On 6 January 2001 then president Donald Trump clearly attempted to overthrow our Democracy.  The effort was inept, but still criminal.  In hindsight, after   all 10 living former Department of Defense secretaries published in the  Sunday, 3January2021, issue of the Washington Post a public letter , declaring that the U.S. presidential election was over, Trump should have realized that without the Department of Defense, there was no hope for a successful coup. The letter – signed by Dick Cheney, James Mattis, Mark Esper, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Chuck Hagel, Robert Gates, William Perry and Ashton Carter – amounts to a remarkable show of force against Trump’s subversion efforts just days before Congress is set to count Electoral College votes . Watch William Cohen explain on CNN their motivation for this extraordinary action. Okay, that was one Republican effort to destroy our Democracy, although I would argue that the culprit was Donald Trump, not the entire party. 

I regularly make fun of Republicans.  That Trump quote from   People   magazine, for example,   was false .  As you must know, the 2022 term is   gaslighting .  I'm honestly trying to do Republicans a favor today.  For my nostalgic posting, I revert to 16April2011, almost a dozen years ago: SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR REPUBLICANS Remember, this was about now, 12 years ago when then President Barack Obama's prospects for re-election did not appear bright, and as late at Labor Day in 2011 his approval rating plunged to a new low.  To quote  Brookings  ( which is a liberal think tank ): Economic growth was mediocre,  unemployment remained stubbornly high, and the public’s confidence in the future was waning. The president seemed unable to find a credible narrative to explain his plans; worse, he seemed to have lost the connection with the people that had fueled his remarkable victory in 2008.  Democrats: Characterized opponent Mitt Romney as a heartless plutocrat, and his running mate wa

We are one month away from the midterm elections on November 8.  There is so much uncertainty and so much at stake this time.  Democracy vs Trump, for one, even though he is not running this year.  The Senate is currently at 50-50, but because Democrat Joe Biden is President, Veep Kamala Harris is the swing vote, giving Democrats control.  The House is a little more complicated, with 220 Democrats, 212 Republicans and three vacancies. One unexpected development is Republican Senator from Nebraska,  Ben Sasse , who was not a Trump fan, and had won a second term two years ago, decided to resign, probably at the end of this year.  Why?  Nothing much to do with politics.  Appears he will become president of the University of Florida.  He has noteworthy academic credentials:  PhD from Yale, taught at the University of Texas and was president of Midland University in Nebraska.  If he leaves, that adds another element of suspense as to which party will gain control of the Senate. There is a g

              From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday): DAY    USA    WORLD      Brazil      India      South Africa June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85 Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118 Dec     30       3880    14748       1224       299      465 Jan      14       4142      15512        1151        189      712 Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398 Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194 April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37 May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59   June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95  July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411 A