This blog will chronicle my comments and other critical articles, cartoons and videos. Time has come for us to put America first and Party 2nd. This page will have the good, bad and ugly of Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians alike, but will always offer pluralistic solutions effective June 8, 2012

Monday, June 11, 2018

Trump doctrine on foreign policy - ‘We’re America, Bitch’


Trump is worried sick with his misdeeds, the only support he has is his base, and all the statements he makes are to keep that loyalty. He does not care about America or his base, he is seeking his own sanity and self-balancing acts.

Thanks to Jeffrey Goldbert and the Atlantic, you can read the re

Mike Ghouse

Abstracts from the article


"But what is mainly interesting about “We’re America, Bitch” is its delusional quality. Donald Trump is pursuing policies that undermine the Western alliance, empower Russia and China, and demoralize freedom-seeking people around the world. The United States could be made weaker—perhaps permanently—by the implementation of the Trump Doctrine."



"The second-best self-description of the Trump Doctrine I heard was this, from a senior national-security official: “Permanent destabilization creates American advantage.” The official who described this to me said Trump believes that keeping allies and adversaries alike perpetually off-balance necessarily benefits the United States, which is still the most powerful country on Earth. When I noted that America’s adversaries seem far less destabilized by Trump than do America’s allies, this official argued for strategic patience. “They’ll see over time that it doesn’t pay to argue with us.”

The third-best encapsulation of the Trump Doctrine, as outlined by a senior administration official over lunch a few weeks ago, is this: “No Friends, No Enemies.” This official explained that he was not describing a variant of the realpolitik notion that the U.S. has only shifting alliances, not permanent friends. Trump, this official said, doesn’t believe that the U.S. should be part of any alliance at all. “We have to explain to him that countries that have worked with us together in the past expect a level of loyalty from us, but he doesn’t believe that this should factor into the equation,” the official said.  


Thanks to Jeffrey Goldberg and the Atlantic, you can read the full article at https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/a-senior-white-house-official-defines-the-trump-doctrine-were-america-bitch/562511/?utm_source=atlfb

A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Muslim Republican for Congress from California - Omar Qudrat

As the immigrants integrate with the society and become one with it, then, it will be hard to distinguish between the born and new Americans. They will display the same characteristics ranging from extreme right to moderate and to the left as traditional Republicans and Democrats.

Here is an example of one immigrant, a Muslim going to the extreme in supporting Trump's tactics. They gain support from those who have to hate someone or the other, they create an imaginary enemy and fight against it, and there are enough people to fall for that. 


Here is Omar Qudrat, as reported by WND, World News Daily, another right-wing website in the likes of Breitbart.


Continued at http://centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/2018/05/muslim-republican-for-congress-from.html

Mike Ghouse 



Republican congressional candidate Omar Qudrat
Republican congressional candidate Omar Qudrat
A Muslim running for Congress in California said he backs President Trump’s policies on immigration and terrorism and condemns groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations because they pose a threat to the nation’s security.
Omar Qudrat, who is running in the 52nd congressional district in the San Diego area, told Breitbart News Tonight that “radical Islamic terrorism is a real threat to our nation,” pointing to a “multi-component effort to try to undermine and destroy the United States and its allies.”
“That includes organizations that hold themselves out as advocacy groups,” Qudrat said, referring to CAIR.
CAIR, founded by Muslim Brotherhood operatives, was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding operation, and the Arab Gulf state United Arab Emirates declared it a terrorist organization.

Qudrat told the Breitbart radio show he opposes groups “that try to use our own laws against ourselves, and weaponize our Constitution against itself.”
“I am against Shariah law,” he said, referring to Islamic law and its supremacist political prescriptions. “It is unconstitutional, period. It has no place in the United States. It has no place anywhere in the world.”
Qudrat, along with several other Republican candidates, is running against incumbent Democrat Scott Peters. The Cook Partisan Voting Index sees the Democrats holding a six-point advantage in the race. Qudrat has been endorsed by the San Diego County GOP and several incumbent Republican members of Congress.

He told Breitbart he favors Trump’s wall and his policy of suspending immigration from countries where residents can’t be properly vetted for terrorism.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Stacey Abrams Wins Georgia Democratic Primary for Governor, Making History

Courtesy New York Times


Stacey Abrams Wins Georgia Democratic Primary for Governor, Making History

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Stacey Abrams at her election night watch party in Atlanta, after winning the Democratic primary in Georgia on Tuesday.CreditMelissa Golden for The New York Times
·         May 22, 2018
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Georgia Democrats selected the first black woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the United States on Tuesday, choosing Stacey Abrams, a liberal former State House leader, who will test just how much the state’s traditionally conservative politics are shifting.
By defeating Stacey Evans, also a former state legislator, Ms. Abrams also became Georgia’s first black nominee for governor, a prize that has eluded earlier generations of African-American candidates in the state. The general election is sure to draw intense national attention as Georgia voters determine whether a black woman can win in the Deep South, a region that has not had an African-American governor since 
Reconstruction.

She will face either Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the top Republican vote getter Tuesday, or Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Mr. Cagle and Mr. Kemp will vie for their party’s nomination in a July runoff.

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Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, left, a candidate for Georgia governor, during an election night gathering in Gainesville, Ga., on Tuesday.CreditTodd Kirkland/Associated Press
Ms. Abrams’s victory, confirmed by The Associated Press, came on the latest 2018 primary night to see Democratic women finding success, as voters in Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas also went to the polls. Among the winners was Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, who upset Mayor Jim Gray of Lexington in a House primary in Kentucky.
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But it was the breakthrough of Ms. Abrams that drew the most notice. A 44-year-old Yale Law School graduate who has mixed a municipal career in Atlanta and statehouse politics with running a small business and writing a series of romance novels under a nom de plume, she is now a central character in the midterm elections and the Democratic Party’s quest to define itself.

In a Facebook post declaring victory Tuesday night, Ms. Abrams acknowledged the general election would be tough and cast herself as the candidate representing “the Georgia of tomorrow.”
Speaking later to a throng of supporters at a downtown Atlanta hotel, Ms. Abrams did not directly invoke her barrier-breaking nomination but held up her candidacy as a sign of the state’s progress.
“We are writing the next chapter of Georgia’s history, where no one is unseen, no one is unheard and no one is uninspired,” she said.
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When she arrived, Ms. Abrams spoke forcefully, calling herself a “proud daughter of the Deep South,” and referring to Georgia’s rich but “complicated” history — and of leaders who too often had overlooked the “gap between struggle and success.”
She also quoted the Book of Esther, saying “We were born for such a time as this.”
With Atlanta thriving as a capital of black America and a magnet for immigrants across the world, Georgia’s demographics are changing. Yet even as Democrats eye the state as the next great blue hope, the party has struggled to win statewide office in part because it has had little success with conservative-leaning whites. African-American Democrats have held powerful state offices, like the attorney general’s post, but Republicans currently control every major position in Georgia.
Ms. Abrams has signaled that she is unlikely to spend much time pleading with rural whites to return to a Democratic Party that they have largely abandoned. She has embarked instead on a strategy of energizing a coalition of young and nonwhite Georgians who represent a growing share of the state’s population, an approach national Democrats are watching closely as they grapple with how to reclaim the presidency.
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But this slice of the electorate has not proven to be reliable in nonpresidential races, and some of them are not registered to vote at all. By contrast, non-Hispanic white voters make up about 53 percent of Georgia’s population, according to census data, and they tend to vote in strong numbers.
And Ms. Abrams’s race and gender may make her bid difficult enough: Georgia has never elected a female governor, and while Atlanta has elected a procession of African-American mayors, they have not found success in running for statewide office.
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Many Democrats believe that waging a progressive campaign aimed at mobilizing liberals, rather than running toward the center to win over suburban moderates, is folly in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
“It’s still a red state, even though it’s getting more purple every year,” said Kerwin Swint, chairman of the political science department at Kennesaw State University.
Yet Ms. Abrams’s candidacy comes at a volatile moment in Georgia, where demographic changes are creating fresh uncertainty about Republicans’ dominance, and when left-leaning voters are highly energized.

President Trump carried Georgia by just five percentage points in 2016, a narrower margin than he enjoyed in traditional battleground states like Ohio and Iowa. And booming communities of black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters in the Atlanta area have put Georgia on track to become a majority-minority state inside of a decade.
Her candidacy will also be a test of whether the extraordinary energy coursing through Democratic politics at the federal level will also flow into state elections. In a special election for Congress in Georgia last year, grass-roots donors helped a political newcomer, Jon Ossoff, raise nearly $30 million in a losing campaign. But there is little precedent for Democrats pouring small dollars into a state election on that scale, and it is unclear whether Ms. Abrams can expect a similar outpouring of support.
Recognizing that opportunity, and facing growing calls for candidate diversity in a party that depends heavily on black voters, several national groups aligned with Democrats have made Ms. Abrams’s campaign a top priority. And African-American activists say they will be watching them to ensure they keep their commitment.
“We need to hold our institutions accountable to investing in black women’s leadership,” said Glynda Carr, who helped found Higher Heights, a group that promotes African-American women in politics.
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Organizations like Emily’s List and Planned Parenthood, which have special clout among women, backed her in the primary even though her opponent was also female.
Several potential presidential candidates have already campaigned with Ms. Abrams and are all but certain to return to her side in the general election. Advisers to Senators Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, the Senate’s two black Democrats, both of whom are considering the 2020 race, said Ms. Abrams’s campaign was a high priority for the fall.
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Supporters of Stacey Abrams for governor at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Ga., on primary night in Georgia. CreditMelissa Golden for The New York Times
Only two African-Americans have been elected governor by voters: L. Douglas Wilder in Virginia in 1989 and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts in 2006 and again in 2010.
What may prove decisive this fall is whether Ms. Abrams — in addition to drawing out voters who typically do not vote in a midterm election — can also win over the sort of white women who have recoiled from Mr. Trump and powered Democratic turnout in a series of special elections and primaries.
To do so, she will have to make inroads that have eluded other Democrats. In Georgia, about seven in 10 white women voted for both Mr. Trump in 2016 and Gov. Nathan Deal, the term-limited incumbent, in 2014, exit polls found. In Georgia’s last election for governor, African-Americans made up about 30 percent of the electorate, and nine in 10 gave their votes to Jason Carter, the Democratic nominee and a grandson of the former president Jimmy Carter.
But nearly two-thirds of voters in 2014 were white, according to exit polls. Mr. Carter lost his race by eight percentage points — and a little more than 200,000 votes — to Mr. Deal. Ms. Abrams will have to drive minority turnout far higher, without losing ground among whites, to avoid Mr. Carter’s fate.
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In other primary races Tuesday, Ms. McGrath in Kentucky displayed another show of force by a Democratic woman in a contested primary. She seized the party’s nomination for a Republican-leaning House seat based in Lexington, defeating Mr. Gray, the city’s popular mayor.

National Democrats had aggressively recruited Mr. Gray to challenge the incumbent there, Representative Andy Barr, viewing Mr. Gray’s stature as a local official and former Senate candidate as assets in the race. But Ms. McGrath had a different and plainly more powerful appeal as a political newcomer, and she entered the race with a splashy online video that dramatized her military career and electrified Democratic activists in Kentucky and beyond.
In Texas, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, a lawyer, defeated Laura Moser, a writer and political progressive, in a Houston-area House runoff that once was seen as a major proxy fight between the Democratic establishment and its left wing.

But after attacking Ms. Moser during the first round of balloting in March — a move that seemed to elevate her candidacy by accident — the House Democratic campaign arm remained silent while still quietly backing Ms. Fletcher. Ms. Moser was then unable to rouse some of the liberal attention she drew in the lead-up to the initial vote.

Elsewhere in Texas, Gina Ortiz Jones, an Air Force veteran, won the nomination to run in a heavily Hispanic district that stretches from San Antonio far along the state’s southern border. Ms. Jones, who would be the first lesbian to represent Texas in Congress, will face Representative Will Hurd, a Republican who has won a series of difficult elections.
And in a Democratic runoff in the race for governor, Lupe Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff, defeated Andrew White and will face the Republican incumbent, Greg Abbott, in the fall.
The most prominent race in Arkansas on Tuesday was in the state’s most moderate House district, a Little Rock-based seat that sent Democrats to Congress until 2010. Clarke Tucker, a state representative, defeated a handful of more liberal challengers to win the nomination, avoiding a runoff. He will take on Representative French Hill in November.
In the Republican primary for governor, Asa Hutchinson held off an aggressive conservative challenge from Jan Morgan, a television personality and gun shop owner. Mr. Hutchinson will face Jared Henderson, the Democratic nominee.
Richard Fausset contributed reporting from Atlanta and Michael Tackett from Richmond, Ky.
A version of this article appears in print on May 23, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Governor Race In South Sheds Racial BarriersOrder Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe


Exclusion will boomerang on Trump.


EXCLUSION is DESTRUCTIVE, isn’t it?
Have you ever been kept out of a conversation, activity or discussion? Was that a good feeling? Did you lose interest? Doesn’t this happen among family members, at the workplace, in the communities and the nations?
If you exclude someone, you can witness how their energies are geared up in ready-to-get-even mode, a lot of us spend our energies in getting even instead of enjoying life. They will leak the information so someone else can get even. These are unwanted battles we all battle daily.
The best option is to include people, some of them are a pain in the ass, but once you get them in, you’ll have their energy for the common good of the organization. It’s a tough call, but sure path to success.

Here is a great example from today

Democrats were not invited to DOJ briefing on FBI informant on this Thursday; it will have its own impact on Trump. What bullies understand is another bully; Democrats need a man like Trump who can lie comfortably, and boldly say anything that comes to his mouth with no regard for consequence. Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leaders has demanded that is bullshit; he should pound on the table to push to be included. After all, we are the government of people and not government of Republicans.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/22/fbi-informant-meeting-doj-gop-democrats-white-house-603275

Monday, April 9, 2018

Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?

This is a good summary of the current state of affairs of politics in the world. It is worth reading again - Mike Ghouse

Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?
By Madeleine Albright

Courtesy – New York Times

Dr. Albright was United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001.
On April 28, 1945 — 73 years ago — Italians hung the corpse of their former dictator Benito Mussolini upside down next to a gas station in Milan. Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker beneath the streets of war-ravaged Berlin. Fascism, it appeared, was dead.
To guard against a recurrence, the survivors of war and the Holocaust joined forces to create the United Nations, forge global financial institutions and — through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — strengthen the rule of law. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the honor roll of elected governments swelled not only in Central Europe, but also Latin America, Africa and Asia. Almost everywhere, it seemed, dictators were out and democrats were in. Freedom was ascendant.
Today, we are in a new era, testing whether the democratic banner can remain aloft amid terrorism, sectarian conflicts, vulnerable borders, rogue social media and the cynical schemes of ambitious men. The answer is not self-evident. We may be encouraged that most people in most countries still want to live freely and in peace, but there is no ignoring the storm clouds that have gathered. In fact, fascism — and the tendencies that lead toward fascism — pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.
Warning signs include the relentless grab for more authority by governing parties in Hungary, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey — all United States allies. The raw anger that feeds fascism is evident across the Atlantic in the growth of nativist movements opposed to the idea of a united Europe, including in Germany, where the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland has emerged as the principal opposition party. The danger of despotism is on display in the Russia of Vladimir Putin — invader of Ukraine, meddler in foreign democracies, accused political assassin, brazen liar and proud son of the K.G.B. Putin has just been re-elected to a new six-year term, while in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a ruthless ideologue, is poised to triumph in sham balloting next month. In China, Xi Jinping has persuaded a docile National People’s Congress to lift the constitutional limit on his tenure in power.
Around the Mediterranean, the once bright promise of the Arab Spring has been betrayed by autocratic leaders, such as Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (also just re-elected), who use security to justify the jailing of reporters and political opponents. Thanks to allies in Moscow and Tehran, the tyrant Bashar al-Assad retains his stranglehold over much of Syria. In Africa, the presidents who serve longest are often the most corrupt, multiplying the harm they inflict with each passing year. Meanwhile, the possibility that fascism will be accorded a fresh chance to strut around the world stage is enhanced by the volatile presidency of Donald Trump.
If freedom is to prevail over the many challenges to it, American leadership is urgently required. This was among the indelible lessons of the 20th century. But by what he has said, done and failed to do, Mr. Trump has steadily diminished America’s positive clout in global councils.
Instead of mobilizing international coalitions to take on world problems, he touts the doctrine of “every nation for itself” and has led America into isolated positions on trade, climate change and Middle East peace. Instead of engaging in creative diplomacy, he has insulted United States neighbors and allies, walked away from key international agreements, mocked multilateral organizations and stripped the State Department of its resources and role. Instead of standing up for the values of a free society, Mr. Trump, with his oft-vented scorn for democracy’s building blocks, has strengthened the hands of dictators. No longer need they fear United States criticism regarding human rights or civil liberties. On the contrary, they can and do point to Mr. Trump’s own words to justify their repressive actions.




At one time or another, Mr. Trump has attacked the judiciary, ridiculed the media, defended torture, condoned police brutality, urged supporters to rough up hecklers and — jokingly or not — equated mere policy disagreements with treason. He tried to undermine faith in America’s electoral process through a bogus advisory commission on voter integrity. He routinely vilifies federal law enforcement institutions. He libels immigrants and the countries from which they come. His words are so often at odds with the truth that they can appear ignorant, yet are in fact calculated to exacerbate religious, social and racial divisions. Overseas, rather than stand up to bullies, Mr. Trump appears to like bullies, and they are delighted to have him represent the American brand. If one were to draft a script chronicling fascism’s resurrection, the abdication of America’s moral leadership would make a credible first scene.
Equally alarming is the chance that Mr. Trump will set in motion events that neither he nor anyone else can control. His policy toward North Korea changes by the day and might quickly return to saber-rattling should Pyongyang prove stubborn before or during talks. His threat to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement could unravel a pact that has made the world safer and could undermine America’s reputation for trustworthiness at a critical moment. His support of protectionist tariffs invites retaliation from major trading partners — creating unnecessary conflicts and putting at risk millions of export-dependent jobs. The recent purge of his national security team raises new questions about the quality of advice he will receive. John Bolton starts work in the White House on Monday.
What is to be done? First, defend the truth. A free press, for example, is not the enemy of the American people; it is the protector of the American people. Second, we must reinforce the principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law. Third, we should each do our part to energize the democratic process by registering new voters, listening respectfully to those with whom we disagree, knocking on doors for favored candidates, and ignoring the cynical counsel: “There’s nothing to be done.”
I’m 80 years old, but I can still be inspired when I see young people coming together to demand the right to study without having to wear a flak jacket.
We should also reflect on the definition of greatness. Can a nation merit that label by aligning itself with dictators and autocrats, ignoring human rights, declaring open season on the environment, and disdaining the use of diplomacy at a time when virtually every serious problem requires international cooperation?
To me, greatness goes a little deeper than how much marble we put in our hotel lobbies and whether we have a Soviet-style military parade. America at its best is a place where people from a multitude of backgrounds work together to safeguard the rights and enrich the lives of all. That’s the example we have always aspired to set and the model people around the world hunger to see. And no politician, not even one in the Oval Office, should be allowed to tarnish that dream.

Madeleine Albright, the author of “Fascism: A Warning,” served as United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001.

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A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SR1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fascism on The MarchOrder Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe


Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Tom Perez repels

Tom Perez repels 


Last time I heard Tom Perez was about two years ago, where he spoke at a Hillary Rally. He was great. A few minutes ago (3/27/18 at 5:40 PM), I heard him talking to Katy Tur on MSNBC; he was mouthing the wrong words that repel many Americans and most certainly the Republicans, that is as divisive as Trump. Tom Perez was opposed to the idea of limiting the census to Citizens only – he saw politics in it. That is not a problem, but what he said that is a problem is “People will lose benefits.” Those were the wrong words, should that be the focus of argument?  He was mumbling, “It is illegal.”  He will lose the Independents (Swing Voters) and Republicans. That is not a good line. Tom, talk common sense, how it affects governance and the society. If you don’t use the word benefit, you might earn support from a few Republicans. 

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism