watched the Rachel Maddow show on Thursday October 20 and she showed a clip of an interview that was held about four years ago with former United States Supreme Court Justice David Souter. In that interview Justice Souter said that he was not worried about some other country invading America and destroying our Republic. And he was not worried about some internal coup by our armed forces. Instead, he said, I am worried about the American people not knowing who to blame and hold accountable. Because I have faith in the American people and their desire to do what is right, I am confident that if they know who to blame they will hold them to account.

He continued. People don’t understand how government can and should work and when government does not function as it can or should, people don’t know who to blame. My concern is that they will not know who to blame and when problems are not addressed and get to be too many or too much, someone will come in and promise to resolve all of their problems if they will give him total power.

In closing he said; so all of this is a product of ignorance and you cannot keep a Republic with too much civic ignorance. This is what you should worry about. We should do something about civic ignorance, he said.

All of us should think about what Justice Souter said and juxtapose it to who Donald J. Trump really is; we should juxtapose it to Mr. Trump’s behavior and rhetoric. Then, before we cast our ballot we should seriously consider how important it really is not only to our future but to the future of our children and grandchildren and to the future of America.

Donald J. Trump is not the person that America needs to lead us forward. Whether or not you agree with me and whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent always remember, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line