Category Archives: Elections

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump’s Border Betrayal

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One of Trump and the Republican Party’s top priorities is the urgent need to protect our southern border. They have been hammering Biden and the Democrats for years about their failure to secure the border and stop massive illegal immigration into the States from Mexico. To that end, the GOP has been planning to make the lack of border security a major issue in this year’s elections.

Then finally, after months of negotiations, Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a bipartisan agreement on a border security bill over last weekend.[1] Suddenly, Trump opposed the deal[2] hoping to keep this campaign issue front and center while urging Republicans to turn their backs on their own solution. By tying Ukraine’s military assistance to tough border security, Republicans believed that the Democrats would never accept the compromise, allowing them to continue blaming the Dems for the uncontrollable surge of migrants at the border.[3] It appears they were very mistaken.

But it gets even worse for Trump and his GOP lackeys. In both the 2016 and 2020 elections, the U.S. Border Patrol union endorsed Trump for president due to his hardline stand on immigration reform. The union has repeatedly slammed Biden for his handling of our border with Mexico. But on Monday the labor organization which represents 18,000 agents endorsed the Border Act of 2024 stating it is “far better than the current status quo.”[4] At the same time, Trump denigrated thousands of hardworking union members by contending that “only a fool, or a radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill.”[5]

Due to Trump’s opposition and the stranglehold he has on his party, the bipartisan bill did not pass.[6] Ironically, that will hand Biden and the Democrats a big campaign issue. They can now rightly claim that the Republicans killed the solution to one of America’s most pressing problems. Immigration/border security polls alongside the economy as the two most important issues to voters this year. And the Democrats plan to make sure the public knows who was responsible for not solving the problem when the opportunity presented itself.[7]

Trump’s flipflop on border security may well hurt his election chances in another important way as well. Obtaining endorsements from major unions provides presidential candidates with significant support. In addition to campaign contributions, unions supply campaign volunteers, lists of voters, and more. Millions of Americans either belong to a union or have friends or relatives who are members.

The Border Patrol union’s support of Biden after previously twice backing Trump[8] sends a strong message to working-class voters. It may help convince other unions to get on the Biden bandwagon, too. In the last year the UAW, the very large autoworkers union, endorsed Biden, as did the AFL-CIO with its 12.5 million members.[9] The powerful Teamsters which endorsed Biden in 2020 is now deciding whom to support this year. That Trump is losing favor with the workers of America is a good sign for Biden and our democracy.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-unveils-118-billion-bipartisan-bill-tighten-border-security-aid-2024-02-04/

[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4448556-trump-calls-border-bill-a-death-wish-for-republican-party-dont-be-stupid/

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/border-republicans-ukraine-bill.html

[4] https://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-balk-u-border-patrol-234523412.html

[5] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4448556-trump-calls-border-bill-a-death-wish-for-republican-party-dont-be-stupid/

[6] https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/senate-vote-border-bill-aid-02-07-24/index.html

[7] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/immigration-emerges-key-2024-wedge-issue-trump-vulnerability/story?id=106635907; https://news.yahoo.com/biden-determined-stunning-trump-backed-051927272.html

[8] https://www.mediaite.com/politics/border-patrol-union-that-endorsed-trump-comes-out-in-favor-of-bill-he-staunchly-opposes/

[9] https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-votes-endorse-president-biden-re-election; https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2024-01-24/uaw-backs-biden-in-major-2024-endorsement

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We’re in for a Wild Election Year!

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There’s never been anything like the 2024 election year. Every other day I hear a different scenario of how the presidential election could be radically changed.

First, Biden and Trump are the two oldest candidates to ever run for president of our country. One or both of them could die or become incapacitated before election day. Neither looks like they’re in great shape.

Second, the courts could find Trump ineligible to run under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and knock him out of the race. Section 3 bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country from holding federal office.[1]

The Colorado Supreme Court has already held Trump ineligible to be on its primary ballot based on Section 3.[2] The former president immediately appealed its decision to the U.S. Supreme Court which will hear oral arguments very soon on February 8th. Prominent conservative legal scholars who are members of the Federalist Society, an influential conservative advocacy group, agreed that the Court could disqualify Trump under the Fourteenth Amendment. They wrote that Section 3 is “self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress.” They then concluded that Trump could be rendered ineligible for election.[3]

From a liberal perspective, Bruce Ackerman, Yale Professor of Law and Political Science, offered a different angle in reaching a similar conclusion. He contends that “originalism,” that is, the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment as it was intended at its origin, requires Trump’s exclusion from the race for president.

Ackerman argues that the Colorado court “found that Trump’s support of the Proud Boys, which played a key role in the Jan. 6 riot, represented a paradigm case of “insurrection” as it was originally understood at the time the amendment was enacted.” And, that understanding is supported by “leading originalist scholars and jurists.”[4]

Additionally, Trump’s three appointments to the Supreme Court, “Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett,…proudly proclaim(ed) their adherence to “originalism” at their Senate confirmation hearings.” Ackerman notes it was also their “basis for repudiating Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs.”[5]

In effect, these three justices are trapped by their own doctrines. How could they use originalism to deny women the right to an abortion and not apply it to deny Trump the right to run for president? Ackerman believes that “if the three Trump appointees stick to their originalist principles and vote to disqualify him from office, the justices would actually strengthen American democracy and might help ease the country’s sharp divides — while also bolstering a beleaguered Supreme Court.”[6]

Whatever the Court decides will apply to all fifty states, not just Colorado. Given the Colorado presidential primary, along with those in 15 other states and territories, is March 5th, just five weeks away, the Court should decide pretty quickly. A decision to throw Trump off the ballot would drastically change the election and might even result in widespread protest and violence. That last factor could play a role in the Court’s decision as well.

This is just one of several wild cards in this year’s election. I will explore others in the coming weeks and months.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[2] https://apnews.com/article/trump-insurrection-14th-amendment-2024-colorado-d16dd8f354eeaf450558378c65fd79a2

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/25/supreme-court-originalism-trump-ballot-eligibility-00137666

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Biden’s Election Dilemma

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Like many progressives, I am very disturbed, if not outraged, by President Biden’s continued, unconditional support of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, over 25,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed, the majority of whom were women and children.[1]

I support Sen. Bernie Sanders’s position in this critical matter. Sanders, who like me is Jewish, has called for the Senate to reject the Biden Administration’s supplemental funding bill. The senator explained that the bill “includes $10 billion of unconditional military aid for the right-wing Netanyahu government to continue its brutal war against the Palestinian people. Enough is enough. Congress must reject that funding. The taxpayers of the United States must no longer be complicit in destroying the lives of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.”[2]

In addition to his position on Israel, other issues have contributed to Biden’s sinking poll numbers. Foremost among them are the lack of a sound immigration policy on our southern border and his presidential competence at age 81. As a result, his support among younger voters and minorities (especially Arab Americans), as well as progressives is eroding.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has won the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries and appears to have all but locked up the Republican nomination for president. Still, Biden looks pretty good compared to the corrupt Trump who sexually abuses women[3] and may be a convicted criminal by the time next November rolls around.  

Then there’s the real possibility of a third-party candidate like Kennedy or Manchin drawing votes away from Trump and/or Biden.  So, the key to a Biden re-election may well be whether those disaffected Democratic voters support a third-party candidate, stay home, or hold their noses and vote for Biden.

Fortunately, Biden is receiving help from an unexpected source, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The longer she stays in the race for the Republican nomination, the more Trump will be battered by her as well as Biden. By the time Haley runs out of money and Trump secures his party’s nomination, he will look even worse to independent voters as well as Haley’s supporters. Trump’s pressure to kill an immigration bill favored by Republicans so he can make border security a central campaign issue will only further lower his standing with those same voters.[4]   

Additionally, Biden has to decide whether to stick with his current unpopular positions while taking some pep pills to enhance his image or make some policy changes to draw those disaffected voters back into the fold. Therein may lie the answer to who ultimately wins the presidency next fall. But all in all, the election is starting to look like Biden is a better bet than Trump.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war#:~:text=Since%20then%2C%20over%2025%2C000%20Palestinians,civilian%20casualties%20in%20its%20reports.

[2] https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-senator-bernie-sanders-calls-for-no-more-u-s-funding-for-netanyahus-illegal-and-immoral-war-against-the-palestinian-people/#:~:text=Bernie%20Sanders%20(I%2DVt.,Israel%2DGaza%20is%20not%20complicated.

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/18/nyregion/trump-trial-e-jean-carroll.html

[4] https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/01/25/u-s-senate-republicans-insist-they-wont-bow-to-trump-demands-to-quit-immigration-talks/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Biden Under Fire While Trump Has His Own Problems

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(Note: Since my computer was in the shop getting software fixes for some days, there was no blog post last week.)

While it’s still early, the 2024 elections look like a nail-biter. Unless one of them falls seriously ill or Trump ends up in prison before November, the presidential election will most likely be a tight race between President Biden and Donald Trump.

            Usually, an incumbent president has an advantage in his bid for re-election. But only a third of those surveyed in a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll approved of President Biden’s job performance — a record low for any president in the last 15 years. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating is eight points higher than Biden’s.[1]

            Still, Trump’s not in great shape either. A recent poll of Iowa voters conducted days before Monday’s caucuses found 43 percent of those who supported Nikki Haley said they would vote for Biden over Trump in a general election.[2]

    Another sign of Trump’s general election weakness is a number of his former staffers speaking out publicly against him. Sarah Matthews, a press aide on Trump’s 2020 campaign and in the Trump White House who resigned on Jan. 6, 2021, noted, “I would support Biden over Trump…I won’t support someone who refused to participate in a peaceful transfer of power, tried to overthrow a free and fair election, and incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.”[3]

            At the same time, Biden’s strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas is definitely hurting his re-election chances. In a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 57 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the war.[4] With over 24,000 Palestinian civilian deaths due to Israel’s massive bombings, Biden is being sued for complicity in Israel’s alleged commission of genocide in Gaza.[5]

            Biden’s immigration policy at our southern border is also not popular. Many feel that too many poor, illegal immigrants are entering the country.[6] While lower, nagging inflation is yet another issue pulling his approval ratings down.                                       

            Then there’s Biden’s age. He sometimes appears unsteady on his feet or unsure of his words. He often does not present a strong leadership image. Two-thirds of Democratic-leaning voters want their party to nominate someone other than Biden for president.[7] Additionally, MSNBC pundit and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough noted that every Democrat he has spoken to privately believes President Biden is “too old” to run for reelection.[8]

            Though there’s nothing he could do about his age, Biden and his Democratic colleagues seem unwilling or unable to change course regarding some of these other issues. This is particularly true when it comes to Israel. As a result, he is losing a good portion of the youth vote that got him elected in 2020. And they are not just frustrated with Biden, they are actually angry with him.[9]

    Both candidates have their work cut out for them. Trump needs to figure out how to convince skeptical Republicans to stick with him. On the other hand, if Biden does not start listening to the people who elected him, he may not only fail to win this critical election, but he may also be responsible for losing American democracy to authoritarian rule.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4408318-bidens-approval-rating-drops-to-new-low-poll/#:~:text=In%20an%20ABC%20News%2FIpsos,percent%20approved%20of%20his%20performance.

[2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-may-help-republicans-against-110000920.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/politics/biden-israel-gaza-poll.html

[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/14/us-president-biden-sued-for-complicity-in-israels-genocide-in-gaza

[6] https://cis.org/Arthur/Why-Biden-Implementing-Immigration-Policies-Few-Americans-Favor

[7] https://www.axios.com/2023/09/07/poll-biden-2024-second-term-democrat-voters-cnn

[8] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4202366-scarborough-says-democrats-privately-say-biden-too-old-to-run/

[9] https://www.vox.com/politics/24034416/young-voters-biden-trump-gen-z-polling-israel-gaza-economy-2024-election

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Are You Really Going to Sit on Your Couch and Let Trump Destroy Our Democracy?

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Without a doubt, 2024 promises to be one of the most challenging years in American history as the very survival of our democracy is at stake. The question each of us must ask ourselves is what am I willing to do now to save American democracy?

     Donald Trump has clearly stated his authoritarian leanings. His autocratic positions mandate that he must be stopped from regaining the White House or it’s curtains for our democracy.  For example:

  1.  He intends to be a dictator on day one if he is elected.[1]
  2. He expects to use the federal government to punish critics and imprison opponents should he win a second term.[2]
  3. He plans to create a federal workforce that can be fired by the president at will and must follow his personal whims;[3] and
  4. He wants to pardon people convicted of federal crimes for their involvement in the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol.[4]

Defeating Trump and his autocratic agenda is critical. We cannot wait for Biden and the Democrats to take action. Nor can we count on the courts to find Trump guilty of undermining our democracy. Given Trump’s delaying tactics and the slow-moving legal process, there is at least a fair chance that the courts will not finally settle the ex-president’s legal culpability before November’s election.

It is up to us, the people who still believe in the Constitution, to step up and make sure that voters understand that the survival of our democracy is the central question in this year’s elections.

            Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, put it this way:

My hope for 2024 is that the silent majority of Americans who still believe in freedom will stop wallowing in despair and waiting for the worst. Instead, these voters should rise up from their couches, get organized, and start taking action to save democracy now, and not 10 months and one week from now when it will be too late.

There needs to be an active, pro-democracy movement in the United States that is bigger, more visible, and more determined than the MAGA movement that seeks to destroy it. They should be organizing right now, crafting new messages, posting on TikTok, making themselves known, knocking on doors, registering every voter, and talking to—and listening to—millions of disillusioned young people.

We can enter a new year with high hopes, and not existential dread, but we have to remember that hopes only come true through action.[5]

Now is the time for all of us to take action. Write letters to the editor, register voters, connect with disillusioned youth, campaign door-to-door, attend town halls, primary debates, and political rallies, and talk with friends and neighbors.

 We must make democracy the issue. If we don’t stop Trump, our voices and our votes will be crushed, and America will be changed forever. We must organize and act now before it’s too late.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/trump-says-hell-be-a-dictator-on-day-one/676247/

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/

[3] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/donald-trump-15-most-dangerous-statements/675970/

[4] Ibid.

[5] https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/save-democracy-in-2024

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Can Trump Be Stopped?

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In a recent Washington Post column, Editor-at-Large Robert Kagan wrote, “Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day….The idea that he (Trump) is unelectable in the general election is nonsense — he is tied or ahead of President Biden in all the latest polls…”[1]

            Kagan calculates that Trump will wrap up the Republican nomination three months from now on Super Tuesday. Once that happens, Kagan asserts that Trump will “become far more powerful than he already is” and people will be “falling into line.”[2]

            One Republican who will not be “falling into line” is former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She has vowed “to do everything I can to stop Donald Trump,” which may include a third-party run of her own for the presidency next year.[3]

            But it’s not just about stopping Trump in Cheney’s view. She wants the Democrats to win the majority in Congress as well in 2024. Cheney believes that a Republican majority presents a ‘threat’ to the nation: “We have to ensure that we don’t have a situation where an election that might be thrown into the House of Representatives is overseen by a Republican majority.”[4]

            It is not at all clear that a Cheney third-party run would help prevent Trump from taking the White House. It could boost his chances if her campaign attracted Independents, conservative Democrats, and moderate Republicans who might have otherwise voted for Biden. In fact, any third-party candidacy that draws support from potential Biden voters will actually help Trump.

            In addition to Cheney, numerous groups are working to defeat Trump’s campaign for the presidency. In last week’s blog,[5] I recommended joining Indivisible and reading its A Practical Guide to Defeating MAGA.[6] Other groups you might want to join and support are:

1.    Protect Democracy (https://www.protectdemocracy.org) is dedicated to defeating the authoritarian threat, building more resilient democratic institutions, and protecting our freedom and liberal democracy. 

2. Call To Activism (https://www.calltoactivism.com/) helps Democrats with messaging by defining issues on strong emotional terms that resonate with voters. It strives to stop the GOP from winning arguments and the Democrats from playing defense.

3. The Lincoln Project (lincolnproject.us/) works to protect the American Republic from Donald Trump and those who identify (publicly or privately) as MAGA supporters. It agrees with Trump on only one thing: 2024 is a battle for America’s future.

Finally, there is one other way of stopping Trump. Lawsuits in several states are now seeking to disqualify Trump from running for president under section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Section 3 disqualifies anyone from holding public office if they have taken an oath to the United States and subsequently “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same” unless Congress votes to remove that disqualification by a two-thirds vote. In Colorado, the state supreme court just heard arguments on the matter. In Michigan, a state appeals court will soon render a decision. And, in Minnesota, the state supreme court dismissed a similar case for the time being.[7]

            In the end, it all comes down to you and me. How much do we care about the future of our country? How much time, energy and money are we each willing to contribute to saving our democracy? We all must pitch in and do whatever we can to defeat the greatest threat to our fragile American Republic since the Civil War. Contact one of the above groups to find out how you can help. Your country needs you now more than ever!

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/30/trump-dictator-2024-election-robert-kagan/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_popns&utm_campaign=wp_opinions_pm

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.npr.org/2023/12/05/1217282237/liz-cheney-oath-and-honor-memoir#:~:text=Former%20Wyoming%20representative%20Liz%20Cheney,can%20to%20stop%20Donald%20Trump.%22

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/03/liz-cheney-would-rather-see-democrats-win-2024-00129796 / bm

[5] https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog/

[6] https://indivisible.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/20220104_Indivisible_%20A%20Practical%20Guide%20to%20Defeating%20MAGA.pdf

[7] https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/06/colorado-supreme-court-trump-insurrection-00130271;

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/04/can-trump-be-removed-ballot-insurrection-clause-colorado

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Can American Democracy Survive Trump’s Sedition?

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There’s a lot going on these days that makes my blood boil. The tragic war between Israel and Hamas is on the front burner, along with Biden’s refusal to recognize it’s time he passed the presidential torch to the next generation.

But I just read a recent column by my new favorite journalist, Lucian K. Truscott IV, that made my blood boil even more. In it, Truscott reminds us that:

“…while Judge Engoron (who is presiding over Donald Trump’s NY civil fraud case) and his clerk are undergoing a tsunami of harassment and threats that took 250 single-spaced pages to list, Trump is riding around in armored Secret Service “Beast” SUV’s and traveling on his private jet, surrounded by Secret Service agents carrying M-4 automatic submachine guns, as he continues to egg-on his hordes of MAGA followers.”[1]

I am outraged. How can we law-abiding taxpayers be footing the bill for Trump’s protection while our government’s judges continue to allow the indicted, fascist-leaning ex-president to incite his followers to violence?

What the hell is happening in our country that allows such seditious, if not, criminal behavior to go unchecked? How can protecting this lawless, insurrectionist ex-president and his subversive conduct be more important than safeguarding American democracy? This must be stopped!

It’s clear that our democracy is under attack and Trump is leading the charge. So clear that the federal government has indicted him on three criminal conspiracy counts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.[1] (Including three other cases against him, Trump faces a total of 91 felony counts.) Still, even if Trump is convicted, it probably will not stop his supporters from doing whatever they can to put him back in the White House.

No question we have our work cut out for us if we are to save our besieged democracy from Trump and his unruly gang. Fortunately, Indivisible has published A Practical Guide to Defeating MAGA[2] which provides a promising way forward. They know it won’t be easy. In fact, they warn, “It’s going to take all of us working together to beat back the MAGA movement and save our democracy.”[3]

In their 19-page Guide, Indivisible lays out two strategies that executed well together can defeat MAGA Republicans and preserve our democracy. Simply put, they are:

Push Democrats to fight for important wins and sell those wins to the public, and

Define the GOP as the unpopular extremists they are.

I urge you to join Indivisible in this critical effort. Go to https://indivisible.org/ and sign up. We must come together. Our country needs us now more than ever.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/trump-my-free-speech-rights-dont

[2] https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf

[3] https://indivisible.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/20220104_Indivisible_%20A%20Practical%20Guide%20to%20Defeating%20MAGA.pdf

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The Struggle for the Soul of America: Like It Or Not, Biden Is Our Only Hope

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I recently had a difficult political conversation with a couple of friends. While usually supporters of Democratic candidates, they emphatically proclaimed that they would not vote for Biden for president next year. But, neither would they support Trump.

My friends indicated that they may not vote for president at all in the coming election. However, if they decided to vote, they were leaning toward Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for president, who is currently polling an impressive 22% in a three-way race with Biden and Trump.[1]

 I argued that not voting or supporting a third-party candidate would help Trump get elected. And a Trump second term would be a disaster for our country. Of course, it’s not a certainty that voting for a third-party candidate like Kennedy or perhaps Sen. Joe Manchin, if he decides to run, would boost Trump’s election chances. But can we take that chance?

In my mind, this is not about Biden’s age or whether or not we agree with some of his policies. What the 2024 election will really be about is whether the United States continues to be a democracy.

Every day Trump tells us loud and clear who he is and how he will rule our country if he regains the White House next year. The Washington Post noted Trump in his Veterans Day speech called his political enemies “vermin” and suggested that they pose a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China, or North Korea. It reminded the newspaper of dictators Hitler and Mussolini.[2]

The United States would become an authoritarian regime if Trump were elected. Michael Luttig, former conservative federal appeals judge and assistant White House counsel under President Reagan, asserted,  “I am more worried for America today than I was on January 6. … [Trump’s] election would be catastrophic for America’s democracy.”[3]

Here are just a few of what a second Trump presidency would look like:

First, Trump would break down legal restrictions and traditional protections against political interference and give the White House authority to install ideological allies throughout the federal government.[4] He intends to strip tens of thousands of career employees of their civil service protections, which would allow him to fire all government officials he considers disloyal to him and replace them with loyal lackeys.[5]

Second, Trump wants to undertake the largest domestic deportation operation in American history. He would end birthright citizenship, using an executive order that would introduce a legally untested interpretation of the 14th Amendment.[6] His White-nationalist policies would invoke new legal authorities to pursue mass expulsions and enlist the military to help carry them out.[7]

Third, Trump would crack down on gender-affirming care by declaring that hospitals and health care providers that offer transitional hormones or surgery no longer meet federal health and safety standards and will be blocked from receiving federal funds, including Medicaid and Medicare.[8]

Fourth, Trump would ramp up oil drilling on public lands and offer tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal producers. He would roll back Biden administration’s efforts to encourage the adoption of electric cars and reverse proposed new pollution limits. He would exit the Paris Climate Accords, end wind subsidies, and eliminate efficiency regulations imposed and proposed by the Biden administration.[9] Our efforts to fight climate change and save our planet would take a huge step backward.

And fifth, Trump has pledged to terminate the Department of Education. He would push the federal government to give funding preference to states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure and allow the direct election of school principals by parents. He also has said he would cut funding for any school that has a vaccine or mask mandate and will promote prayer in public schools.[10]

There’s much more. But who would stop him? The very conservative Supreme Court majority that he built during his first term? Don’t hold your breath. If you are thinking of not voting for Biden, you better think again. At this point, electing Biden is probably the only way we can be sure to keep Trump out of the White House.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3881

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/12/trump-rally-vermin-political-opponents/

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-has-big-plans-for-a-second-term-critics-say-they-pose-a-threat-to-democracy-203042124.html

[4] https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/16/politics/trump-agenda-second-term/index.html

[5] https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/14/trump-mass-deportation-immigration-stephen-miller/

[8] https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Will Biden Run for Re-election?

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While last Tuesday’s elections proved positive for Democrats, they did not demonstrate that President Biden’s chances of winning re-election were on the rise. In fact, a recent New York Times/Siena College poll had Biden losing to Donald Trump in five of the six top battleground states.[1]

            According to the poll, Biden’s support among core constituencies has dropped considerably. In particular, non-white voters and those under 30 have lost faith in the President. On the key issues of the economy, foreign policy, and immigration, battleground states’ voters trusted Trump over Biden.[2]

            Though the poll gave Trump a four-point advantage over Biden, when asked if they favored another unnamed Democratic candidate, voters gave that generic candidate an eight-point lead, 48 percent to 40 percent over Trump.[3]

            As a result, some national figures are beginning to raise the possibility of having another prominent Democrat on top of the ticket next year. David Alexrod, Obama’s chief political strategist, noted Biden has to decide “whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s” for him to run for re-election.[4] Citing Biden’s age (He is about to turn 81.), Washington Post columnist David Ignatius recently wrote that Biden should not run.[5]

Additionally, MSNBC pundit and former Congressman Joe Scarborough noted that every Democrat he has spoken to privately believes President Biden is “too old” to run for reelection next year.[6] This past weekend the President gave further reason for these concerns at a Veterans Day service. Biden stumbled during the service and appeared to get lost while laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.[7]

            Biden also has other serious baggage weighing on his re-election prospects. Chief among them is inflation. A late September ABC/Washington Post poll found that high food and energy prices are voters’ major issues with the Biden administration.[8]

            Nevertheless, despite the disturbing polls and Biden’s losing key constituencies support, the Democratic establishment is sticking with Biden.[9] Former labor secretary in the Clinton administration Robert Reich believes that if Biden “simply continues to be the adult in the room — governing maturely and responsibly — more of the American public will eventually come around to him, including in the swing states.”[10]

            Consequently, barring some disrupting event, e.g., the president’s health deteriorates significantly, it certainly looks like Biden will be the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2024. While many of us, myself included, would rather see a younger, more progressive Democrat leading the ticket, we all have to get behind Biden now. The stakes are too high not to.

            The election is a year away. Biden still has time to turn the tide in his favor. A recent Politico column offered a number of ways he could do that. One that I found intriguing would be for him to “appoint a pair of high-level envoys,” Bill and Hillary Clinton, to oversee a new Mideast peace process. “Dispatching the Clintons would show Biden’s commitment to a resolution…”[11] In addition, I believe he needs to pressure the Israelis to wind down the war and institute a ceasefire as soon as possible as well as develop a viable framework for a just and lasting peace that all sides agree to. (See NYT columnist Tom Friedman’s view on this.[12]) This would shore up his standing with the American Muslim community and the political left sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

            Another valuable proposal is for Biden to present a broad team as the face of his campaign:

     The governors, the senators, the cabinet secretaries and the infrastructure czar should be the faces of Biden’s campaign, along with the president and vice-president. The message: with Democrats remaining in power, it’s not just an 82-year-old at the helm but also this group — Team Normal when compared to Trump….[13]

Of course, youth, Blacks, and Hispanics need to be prominent members of Biden’s Team too. These core constituencies must be convinced that the administration is listening to them and addressing their concerns.

            Finally, while there are other strategies the president could pursue, perhaps the most effective would be “to solidify and expand the anti-Trump coalition.”[14] Biden’s campaign needs to make crystal clear what a huge difference there would be between Trump’s return to the White House and a second Biden administration. The former leads to an authoritarian regime. The latter will help revitalize American democracy. Therefore, it’s critical that we all join the Biden team now.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/politics/biden-trump-2024-poll.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/06/an-ominous-poll-democrats-what-it-says-about-biden-alternative/

[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/david-axelrod-questions-wisdom-president-biden-running-again/

[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/12/biden-trump-election-step-aside/

[6] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4202366-scarborough-says-democrats-privately-say-biden-too-old-to-run/

[7] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12737895/Biden-gaffe-veterans-day-service.html

[8] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/09/abc-nbc-polls-show-the-economy-hurts-biden-more-than-age.html

[9] https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/28/politics/biden-reelection-worries-dean-phillips/index.html

[10] https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-labor-secretary-predicts-exactly-101031826.html

[11] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/13/biden-2024-reelection-challenges-strategy-00126776

[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/opinion/israel-war-biden.html

[13] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/13/biden-2024-reelection-challenges-strategy-00126776

[14] https://www.yahoo.com/news/goldberg-bidens-bad-news-week-110454250.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Differences Between the Parties Couldn’t Be Clearer

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With the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the divide between the two major parties has been made astonishingly stark. At the same time, from a political perspective, the Republicans have given the Democrats a big campaign gift for 2024.

Next year the American people will have an extremely clear choice. On the one hand, they can vote for House Republican Party members who “unanimously voted for a man who made it his mission to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election, who put the political whims and needs of Donald Trump ahead of the interests and will of the American people.”[1]

According to a recent New York Times investigation, “Mr. Johnson was ‘the most important architect of the Electoral College objections’ to Mr. Trump’s loss in 2020… He made unfounded arguments questioning the constitutionality of state voting rules; he agreed with Mr. Trump that the election was “rigged,” cast doubt on voting machines and supported a host of other baseless and unconstitutional theories that ultimately led to a violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”[2] Consequently, Trump, the likely Republican nominee for president in 2024, approved of Johnson’s bid for Speaker of the House.[3]

Additionally, Johnson voted against a number of the Biden Administration’s major bipartisan bills — including one to establish a Jan. 6 independent commission, the infrastructure law, reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the codification of same-sex marriage legislation, a modest new gun law and the Chips and Science Act. Johnson also voted to cut off U.S. military assistance for Ukraine.[4]

Regarding abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, Johnson strongly opposes both as well. He has a long history of advocating against these rights.[5]

On the other hand, Congressional Democrats and the Biden Administration have strongly supported all of the above legislation and issues that Johnson has rejected.

Perhaps as telling as any of the above regarding where Johnson and House Republicans stand is the first piece of legislation he proposed as House Speaker. Despite bipartisan backing for a larger aid bill to include support for Ukraine, the U.S.-Mexico border and other pressing needs, Johnson recommended funds only for Israel. Worse still, he coupled the $14.3 billion Israeli aid with cuts to the IRS, a top priority of the far-right. Since these cuts would reduce the IRS’s ability to go after high-income earners trying to evade their tax liability, Johnson’s bill would actually increase the budget deficit.[6]

Clearly, Johnson was more concerned with garnering MAGA Republicans’ support and helping wealthy Republican donors avoid paying their fair share in taxes than assisting Israel, Ukraine, border security and other priorities. Top Senate Republicans as well as the White House and practically all Congressional Democrats quickly rejected Johnson’s bill.[7]

In 2024, will Americans support an anti-democratic, election-denying Republican Party that puts its wealthy donors above everything else? Or will they back the Democrats who stand up for the rights of all Americans and are working to build the nation’s economy and infrastructure as well as to assist our democratic allies abroad? We all need to do whatever we can to ensure that the voting public understands the differences between the parties and supports the Democratic Party that’s working for them.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/opinion/mike-johnson-trump-speaker.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mike-johnson-house-speaker-republican-nominee-what-know-rcna122114

[4] Ibid.

[5] https://lailluminator.com/2023/10/29/mike-johson-lgbtq/

[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/31/israel-ukraine-johnson-house/

[7] Ibid.