Three recent thoughts

Have you noticed that...  

*After the Civil War in the 19th century, white Southern Senators used the filibuster to kill Reconstruction. 

*In the early 20th century, Senators used it to block anti-lynching bills. 

*In the Civil Rights Era, Senators used it to prevent the passage of desegregation and voting rights legislation for years.

*And in 2021 it is being used to block voting rights legislation. 

Do you think that there is a trend here?


"The term “evangelical” has been stripped of all meaning, with the politicalization of the movement. This is a movement in which I was reared. It’s part of my DNA. I’m very proud of its history going back to the 19th century. The movement I see today is unrecognizable. I don’t see anything that reflects the teachings of Jesus. I don’t see anything that is consonant with the noble legacy of 19th century evangelical actors, which invariably took the side of those on the margins of society. Evangelicals didn’t always get it right. But if you look at their overall record, it was remarkable. That’s why I find the term “Christian right” deeply offensive. I don’t find anything Christian in the actions and agenda of the religious right." ---Randall Balmer, Evangelical Leader and professor of Religion at Dartmouth College.


"January 6 was the greatest threat to our democracy since the assault on Ft. Sumpter. " --Jon Meacham, Christian writer and professor of Presidential History at Vanderbilt University.


Donald Trump's Record of Successes and Failures

Dear friends,
Below is my list of some of Donald Trump's most famous wins and losses in several areas. I've added to it off and on for a while and it's still not exhaustive, but it was helpful to me to see a broader sweep of his career than what we get in the tiny bits and pieces of the daily news. I’m obviously a bit biased in my findings, and I’m sure that a supporter could find a way to compile a far worse list for Joe Biden, but there is nothing included below that is not true. Some of my sources are listed at the bottom. Be well, Stan



Donald Trump’s Business record:

  • The Trump Taj Mahal, filed bankruptcy in 1991 

  • Trump Castle Hotel & Casino, filed bankruptcy in 1992

  • Trump Plaza Casino, filed bankruptcy in 1992 

  • Trump Plaza Hotel, filed bankruptcy in 1992

  • Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, filed bankruptcy in in 2004 

  • Trump Entertainment Resorts, filed bankruptcy in in 2009

 

Donald Trump’s election record:

  • He lost the popular vote in 2016

  • He lost the house in 2018

  • He lost the Senate in 2020

  • He lost the popular vote and the electoral college vote in 2020

  • He lost forty lawsuits in court claiming that he won the 2020 election

  • He was the only US president in history to be impeached twice


Donald Trump’s Administration Indictment record:

  • Paul Manafort (48/25 counts) 

  • Rick Gates (23 counts)

  • Roger Stone (7 counts)

  • Michael Cohen (1 count)

  • George Papadopoulos (1 count)

  • Michael Flynn (1 count)

  • Many other colleagues and cohorts (Russian spies, etc.) who were not technically a part of his administration

  • (It’s worth noting that the record of indictments for Barack Obama is zero.)

Donald Trump’s record of Lawsuits Claiming that he had won the 2020 election

  • Pennsylvania — 13 losses

  • Nevada — 4 losses

  • Georgia — 5 losses

  • Michigan — 5 losses

  • Arizona — 4 losses

  • Wisconsin — 7 losses

  • New Mexico — one loss

  • Direct appeals to Supreme Court by GOP and Trump Campaign — 3 losses

    • Several Republican politicians, led by Rep. Mike Kelly

    • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton 

    • The Trump campaign 

Donald Trump’s record of lawsuits during his four years as president

  • Wins - 59

  • Losses - 200

  • Ties - 0

  • Place in history: Donald Trump’s Administration has lost more court cases than any other president in modern history. 

Donald Trump’s record of organizations:

  • Trump University: Shut down by court order, 2011, final settlement of $25 million fine, 2018

  • Trump Foundation: Shut down by court order, Nov. 2019, for fraud

  • Trump Organization: Still standing, but charged, in July, 2021, with 15 felony counts, including 

    • a scheme to defraud 

    • conspiracy

    • grand larceny 

    • falsifying business records.  

 *****

Sources: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/20/trump-has-worst-record-supreme-court-any-modern-president/


https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-pennsylvania-elections-us-supreme-court-5cc6aee8c328c7bb1d423244b979bcec


https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-lawsuits-election-results-2020-11

https://policyintegrity.org/trump-court-roundup


https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/524016-tired-of-winning-trumps-record-in-the-courts


https://www.thedailybeast.com/all-of-the-trumpworld-figures-whove-been-arrested-indicted-or-jailed


https://philadelphiabankruptcylawyers.com/how-often-has-donald-trump-declared-bankruptcy/


https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-organization-charges-07-01-21/index.html


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/federal-court-approves-25-million-trump-university-settlement-n845181


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-business-weisselberg-indictments/2021/07/01/e2b774a0-da15-11eb-bb9e-70fda8c37057_story.html?itid=lk_fullstory


https://www.sierrasun.com/opinion/columns/law-review-trump-foundation-ordered-shut-down-trump-to-pay-2m-fine/


https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/politics/trump-foundation-dissolve/index.html


 

February 22, 2021 Dear Friends,

I realize that some of you, my friends, still don't think there is a pandemic, and some of you think there is one but that it's not really serious, and some of you think the vaccine is a hoax by Anthony Fauci and a connection he has to some pharmaceutical company, and some of you think that the vaccines are real, but not effective, and some of you think other things I can't remember right now.

I don't want to insult anyone's beliefs. But for the rest of us who have seen first hand its deadly effects on loved ones and trust the judgment of the vast majority of infectious disease specialists around the world (not just Dr. Fauci), I encourage you to at least ACT like you believe it and honor our beliefs. Don't laugh at us, or jeer at us or call us names or send us nasty tweets,or Facebook posts or protest us. We don't deserve that.

Even if you don't believe in anything about the pandemic, please honor the integrity of those who do by following the CDC guidelines: use masks, hand sanitizers, social distancing and vaccines. It is not a major imposition. Your freedoms will not be taken away. It will not be the start of a socialist takeover of the world (a claim I have heard more than once). These practices are just safety precautions taken by people who trust the scientists and want to stay healthy. It's not bad people trying to hurt you or rob you of your first Amendment rights. I promise.

Thanks.

Stan

A few Thoughts on Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh died this week. It’s not good to speak ill of the dead, so I’ll speak on both sides. On the one hand, a lot of his followers speak very highly of him. They always have and always will. But on the other, he didn't mind speaking ill of the dead who he didn't like, like young black men who were shot by white police officers with no apparent cause, or people who had died of AIDS, or Muslims who died in Mosque bombings, or people who had died by suicide, and many others.

It’s also true that he considered himself to be a man of deep faith. He recently told an interviewer that God had strengthened him through the last days of his illness. That’s wonderful, but on the other hand, I remember him criticizing Joe Biden for saying that God had strengthened him following the death of his son. He called Biden’s comment a “crutch that liberal Democrat politicians are allowed to lean on.” He often said that you couldn't be a Democrat and a believer at the same time. Because you can't logically believe in God and also believe that humans have an influence on global warming. So, all Democrats who claim to have faith must be lying. 

He actually often called progressives and democrats "liars," and he frequently quoted things he claimed that they had said, and then said that they were outright lies. But on the other hand, his critics have said that he seldom got through his daily talk show without telling at least a handful of lies. I remember hearing him being interviewed on the radio some years ago and being asked about that and he partially agreed. He said that he had to lie now and then because “we are in a war of ideas” and that winning that war was more important than telling the truth. But his friends all loved him, so I’ll let it go.

He was actually considered to be one of the best at using what his critics would call “lies,” as a way of riling up support for causes that he liked and politicians that he didn't. Those who know more about his influence than I do say that he was one of the most important (and dishonest) voices in America in terms of driving white, nationalist, evangelical Christians to believe that Democrats, progressives, immigrants, pluralists, feminists, liberal Christians, and others, were greedy, godless, hate-filled, socialists, and that they were out to destroy us, and that they had declared "war on the Republic" (the title of a book his brother, David).

He frequently told the "Big Lie" that the evil Joe Biden-Deep State Socialists had stolen the country and the election and he was one of those responsible for convincing millions of Americans to come to washington and storm the Capitol to take the country back. Just before he died, he praised the Trump followers who had stormed the Capitol as “Patriots,” because they had heard him and followed him and tried to rescue their country. 

On the other hand, many of those “patriots” who got away, and are not now in jail, will probably praise him for speaking the kind of “truth” that they can support, and giving them the strength to destroy the satanic evil that was causing so much destruction and vote stealing. That’s quite a legacy. Not many people could claim to have been that important to so many people.

It’s not good to speak ill of the dead. There are many who are grieving over his loss. But I will say that I believe that the America of tomorrow will be a just a slight bit more gentle place to live in now that there is one less voice in the public media who is calling names, telling lies, insulting others, and encouraging insurrections. And that will be a good thing.