Category: Progressive Commentary

Donald T****’s cruel and unusual treatment of the children of undocumented immigrants during his first administration has been well-documented. Who, except the Republicans who refused to look, can forget images of helpless children locked in cages, sitting on cold floors with only plastic blankets for warmth and comfort? Or of children denied basic medical care? Or of children dying in our names while in American custody?

All these things and more happened.

The worst of these depravities had been halted by a court order put in place just two years ago, establishing a system for protecting the health of children detained at the border. Now, however, Donald T****  has an opportunity to continue his previous inhumane treatment of immigrant children without court interference and without lifting a finger.

The system, part of a legal settlement between the government and lawyers representing migrant children in custody, detailed protocols for detaining minors at Border Protection facilities. It required agents to provide them with access to regular and emergency medical care and basic hygiene items. It forbade agents to separate children from their parents for extended periods of time.

The court order that created this system is set to expire nine days after T**** takes office. And under the hateful eye of Tom Homan, T****’s crass and heartless “border czar,” all those crimes against innocent children that happened before will happen again.

All it needs is for T**** to do nothing. 

RESIST

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Robert Kennedy Jr., Donald J. Trump’s picks for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has a history of making false and misleading statements about childhood vaccines. Kennedy’s opposition to vaccines is a core part of his health-related agenda. But while millions of people support his anti-science nonsense, few are discussing the diseases they prevent. 

The most targeted of these is POLIO, which was virtually wiped out in America decades ago. Today, there are virtually no memories of children walking with crutches or living entombed in an iron lung. Up to 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die.

Other diseases whose life-saving vaccines are under Kennedy’s gun include but are not limited to:

MEASLES, a viral illness with effects including encephalitis, meningitis, and blindness. In severe cases, measles can lead to hospitalization and death. 

MUMPS, with common complications include swelling of the testicles, ovaries, or pancreas as well as viral meningitis. 1 in 100 cases leads to encephalitis which can cause death.

HEPATITIS B, which attacks the liver and can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure, both of which can lead to death. 

INFLUENZA, which can lead to pneumonia and the worsening of chronic medical conditions such a, asthma and diabetes congestive heart failure and death. Adults over 65 and children younger than 5 are more susceptible to severe flu-related complications.

RUBELLA, also know as the German Measles, carries substantial risks during pregnancy. Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) in infants can cause hearing impairments, eye hearing and and cardiac defects, growth delays, mental development issues, autism, diabetes mellitus, thyroid dysfunction, congenital deformity and death. 

And of course, COVID. Kennedy has called these vaccines “a crime against humanity,” and claimed children did not need them. This indifference would hardly assuage the grief of the families of the some 1000 COVID-related deaths among individuals aged 0 to 19 in the United States, or the 17,000 worldwide. 

Many of the inoculations against these diseases became routine in the United States over 50 years ago. The experience and horrors of these illnesses existing in society has been largely erased from public memory. 

Kennedy and T**** are obviously in favor of again plaguing America with the horrors of these wholly preventable diseases, and are ghoulishly OK with seeing hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer and die needlessly.

There is only one way to stop this impending medical catastrophe. Only one way to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children from idiots like Kennedy and  T**** putting right-wing political and conspiratorial insanity before medical science. Only one path forward.

RESIST.

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thepernhardperspective.com

Today is the day we celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. But do not believe for a minute that, despite their speeches and pithy tributes, neither Donald T**** or his MAGA’s are concerned with Dr. King or his legacy. For example: 

In Red states throughout the South and Mid-West, MAGA-controlled statehouses have either diluted the Black vote through redistricting, or have simply gerrymandered them out of existence. 

They have made it more difficult for voters to register by requiring multiple documents including but not limited to proof of citizenship such as passports or birth certificates, the last four digits of a social security number, current, valid state-issued photo identification, (in Texas, a student-in -residence’s ID is invalid but anyone’s hunting license is), current utility bills, bank statements, Social Security or government paychecks, or other government documents showing name and address.

Other have implemented programs for “scrubbing” voter registrations lists, removing thousands of otherwise qualified voters from the rolls. This includes, but is not limited to older citizens who no longer have or can easily obtain birth documents. It can also include others who have not voted continuously in previous elections. 

Some scrubbing programs target voters whose addresses are not current. This especially impacts poor and underclass (ie: Black and Brown) citizens, the majority of whom are renters and move more often than middle and upper-class (White) citizens who live more permanently in houses they own. 

And then there is Georgia. There, targeted by some of the restrictive laws already mentioned, Black voters have been further burdened by requirements such as limited numbers of ballot drop-off boxes and voting places. This has ensured that in large, predominant Black inner-city districts, voters must wait in line for hours to vote, while white voters in smaller towns and rural districts don’t. And in Georgia it is against the law to provide food or water to voters waiting in line.

The purpose of all these laws is to negatively impact the ability of Black, Brown and poor American citizens from exercising their Constitutional right to vote.. They are are blatant and unashamedly racist in intent and design. 

So do not believe for a moment that T**** and his MAGA’s give a rat’s ass about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King’. If they had their way, they would erase it completely. 

They are trying. 

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Thanks to President Joe Biden, Donald T*** is inheriting an economy that is the envy of the world. Unemployment is low, we are pumping more oil than any time in history and domestic energy production is higher than it’s ever been. Jobs and wages are rising and the economy is growing. 

So for the second time, Donald T**** assumes the presidency with a healthy, robust economy, courtesy of a Democratic president. And just as he did the first time, he will most likely again take full credit for something he didn’t create. 

T**** created the myth of his great economic miracle by evoking  President Obama’s strong economy which  continuing on through his first three years in office. He tanked that economy in 2020, yet for the next four years he preached to his minions of “his” economic wonderland, reminding them how good things were going thanks to 8 years of Obama’s hard work. And all the while shamelessly decrying Biden’s economic disaster which was, in fact, his own. 

But T**** isn’t in the clear on this economy business because he still doesn’t know squat about any of it. His continued insistence that foreign countries will pay his tariffs is a prime example. Nor will the lickspittle toadies with whom he has surrounded himself likely tell him either “no” or the truth, even if they know it. T**** lives in his own fantasy world, they just kiss the ring. 

So it is reasonable to presume that Donald T**** will tank Biden’s stupendous economic recovery the same way he tanked Barak Obama’s ongoing success. And if he’s around past 2028, he’ll blame it all on whomever comes after him. It’s in the cards.

 After all, he is an idiot. And a liar. 

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From the farewell speech of President Joe Biden:

“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern: the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy group of people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America that literally threatens our democracy, our basic rights, our freedoms.” Biden was alluding to the number of billionaires that will comprise the Cabinet of his successor Donald Trump’s administration, as well as those outside with tremendous influence, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk

He continued, “The free press is crumbling, social media is giving up fact-checking, the truth is being smothered by lies. We must hold social platforms accountable to protect our children and our democracy.” 

Biden also raised alarms about a “tech-industrial complex,” including artificial intelligence and the rise of misinformation and lies on social media.

Well-spoken, Mr. President. Well-spoken indeed.

Thanks to President Joe Biden, Donald T*** is inheriting an economy that is the envy of the world. Unemployment is as low as it was before Covid, we are pumping more oil than any time in history and the domestic energy production is higher than it’s ever been. Jobs are up, wages are rising and the economy is growing. So for the second time, Donald T**** assumes the presidency with a healthy, robust economy, courtesy of a Democratic president. And just as he did the first time, he will most likely take full credit for something he didn’t create. 

Because in fact, it was President Obama’s strong economy continuing on through T****’s first three years in office that created the illusion that Donald knew anything about running a country. He tanked that economy big-time in 2020, yet for the next four years he preached to his minions of his economic wonderland. Thus T**** created the myth of his great economic miracle, and all the while shamelessly decrying Biden’s economic disaster.

But T**** isn’t in the clear on this economy business because he still doesn’t know squat about any of it. Still insisting that foreign countries pay the tariffs, all he knows to do is to slap one on anything or everything, creating havoc in American industry and causing already inflated prices to rise even further. The lickspittle toadies with whom he has surrounded himself aren’t likely to tell him either “no” or the truth, even if they know it; T**** lives in his own fantasy world. 

It is easy to presume that Donald T**** will tank Biden’s stupendous economic recovery the same way he tanked Barak Obama’s. And if he’s around past 2028, he’ll blame that all on whomever comes after him. It’s in the cards.

 After all, he is an idiot. 

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On Thursday, January 2, Fox News reported at 10:43 a.m. ET that the truck involved in the New Orleans NYE massacre had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, two days before the attack..Donald  T***** made his first statement about the attack just five minutes after Fox News’ initial report, enhancing the lie by connecting the attack to illegal immigration. Soon after, Fox edited their report to refer only to the truck, not the suspect. Then at 11:55 a.m. ET, Fox retracted its story entirely; none of it was true.

T****, however, has not retracted his lie connecting the New Orleans attack to illegal immigration even after the killer was identified as a native-born US citizen. In fact, he has doubled down on his initial lie despite all evidence to the contrary, claiming that the attack proved his assertions about criminals entering the country were correct. Based on eight years of witnessing the same, this what we can expect going forward: Lie after lie after unfounded conspiratorial lie from the right wing media. These lies are then reposted by the president, who doubles down on and enhances them with his own lies. He retracts nothing.   

This round of untruths and lies will fade into the background as the sequence repeats itself over and over again. And because his MAGA followers do not challenge what he says, even in the rare cases like this one where the truth is affirmed by traditional media, the lies told by the Donald T**** become part of the mainstream consciousness. The New York Times reported that T**** told over 30,000 lies over the course of his first presidency. History suggests that lies told in this one will not be widely corrected by any media, if they are corrected at all. In most cases, nothing will ever be set straight. No lie will be taken back. No truths will ever be confirmed.

For the next four years our country will be plagued and its course determined by lies told by its president. This is both foreseeable and should be unacceptable. There is only one appropriate response. Only one way to challenge the neverending lies told by Donald T****. Only one path forward.

RESIST

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President-elect Donald T**** has not signed the agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA) that would require him to disclose donors to his transition fund and limit individual contributions to $5,000. Because of this,  T**** is keeping secret the names of the donors who are funding his transition effort. This will make it impossible to see, except for the likes of Elon Musk and his ilk, what interest groups, businesses or wealthy people are helping launch his second term, and no-one will know what they are getting for their money. And unlike with campaign contributions, foreign nationals are allowed to donate to the transition as well. 

By dodging the agreement, T**** can raise unlimited funds from unknown donors to pave the way for him to take over the government. And since the amount of hush-money he takes in can easily surpass the cost of even the most extravagant transition, T**** can pocket the rest. Those seeking to curry favor with T**** now have the unlimited opportunity to do so without their names or potential conflicts ever entering the public record. In essence, T**** has put access to and influence with the president of the United States of America up for sale to the highest bidders in what amounts to a secret auction. 

This action by Donald T**** represents not only the epitome of governmental corruption and greed at the highest level, it also illustrates the depths of depraved indifference to duty, honor and country to which our next president has willingly  descended.

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Pr

One of the myths about the war in Europe is that the U.S. can’t afford to keep sending weapons and money to Ukraine. However, the fact is that foreign aid is not simply America tax dollars being sent overseas. 

In reality, a significant portion of American foreign aid is “tied aid,” meaning it must be spent on American-made goods or services. This practice aims to benefit the U.S. economy while providing assistance abroad. Some 75%` of American foreign aid consists mostly, as in the case of virtually all military aid, American made or assembled goods. And all of it done by American workers in American factories.

The remaining 25% of American foreign aid, loosely categorized as “Humanitarian Assistance,” includes emergency relief for natural disasters, conflict zones, and refugee crises. The majority of this is channeled through U.S.-based agencies which then work with a mix of primarily local non-nonprofit organizations (NPO’s) to implement specific projects abroad.

True, there are cash disbursements associated with America foreign aid. This occurs when a direct cash transfer is the most efficient manner of furthering our country’s foreign policy. Such disbursements are not the norm and are scrutinized and monitored closely.

The bottom line is that T****’s isolationist, “America First” policies and his plan to significant reduce America foreign aid would have a negative impact on the American economy and working class. Also, It’s important to note that foreign aid spending accounts for only about 1% of the U.S. Federal budget, significantly less than many Americans believe.

The fact is that America First isolationism is a reality-defying fraud. No country, not even North Korea, exists in isolation. America is the richest, most powerful and influential country in the world. The global interconnectedness of economic and political systems makes homeland isolationism impractical and is stupid and shortsighted.

Donald T****s plans to greatly reduce foreign aid and claims that such assistance is merely wasted taxpayer dollars fail to acknowledge the reality of its strategic and economic benefits for the U.S. as well as our standing as a world humanitarian leader.

Because they are being lied to by Donald T****,  his followers  either remain unaware of the facts or choose to dismiss them, Not willing to stray from their narrow, right-wing world view, the MAGAs don’t hear or know the truth. 

Or perhaps they just don’t care to know.  

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Because he is a criminal defendant, full disclosure has given Donald T**** access to all federal grand jury material relating to his Jan. 6 indictment. He knows what the witnesses, mostly Republican insiders and his closest advisors, have said under oath. He understands the clear and immense risks he faces at trial. That’s why it was critical for T**** to delay his trial until he could again be elected  president and  have the federal charges dismissed. If not, he knew he was going to prison. 

The public has the right to have full knowledge of what T**** did on Jan. 6 and could do again. That is why it has always been  essential for all the evidence gathered during Prosecutor Jack Smith’s investigation to be presented in open court before the election. It wasn’t. The only saving grace is that Smith dismissed the charges “without prejudice,” which means that they can be re-instated at a later time. 

But the exact expiration of the statute of limitations on T****’s crimes remains uncertain due to complex legal and political factors, and it may ultimately require decisions by his Supreme Court to determine the final deadline for potential prosecution. 

It is totally unacceptable that a president of the United States can attempt to steal an election and seize power, but our justice system is incapable of bringing him to trial before the next election four years later. But that is what has happened.

The America people deserve to see justice done for the January 6 insurrection. And justice demands holding the man responsible for it accountable. And that man is Donald T****. 

And justice delayed is justice denied.

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