October 25, 2024
The Case for Kamala Harris: One Woman's View
by Deborah DiMicco

Our health and wellbeing are at stake. Harris will protect affordable health care. The US is the only country that does not have universal health coverage, but at least we have the ACA, over mostly Republican protest. Over 50 million Americans are now covered under this program. She is also pushing to lower drug costs. The cost of prescription drugs in the US is 3.22 times as high as in other comparison countries. Think about that. Why is that?

Harris will boost the child tax credit. During the pandemic, in rare bi-partisanship, the Pandemic Rescue Plan was born. This program lifted more people out of poverty in a single year than any other piece of legislation enacted in 50 years. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 8/29/24). Harris is fighting for those children, for those mothers, for those families who could use a good hand up, to attain economic security with the child tax credit. Why is this so hard for Republicans?

And of course, Harris champions women’s rights. We have come a long way, baby, and this clearly frightens conservatives. We are smart, we are determined, we don’t back down, we want equal rights and equal pay. We want a say. And the conservative religious politicos see that as a threat. They seek to constrain us with bans on abortion, travel out of state, even on campaigning for the right to abortion. They would shove us back decades. We are not going back. Harris is what we need in the face of this extremist push to roll back women’s rights. My freedom to choose does not take away that freedom from others. I don’t get that they don’t get that.

It’s time for a different perspective, a woman’s perspective, a mother’s perspective. Harris wants to bring people together, in all of our differences. She does not seek to make us all the same, she does not need us all to conform to one idea or belief. She does not threaten, demonize or weaponize. She wants us all to have a fighting chance economically. She has ignored the racist, sexist, puerile taunts and jabs from the MAGA candidate and his machine. She doesn’t waste her time on the petty small stuff, she does not ask what we can do for her, she is telling us what she can do for us, all of us. Listen!

October 25, 2024
The Case for Kamala Harris: One Man's View
by Hal Wright

Men: In a moment, I'm going to ask you to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, enthusiastically if possible. Stay with me.

If you're on the fence, I get it. We've all seen the signs, literally and figuratively, on one side of the political spectrum. "The future is female." "Women will save democracy." "Smash the patriarchy." When men's existence as good and useful humans is acknowledged at all, we receive, at best, a pat on the head and assurance that what's good for women is good for us too. We rarely hear the word "masculinity" without it being preceded by the word "toxic." Some women go so far as to try and define "positive" masculinity, or say we need to get beyond it, as if we don't already know what masculinity is and what it's for.

By a number of objective measures, many men, especially young men, are grappling with serious challenges not of their own making. Very few people seem to have noticed; fewer seem to care.

None of this is part of the future we imagine. We don't want to denigrate women. But we don't want a matriarchy any more than we want a patriarchy. We want to collaborate with women as equals. We want our role in building this great country, literally and figuratively, to count for something in its political discourse and in its policies.

Here's the thing. That's what Kamala Harris wants too. I'm sure, because that's how she has lived her life, and that's how she is running her campaign. As prosecutor, District Attorney in San Francisco, Attorney General of California, US Senator, Vice President, and now as presidential candidate, Harris has eagerly immersed herself in environments that require a toughness rarely seen in anyone, man or woman. In each role, she has done her job very well—no more, no less. Harris is not carrying the feminist banner. Like every smart, tough, patriotic public servant, she merely wants to serve the country she loves and all its citizens to the best of her ability.

Kamala Harris has pledged to unify America and to work on behalf of all of us. So has her running mate, Tim Walz. Picking Walz wasn't just an astute political move. Clearly, Harris gets along with the Midwestern veteran, teacher and hunter. The two will form a potent leadership team. And, "mind your own business" is a fitting mantra for our times.

The Biden/Harris administration has done much more for our country than they have gotten credit for. Access to healthcare has been expanded. Social Security and Medicare have been preserved. Our infrastructure is being fixed and improved. Post-pandemic inflation has been curbed without recession. Stocks have doubled in value. Jobs and GDP are up. Our problem isn't lack of wealth, it is wealth inequality, something Harris and Walz have Plans To Address head on. NATO strength has been restored and expanded, thank goodness, given the number of bad actors who want to destroy us. We all know who is responsible for killing the secure borders bill authored by conservative Republican Senator James Lankford. It wasn't the current president, who promised to sign it, as has Kamala Harris when the time comes.

With respect, if you think Elon Musk and the former president for whom he simps have the answers to your problems, if you think they possess some sort of magical fairy dust able to lower your grocery bill and create world peace, you might have spent just a little too much time watching bro-culture podcasts. These bizarre individuals have neither the awareness nor the inclination to do more in the public sphere than serve their own interests.

If I've lost you at this point, or if I need to convince you that the fake "masculinity" on the other side isn't borne of insecurity and weakness, this message probably isn't for you. For me, a man doesn't need to strip women of their civil rights to feel like a man. A man doesn't need to create arbitrary hierarchies based on gender or skin color or religion to feel he is on top. A man lifts people up. He doesn't obsessively tear people down.

Women are pissed off, and rightly so. They are living through a renewed era of existential threat they spent generations trying to overcome. As our fathers would say, "Be a man." See their truth, and accept it. Give women the support they need to recover their bearings and their agency in what for them is a very dangerous environment. Give them support, even if they do not ask for or acknowledge it.

And give Kamala Harris the chance to lead, to show us what she can do. Vanquish once and for all the aged, fragile, damaged person opposing her, who—you know this—offers us nothing but division and violence, and embodies the most toxic of human traits.

October 14, 2024
Democrats Support Unions, Republicans Do Not
by Deborah DiMicco

Joe Biden negotiated the resolution of a strike which threatened to cripple our economy in three days. Who's the dealmaker now?

The International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job on October 1, dockworkers from Maine to Texas hitting the picket lines. The last time the ILA went on strike was in 1977. It took seven weeks to reach a settlement. The Biden administration (don’t forget that Joe Biden walked the picket line with striking auto workers) was able to help both sides reach an agreement in three days.

As the election draws ever closer, it’s important to remember whose side the presidential candidates are on. Julie Su, acting Labor Secretary said, “Over the last week and more, I have spent hours on the phone and in meetings with the parties urging them to find a way to a fair contract.” As the former president hides in his happy places on the campaign trail and on Fox News, let’s remember in 2023, the AFL-CIO noted in a press release, “Former President Trump spent four years in office weakening unions and working people while pushing tax giveaways to the wealthiest among us. He stacked the courts with judges who want to roll back our rights on the job."

As Elon Musk shares the stage with Trump at his rallies, the United Auto Workers filed federal labor charges against the former president and Elon Musk for publicly applauding the practice of firing employees who threaten to strike. Said Trump, “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, you’re all gone. You’re all gone.”

So here’s the deal. Trump is not on our side. He is not on the side of labor, of workers, of the common man or woman trying to get ahead. It is time to vote: to vote him off the island, to purge us of this threat of the former president and his musky followers. Make them irrelevant. Their way is anti-labor, anti-middle class, anti-you and me. It is all for one, and that one ain’t us. November 5 is coming. The future is in your hands. Your mission….is to VOTE.

October 10, 2024
Democratic Lawn Signs Are Being Stolen, Slashed and Burned
by Diane LeBas

Far from being an inconsequential prank, stealing or damaging a political lawn sign is an attack on protected speech, a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution as well as by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump pledges that he will "be a dictator on day one" of his second term. His followers are already attacking our First Amendment rights and intimidating voters on our very own streets and in our very own neighborhoods.

Under the First Amendment, political signs are considered "core political speech," a form of speech that may support or critique a candidate, position, political party or issue—or the government itself. Activities such as circulating petitions or attending nonviolent rallies, as well as symbolic actions like burning the flag, are also types of core political speech and are therefore protected from restriction or interference by government entities. Anyone could cover their entire lawn with political signs and be free from governmental limitations unless their signs posed a clear and present danger to the public.

Protecting political signs from criminal behavior by bad actors during a heated campaign season is difficult. Although in Pennsylvania stealing or damaging a political sign is a third degree misdemeanor punishable by jail time, probation, or a series of fines, these assaults on our free speech "are happening all over," according to Dawn Burke, a local attorney. Newtown and neighboring communities have experienced a good number of disturbing incidents of sign theft or vandalism recently. On one Borough block half a dozen signs were stolen or destroyed; homeowners even had garbage thrown near a sign. Even worse, a line of political signs were set on fire in Upper Makefield lighting up the night sky and endangering the neighborhood.

In addition to suppressing the expression of free speech, the destruction of political lawn signs becomes a personalized and dangerous type of intimidation: On the Borough's Market Day, visitors to the Dems display table were offered lawn signs, posters, stickers and pins promoting this year's candidates. A surprising (and distressing) number of folks told volunteers that they were afraid of putting out lawn signs and chose much smaller and more private symbols of support.

We cannot validate the belief that the louder and nastier voice is the only one that deserves to be heard. When Democrats are afraid to exercise our free speech rights publicly, we have handed an important victory to our opponents. Newtown Democrats appreciates all those who put out signs and wear stickers, pins, hats and T-shirts in support of Democratic candidates! If your signs are stolen or vandalized, call your local chief of police and file a complaint.

October 5, 2024
The Serial Predator Who Claims He Will Protect Women
by Deborah DiMicco

Is anyone else creeped out by Trump’s sudden “friend of women” riff assuring us that we will be “happy, healthy, confident and free” and that we will “no longer be thinking about abortion?”

Trump continued: “We want you to have your beautiful babies in this country. We want you to have your beautiful, perfect baby….we need them.” This is far more than, as Stephen Colbert put it, “upsetting.” This is cringing, skin crawling EEWWW. Does he think women are stupid? When one sees this grab-them-by-the-pussy sex abuser try to project Big Brother benevolence toward women, it appears that the answer is yes.

We’ve been told by JD Vance that Republicans will “create stories” and this, clearly, is just another fabrication to sucker us into voting for him even as he seeks to take away our choices, our self-determination, our independence. Trump and the MAGA conservatives he must appease see a threat by strong women who want to upend their society’s order, where the man is at the top and in charge. That creaky notion is being challenged by smart, powerful independent women who dare to disagree, who dare to see a different America, who dare to challenge the conservative, patriarchal “we know best” status quo. So Trump & Co must diminish these women. This is not limited to those in the opposing party. They even go after their own; Republican Senator Katie Britt’s rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address was delivered from her kitchen table, the tacit message; this is where women belong.

Kamala Harris’ candidacy (pronounced KAH mah lah, her name deliberately mispronounced by Trump and Vance in childish, deliberate insult and denigration) is the height of what these conservatives fear: a shift in power, from those who seek to take power away from women, to those who would empower them. Trump’s words of rapprochement are disingenuous, and are glaringly inconsistent with his actions. Yet Trump thinks we’ll buy it. He thinks we’re stupid. That is his biggest mistake.

September 25, 2024
Trump and Vance Lie "Like Truth"
by Deborah DiMicco

At the end of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth finally realizes that he has been totally conned by the three witches, the “Weird Sisters,” who lie “like truth.” Today in America we have our own potential tragedy in the making with the weird Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance who also “lie like truth.”

Witness Trump’s hysterical insistence during the debate that, in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets. “They’re eating the dogs!” “I saw it on television!” The white nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups who started this false rumor were "thrilled." A woman who claimed her cat was stolen found the cat in her basement, safe and sound. And Springfield, which has a history of welcoming the oppressed dating back to its days as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and which has by and large welcomed the Haitians as neighbors and productive employees, was thrown into turmoil. Even the Ohio governor, Republican and Trump supporter Mike DeWine, criticized Trump for his reckless lies.

Lest we scratch our heads at Trump’s rattled, addled claims, we need look no further than JD Vance’s doubling down on this story (that has been repeatedly debunked by authorities). Vance weirdly, openly admitted, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” Vance will lie like truth to call attention to a situation that does not exist, loudly and repeatedly, to con us into voting for him and for Trump.

There is a cynicism at play here in this weird MAGA campaign that is so shamelessly, blatantly unencumbered by evidence or facts. It is a campaign that believes that we are all marks, just gullible targets easily brainwashed by their repetition and amplification of lies until they become our “truth.” We are smarter than that. We deserve better than that. Their disdain for us is clear in their brazen mendacity; they will say anything, no matter how outlandish, to get or to steal our vote.

During his debate with Harris, in little more than an hour, Trump made some 64 false claims. As President, Trump told some 30,000 lies. He's been telling lies ever since, the most sinister of which are aimed at eroding the integrity of our elections.

When asked if he would accept the results of the 2024 election, Trump equivocated, saying he would accept the result only if it is a “fair and legal and good” election. The operative (and mutable) word here being “good.” We cannot let ourselves be fooled by this con man and his ableist assistant. They are telegraphing that they will do anything, sink to any low to commandeer this election at the cost of our democracy.

They lie. That’s the truth.

August 26, 2024
A Heartbeat Away
by Gail Titus

The choice of JD Vance as VP candidate disappoints, while the choice of Tim Walz delights.

One of the most important decisions a presidential candidate makes is the choice of a running mate. This decision is paramount since the potential future vice president is truly one heartbeat away once the inauguration takes place.

The GOP has floundered before with vice presidential picks. The late Senator John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin was ineffective and former President Trump’s choice is equally as disappointing. Senator JD Vance wasn’t in the senate long enough to distinguish himself and certainly does not seem ready to run the country. His breadth of political experience is lacking and his support of Donald Trump for his own political gain is troubling. No one criticized Trump more than Vance who likened him to Hitler.

On the other hand, VP Harris’s selection of Governor Tim Walz for presumptive Vice President is refreshing and welcomed. Governor Walz has executive experience, has been in the House of Representatives and is a veteran. He is a former educator and football coach. He has distinguished himself as the type of leader that works in a bipartisan fashion. Governor Walz enabled paid family leave, gun safety laws, universal school lunches, and support for civil and women’s reproductive rights.

As we approach November, we all must strongly consider what vision for America we would like to enjoy going forward. Is it a vision that includes policies that make people’s lives better or a vision that desires to move the country backwards?

Vote and choose wisely!

August 26, 2024
Strange Congratulations
by Joe Sundeen

As Biden works to return US citizens being held hostage abroad, Trump continues to praise dictators and undermine democracy.

President Joe Biden, through diplomacy, the aid of allies, and his focus on the job of serving the people of this country, was able to free hostages who were captured by Russia and its dictator Vladimir Putin. These individuals, who were guilty only of being American citizens or residents, are now free to be with family and enjoy the freedom that our country stands for. The normal reaction to this welcome turn of events would be to rejoice with them. But Donald Trump instead weirdly congratulated Putin, never mentioned the people who were freed by name, and failed to remember that he bragged that only he could get them home.

Trump’s behavior is consistent with his rejection of the bipartisan border deal that would have strengthened border security because it would not be in line with his personal goal, which is to win the election to stay out of prison. Trump fouls everything he touches, turning virtue into vice. He disparages the very ideas on which our nation was founded and will not relent until his corruption becomes normalized. This will not — this cannot — be a future anyone should want. President Kamala Harris will, with our help, make sure that the Trump vision never becomes reality.

August 11, 2024
Powerful Women
by Deborah DiMicco

When women pursue excellence, we all win.

It was an extraordinary moment when U.S. gymnasts Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles bowed to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade as they stood on the Olympic podium, medalists in the floor exercise. This was a spontaneous gesture of joy and respect for the accomplishment and success of a peer, another phenomenal female athlete. It was women celebrating women, generous in their accolades, happily lifting another up in solidarity and in recognition of the lifelong dedication, determination, and hard work needed to win the gold. It was moving. It was euphoric. It was real.

Yet there are men out there who cannot give powerful women like these three their due. Men like Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who could not let this stand in its glory, calling the gesture “disgusting.” This is but one example in our society where powerful women are criticized by men who cannot accept that power. Men who, in their own insecurity and rage, would strip women of our strength, of our importance, of our worth. Chiles and Biles were the target this time, Kamala Harris is next. It is time for women, and the men who respect them, to fight against this knee-jerk, cowardly misogyny. We women have the right to breathe, to be free, to be powerful, to win gold, to be president. When we fight, when we vote, women win. When women win, we all win.

July 30, 2024
Explainer: What is the Chevron Deference, and Why Should You Care?
by Loretta Lawler and Hal Wright

In the past two years, Trump's Supreme Court has made numerous rulings which defy common sense, and rob us of safety and freedom. The decision related to the "Chevron Deference" is hardest to fathom, and possibly the most dangerous.

With Trump's three justices clearing the way, the Supreme Court has veered sharply to the right, most especially with these four rulings:

It is this last decision which concerns us in this article.

Federal agencies are special government organizations set up for a specific purpose, such as the management of resources, financial oversight of industries, or addressing national security issues. These organizations are typically created by legislative action, but may initially be set up by presidential order as well.

The Chevron Deference or Chevron Doctrine dates back to the Reagan administration. Based on a previous Supreme Court ruling, it allows courts to defer to the expertise of federal agencies as they enforce regulatory laws passed by Congress. Legislation related to health and safety, to the environment, to finance, and to other subjects of government oversight often lacks the specificity needed to facilitate enforcement. Federal agencies fill in the gaps.

Now, it's important to remember that federal agencies exist because unregulated private activity created unsafe working conditions, damage to the environment, dangerous medication, and contaminated food. As a rule, corporations are not the best stewards of their own activities. They bristle at agencies’ ability to enforce regulations and limit their business operations.

In the aftermath of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a major concern is impending chaos as major corporations' attempts to appeal earlier rulings which had heretofore been settled law. The decision also represents what some define as major overreach by the courts. “In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue—no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden—involving the meaning of regulatory law,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent. “As if it did not have enough on its plate, the majority turns itself into the country’s administrative czar.”

Corporations are focused on the bottom line. It’s taken decades of government policy and regulations to institute safeguards that protect the health and well being of corporate employees, consumers, and neighbors. Allowing the various district courts to interpret and rule on regulations independently and without the knowledge and expertise of agency subject matter experts threatens to roll back protections for everything from Worker Safety (OHSA) to food and drug safety (FDA) to environmental protections of our air and water (EPA).

It's worth noting that all four of the decisions mentioned at the beginning of this article align neatly with the goals of Project 2025. It's also worth remembering that public safety was once a bipartisan project. Richard Nixon founded the EPA in 1970. Those days are long gone. Today, only one party puts We The People over corporate interests and profits. The only way to undo the damage caused by a Supreme Court which has grossly overstepped its authority is to elect Democrats at all levels and in all branches of government.

April 15, 2024
Dear Independent and Moderate Republican Voters...
by Martin Raffel

President Biden's flaws do not include the desire to establish an imperial presidency.

I believe President Biden has been an excellent president, who has accomplished a lot for the American people in his first term. However, you may disagree with his policies or be reluctant to vote for him because of his flaws. But his flaws are not, qualitatively, like the flaws of his opponent, who will not hesitate to throw our democracy under the bus.

If you sit out the election, or if you vote for a third-party candidate, in effect, you would be helping to establish an imperial presidency. Would our democracy survive a second Trump term? Possibly. But do we really want to take that chance? A vote for Joe Biden this year is an act of true patriotism.

I recently watched the Apple TV mini-series “Masters of the Air,” which tells the story of the 8th Air Force and the courageous American pilots that flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from their bases in England in World War II. They experienced horrific losses, yet mission after mission, these men climbed back into their cockpits because they believed, correctly, that they were striking a decisive blow against Hitler’s fascism.

I thought of my late father, himself a World War II B-17 pilot, not with the 8th but with the 15th Air Force that flew out of Foggia, Italy, and his 50 harrowing missions over targets in Nazi-occupied Europe. He suffered from nightmares for years after the war. The other image that crept into my mind was of Donald Trump standing in front of a huge American flag with his rapt MAGA followers chanting “USA, USA.” And I could feel my blood pressure rising.

Frankly, that image revolted me, and I knew it would have revolted my late father. From the Greatest Generation we have descended to a former president and GOP candidate who strenuously sought to block the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our nation’s history, who incited a mob to attack the Capitol, and then watched for hours as the mob battered law enforcement officers and hunted Trump’s vice president and members of Congress. The former president refused repeated appeals by advisors and family members to call the mob down and end the violence.

In recent days Mike Pence finally acknowledged he could no longer in good conscience vote for the person with whom he served. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and extremist rhetoric continue to poison our discourse. Yet, it’s not only about 2020 election denialism, his cozying up to authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, and his disrespect for Gold Star families and genuine American heroes like John McCain. Put all that aside. What about our American future?

The former president has said that he should be able to do whatever he wishes. Already he and his supportive cast have been hard at work mapping out a strategy to gain a free hand by replacing senior professionals in all federal departments, including the Justice Department, with people who will do whatever he insists that they do, Constitution be damned.

Would federal employees be protected? No. Toward the end of his term, Trump signed an executive order that would have given him the power to dismiss as many as 50,000 federal employees who have faithfully served both Republican and Democratic administrations and replace them with loyalists to his extreme agenda. After the 2020 election, Biden quickly rescinded the order. If elected to a second term, Trump reportedly would reimpose it. This is just one of many tools Trump is expected to use to consolidate power in his hands.

Our Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick declared January 6 to be an “attempted coup.” I wonder what he is thinking now. Will he join Mike Pence and others from his party, including many who worked in Trump’s White House, in rejecting Trump’s fitness to serve as commander-in-chief for a second term? Or just keep quiet so as not to alienate the MAGA base?

I know this. His continued silence means history will not think kindly of him.

April 4, 2024
A Fitting Coincidence
by Debbie DiMicco

The outcry of Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans over the coinciding of Easter with the Transgender Day of Visibility is yet another example of far-right intolerance and disparagement of anyone who is different. The concept “Let us love one another.” [John 4:7] is absent in all of this shrill and divisive rhetoric.

While Trump hawked bibles (only $59.99!), Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary, called for “an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America,” as though all Christians believe transgender persons have no right to exist in our country. House Speaker Mike Johnson jumped in, asserting that the Biden White House “betrayed the central tenet of Easter.” What tenet? “Give justice to the weak, maintain the rights of the afflicted and the destitute?” [Psalms 82:3]. “Be kind to one another?” [Ephesians 4:32]. “God shows no partiality?” [Romans 2:11] ] “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner?” [Proverbs 14:21] “Judge not that you not be judged?” [Matthew 7:1]

MAGA outrage flies in the face of Jesus’ message, yet that seems to be the trend in Trump’s Republican party, embracing Christ’s name, while disdaining Christ’s message. Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today, reported that pastors who quoted from the Sermon on the Mount were met with criticism, with congregants rejecting Jesus’ words as “liberal talking points” and “weak.” It seems that “Love your neighbor as yourself” [Mark 12:31] is passé - unless that neighbor is just like you.

The coincidental calendar conjunction was low hanging fruit for Trump, Leavitt, Johnson, and their ilk to further their political agenda of hostility and exclusion, all while dripping in specious righteousness. Just like Mike Johnson’s insistence that the Bible is his “worldview” and “owners manual.” It seems the version of the Bible that Johnson and his cronies are reading is missing a few important pages, but that’s what you get when you switch from King James to the abridged “MAGAs Notes” version.

Whatever. Trump, Leavitt, Johnson, and company are wrong. The coinciding of Easter and the Transgender Day of Visibility is not a betrayal. It is serendipity. It is fitting. And the unstrung fury it has engendered simply shows that while these right-wing extremists proclaim themselves Christian, their actions and words show that they are anything but.

March 29, 2024
The Kitchen's the Thing
by Debbie DiMicco

In Senator Katie Britt’s conservative Republican rebuttal of Biden’s State of the Union speech the biggest message was in the background: the kitchen. Whether she decided this, or was simply an unwitting dupe, the kitchen motif was a blatant tell of the conservative Christian Republican party’s view of women and where they belong.

This is precisely why Biden cautioned the nation against the danger of old ideas, and what this MAGA Republican party seeks to embrace. Britt spoke of being at a crossroads, where the choice is to move forward or backward. Yet the kitchen backdrop speaks for itself, even as Britt would have us believe that the MAGA Christian conservative platform to roll back laws that grant voting rights, women’s freedoms, even health care access, is somehow a step forward.

Biden’s predecessor has already helped MAGA and Christian conservatives take several steps back to the kitchen, weakening the Voting Rights Act, overturning Roe v Wade, and now, the absurdist ruling that embryos are people, too! Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has written that striking down Roe v Wade should also open up the high court to review the right for married couples to buy and use contraception without government restriction, and to review same sex relationships and marriage equality. Britt was oblivious to the irony as she urged in hushed tones that Republicans “want families to grow,” referring to IVF, but not to their commitment to ban access to abortion.

Britt, in her catastrophizing of the world under Biden, spoke of the threat of China, again missing the irony as she warned that if the CCP conquers the minds of the next generation, it conquers America. But apparently it’s just fine if it’s MAGA doing the conquering. In this vein, Britt dredged up 20 year old story of a sex-trafficking victim at the border to hang on Biden, all while supporting a MAGA presidential candidate who has been found liable for sexual abuse. Britt warned us that we are at a crossroads, that it doesn’t have to be this way.

She’s absolutely right. We can move forward and continue to fight for equality, the right to vote, the right to health care, the right to choose, as Biden and Democrats propose, or we can take a giant step back as the setting for Britt’s speech patently shows, into the kitchen, where the only choice open to women is what to make for dinner.

January 18, 2024
GOP Complicity
by Steve Cickay

The Republican Party is poised to nominate a person who recently said he would be a dictator on Day One of his second term, and who engaged in an insurrection that attacked the U.S. Capitol and the brave officers who risked their lives to defend it.

On January 6, 2021, this man attempted to defraud the American people and unlawfully remain in power. He has made false claims that the election was rigged ever since. He is also currently under 91 felony charges. Yet most Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, say and do nothing about someone who is an existential threat to our democracy, thereby giving tacit approval to his authoritarian excesses.

This would-be dictator promises to use the power and resources of the government for retribution against his political enemies, and to pardon the convicted perpetrators of the violence on Jan. 6 — yet most in the GOP either praise him or cower silently in fear of him and his MAGA supporters. A few brave Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Chris Christie, who fully understand the danger this fascist-loving man poses to our democracy, thankfully speak out constantly against him. Silence is complicity with those who would take our prized possession — our democracy — away from us. It’s time to elect leaders who will love and defend our democracy, and who do not remain silent while it is about to go up in smoke.

September 29, 2023
Trump Is Mentally Unfit to Serve in Any Capacity

Seven years into the national nightmare created by Donald Trump, there is still no major news coverage of the obvious, a simple disqualification performed every day in the United States military.

My father was a career military officer (Army and Air Force) and I was career military (Army and Air Force also); and we both would have had the simple duty to execute the following:

We would have discharged any soldier or airman who was crude, rude, nasty, insulting, divisive to esprit d’ corps, and who lied all the time. We need people in uniform who believe in duty, honor, country; who have integrity and can commit to service before self (unto death if necessary). We would have been obligated to eliminate Donald Trump on these simple character issues alone.

My father and I would have eliminated anyone who thought he knew more that the generals, refused to believe that his commander in chief was a U.S. citizen, thought that sexual assault of women was due to putting men and women together, thought enemy leadership was stronger than American leadership, thought confirmed intelligence was a hoax, thought that white supremacists were fine people or believed that a free press was the enemy of the people. And, of course, we must eliminate anyone who thinks the Geneva Conventions tie our hands. These are all beliefs and public declarations of Donald Trump— they are also disqualifiers from military service.

My father and I would have eliminated anyone from the military who violated the law. Trump just lost a rape case in New York. The victim was awarded 5 million dollars. He had to pay 2 million to the victims of his fraudulent charity, and 25 million to the victims of his fraudulent university. Sexual assault and fraud waste and abuse are against military law. He also stole highly classified documents and shared them with unauthorized people. All of these actions would have landed him in military prison.

Now, what I know as a career mental health officer that my father did not: Donald Trump meets all the criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder with Antisocial traits. It is why he betrayed our intelligence community in Helsinki. It is why Senator John McCain said, “The president of the United States went to Helsinki and abased himself in front of a tyrant.” What is so indicative of this particular pathology is the inadvertent confessions of guilt. Trump imposed economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for what he insists is a hoax.

But the most important clinical evidence of all is the events of January 6^th 2021. Donald Trump tried to overthrow the government of the United States of America. This is not opinion. This is American history. Most of us watched it on television— an hour long speech of lies about election fraud that our Attorney General, William Barr, testified under oath that he assured the president were “bullshit” -- then he resigned as Attorney General rather that be part of a coup.

The 45^th President watched a violent attack on law enforcement for hours and did nothing to stop it—then, at the end of the day, went on national television and told the insurrectionists to continue to be peaceful and that he loved them. The integration of moral opposites is completely abnormal but is routine for those with this mental disorder. Two more important facts of American history— the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and the Republican leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, both made comments holding Trump responsible for the violence on January 6^th and the next day, Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell’s wife) and Betsy DeVoss resigned from Trump’s cabinet because of Trump’s violation of the peaceful transfer of power.

The final confirmation of his mental unfitness for command was the logical ambiguity and moral confusion created by his departure from office. After telling his followers that he won the election by a landslide, he got on his helicopter, abandoned his post, and flew to Mar a Lago, giving his job to the man he claimed stole the election. Lack of logic and reasoning combined with the audacity to keep repeating debunked information is a key feature of personality disorder pathology and one of the reasons we must eliminate them from military service.

It is our national shame that he is still the leading Republican candidate. That 74 million people voted for the first Commander in Chief unfit to hold the lowest rank within the military is a fact still unreported by major media. This silence betrays the sacrifice of every service member who gave their life defending the Constitution against all enemies.