Jack Hassard Taught science education for many years. He used to write a blog called “The Art of Teaching Science,” but became so upset about current events that he renamed his blog “Jack Hassard’s Blog.”
Science was under assault last week by an un-educated President and his staff who believe that they can supercede the findings of science when the findings don’t agree with their personal and political views.
When Hurricane Harvey inflicted its wrath on Houston and most of East Texas, I painted an art series of 4 canvases showing how hurricanes harm not only property, but the people who endure the storm. This may be a family or community of friends who are wading through flooded streets to find shelter. I believe that science should be in the service of people. In this case, it was in…
My friend Bernadette Hoban was attending a business meeting at 120 Broadway, near the World Trade Center, when the first plane hit the first building. She worked for a large insurance company. She never told the full story of what happened that day. Until yesterday when she posted this account on her Facebook page.
The sky was blue, the air was crisp, by all accounts it was a beautiful day. I parked my car on the roof of the Battery Park garage facing the twin towers. I called a friend and remembered telling her how beautiful the Twin Towers looked against the blue sky. I then walked up to broadway in line with others hustling to work. I Slipped into 120 Broadway and up to the 11th floor and into Lebenthal & Co to hold a breakfast presentation to their brokers just like I did every second Tuesday…
Mental Health America says, “Writing down your thoughts can be a great way to work through issues. Researchers have found that writing about painful events can reduce stress and improve health.”
That is why I belong to two groups of combat vets that meet each week for an hour and a half. We share our writing as a form of therapy to deal with the PTSD that followed us home from Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. The Marines, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Special Forces, and the Airforce are all represented at these two tables located in two different locations on different days. One is located at a VA facility and the other group meets at a Vet Center.
“Vet Centers are community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling to eligible Veterans, active duty service members, including National Guard…
If every voter that does not approve of Donald Trump votes on November 3 in 2020, then Donald Trump cannot win the election. The only way Trump will win is if millions of voters stay home because they don’t like what they are reading or hearing about the Democrat running against him.
Real Clear Politics reports that the trends say there is a strong chance that at least 66.5 percent of eligible voters will vote in 2020. With more than 50-percent of the population not approving of Donald Trump, he could lose by as much as twenty-million votes … if everyone that does not approve of Trump, votes!
This Presidential election is not about the positions you support or do not support. It is a referendum, a general vote by the electorate on a single political question.
What kind of country do you want to live in?
If Trump wins in 2020 with his endless lies and messages of hate and racism, then Trump will think he has a mandate to completely dismantle the U.S. Constitution and turn the United States into a brutal, cruel, autocratic dictatorship like Adolf Hitler did in Germany in 1933, or Stalin in Russia in the 1920s, or Mao in China in the 1950s.
2020 is Donald Trump versus the U.S. Constitution.
If Donald Trump loses by a massive landslide and the U.S. Constitution is established as the law of our great country, again, we can return to bickering and arguing over the other issues: abortion, welfare, the military budget, public education, taxes, Social Security, medical care, the wars in the Middle East, Islamic terrorism, and global warming, et al.
What if Donald Trump wins another four years in the White House? Then the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law it represents will be the loser and the United States will become a white-dominated country just like South Africa was during Apartheid.
But Donald Trump, no matter what he says or tweets, has clearly revealed that he will crush all minorities that are not Caucasians.
In 2020, make no mistake, a vote for Donald Trump will be a vote for Apartheid in the United States and not a vote to support the U.S. Constitution that was written by our Founding Fathers in the late 18th century to protect all American citizens against horrors of concentration camps and Apartheid like it existed in South Africa.
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
Has anyone noticed the dramatic shift in political party affiliation since October 2008?
In October 2008, Gallup reported that 33-percent of registered voters were Republicans, 32-percent were Democrats, and 34-percent were Independent voters.
Fast forward to April 2019, and discover that only 27-percent of registered voters are now Republicans, 44-percent are Democrats, and 25-percent are Independent.
That shift is HUGE!
Since Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote in 2016 and lost the popular vote by almost three million (that Trump alleged – with no evidence – were cast by illegal aliens), the Republican Party lost 6-percent of its registered voters, and the Democratic Party grew by EIGHT percent!
What does that mean if most of the registered voters turn out to vote in 2020?
To answer that question, we have to correctly estimate how many people will vote in 2020, and the best place to start is with the election of 2018. According to Statista dot com, there were 153.07-million voters that turned out that year, a 50-year high. In fact, the highest turnout for a midterm since 1966. More than forty-four million Democrats turned out to vote compared to 32.5 million Republicans, almost 12-million more Democrats voted.
The next step is to determine the difference between turn out during midterm elections vs general elections.
According to FairVote, “Voter turnout in the United States fluctuates in national elections. In recent elections, about 60% of the voting eligible population votes during presidential election years, and about 40% votes during midterm elections. Turnout is lower for odd year, primary and local elections. 2018 turnout was the highest midterm turnout on record at 49.6% with more votes still to count.”
Since we can expect a larger voter turnout in 2020 that means that at least another 15-million will vote, or 168.4 million total and the turnout might be higher.
June 1st – the 2020 Election Based on Statewide Election Polls | Biden V Trump
Let’s crunch the numbers we know according to party affiliation and take into account what the Washington Examiner said, “as the nation becomes more partisan, declaring party membership is an affirmative political stand.”
Today, 27-percent of registered voters are Republican. That equals 45.5 million and almost 10 percent of Republicans do not approve of Trump’s performance. Instead of voting, that ten-percent might stay home. That means Trump can only count on 41 million votes from his hardcore supporters.
Currently, 44-percent of registered voters are Democrats. That adds up to 64.1-million votes.
Before we can figure out how many votes Trump will NOT get from independents, it helps to know that Politico revealed recently that Trump’s approval rate in this group dropped from 54-percent when he was elected … down, down, down to 32-percent today. What is 32-percent of 25-percent? The answer is eight million votes, but there are 42-million indie voters. That means there are 34-million independent voters that do not approve of Donald Trump’s performance as president or as a human being.
Conclusion: If we held the election today, Trump would probably end up with about 50-million votes to more than 118.4 million votes against him. Trump could lose the 2020-election by more than 68-million popular votes. How will Trump lie his way out of that loss and who will he blame it on?
The only way Trump can possibly win in 2020 is if his Russian style misinformation campaign convinces the Never Trump crowd to stay home and not vote
That is a big challenge for Trump, the GOP, and Russia — to manipulate sixty-eight million voters that do not approve of Trump to stay home and not vote.
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
This article by Senator Bernie Sanders appeared in the New York Times.
My father came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 with barely a nickel in his pocket. I spent my first 18 years, before I left home for college, in a three-and-a-half-room, rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn. My mother’s dream was to own her own home, but we never came close. My father’s salary as a paint salesman paid for basic necessities, but never much more.
As a young man I learned the impact that lack of money had on family life. Every major household purchase was accompanied by arguments between my parents.
I remember being yelled at for going to the wrong store for groceries and paying more than I should have. I’ve never forgotten the incredible stress of not having much money, a reality that millions of American families experience today.
First, standing for The Pledge of Allegiance and holding a hand over your heart does not make you a patriot. Did you know that it was written in 1892 by Francis Julius Bellamy (1855 – 1931), an American Christian socialist minister and author, and it was formally adopted by the U.S Congress in 1945. The words “under God” were added in 1954.
The “Always Trump” basket of deplorable loyalists will probably define a patriot as someone who is loyal to President Trump, because most if not all of them think “their” (false) god sent Trump to them to Make America Great Again, whatever that means because Trump has never been clear about that. Since he’s making a profit off of each hat sold, I suspect he doesn’t want to come up with a definition. According to one estimate, Trump’s profit for the MAGA hat is about $16 million.
Timothy 6:9 and 6:10: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Proverbs 28:25: A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.
In Mark 7:21-22, Jesus Christ mentions a long list of sins, including “deeds of coveting,” which He says come from our hearts. Greed is not primarily concerned with amount, but rather with attitude and motives.
The Never Trump Patriots includes some Republicans. According to Gallup, 10 percent of registered Republicans such as George Conway probably define patriotism by the Oath of Office that doesn’t mention loyalty of any kind to any U.S. president.
What do you think Trump meant when “A week exactly after his inauguration, seated for dinner at a small, oval table in the Green Room of the White House, Donald Trump said to the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation what might end up being the six most consequential words of his presidency.”
“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”
You may also find this quote in Trump’s book, Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life. “I value loyalty above everything else—more than brains, more than drive and more than energy.”
How many Never Trump Patriots are there in the United States?
Well, according to the Center for Politics, 10-percent of Republicans (3.26 million), 67-percent of independents (21.1 million), and 91-percent of Democrats (40.3 million) belong to the Never Trump patriots.
The Center for Politics based its numbers on 108.35 million registered voters who are Democrats, Republicans, and Independent voters. As of May 12, 2019, the Never Trump Patriots are ahead of the Always Trump Loyalists by more than 21-million registered voters. That gap is way bigger than I thought it was. Up to now, my estimates have been running between 10 – 14 million.
The true measure of a U.S. patriot is anchored in The Oath of Office that was originally written by the Founding Fathers in the late 18th century as part of the U.S. Constitution. The Oath, as stated in Article II, Section I, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, is as follows: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The same oath is taken by every officer in the military and all other federal employees such as the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service, Postal Inspectors, et al. The only oath that is different is for military troops that are not officers. The oath non-officers take includes obeying the “president and their officers”.
What will happen if Trump orders the troops to do something but their officers disagree and countermand the order because they consider it to be unconstitutional?
The first president to take The Oath was George Washington. Donald Trump pretended to take the Oath and it is obvious he lied. The evidence he lied is overwhelming from his tweets and his hate-filled rants at his rallies attended by mostly his Basket of Deplorable Loyalists.
Donald Trump has clearly defined treason as anyone that is not one-hundred percent blindly loyal to him.
To Trump and his Basket of Deplorable Loyalists, the Oath of Office is also an example of treason since it does not support blind loyalty to President Donald Trump.
Defeating Trump, an alleged stable genius according to him, and taking power away from the ignorant, hate-filled, racist, Basket of Deplorable Loyalists means that all of the Never Trump Patriots must vote in 2020.
The only way Trump will “honestly” win is if too many of the Never Trump patriots do not vote, like they did in 2016 when they allowed themselves to be misled by Russia and/or how James Comey broke the FBI’s norms and reported on the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail issue before the investigation was concluded.
I think America’s 2nd Civil War will be between Constitutional Patriots and Trump Loyalists. Did you know that during the American Revolution against the British Empire, any colonist that supported King George was a loyalist? In fact, in 1968 historian Paul H. Smith estimated there were about 400,000 Loyalists or 16% of the white population of 2.25 million in 1780.
In 2020, your vote will be a choice between the U.S. Constitution or Donald Trump.
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam combat veteran with a BA in journalism and an MFA in writing, who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).
