Apolitic: A Progressive Discussion For People Who Hate Politics

The First Words (10”) On The Podcast: Kevin McCathy on Fox News https://youtu.be/gOcUqhw351Y Fact check on Kevin McCathy’s claim that 9% of the Covid Relief Bill is being spent for Covid Relief: False! Get the details here: https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/6887487002 And here from American Association of Retired Persons (AARP): https://feeds.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-2021/covid-19-relief-bill.html?_amp=true Discussion of Where The Republicans Are Headed (Part 3): Misinformation: Beware! The current direction of the Republican Party needs to be recognized and responded to at the ballot box particularly by people who have not voted regularly or at all. The current situation of the Republican Party as of November 2020 through May 2021 indicates that the party regulars believe that Trump won the 2020 election. Republicans in 2021 want to oppose government spending to help with pandemic relief, oppose extensive infrastructure restoration (including roads, bridges, the electrical grid, the family structure, renewable energy, broadband internet access for all), and (in The in the case of many Republican state legislators, to put many barriers in front of prospective voters to reduce the size of the electorate—All in the name of fraud prevention. Many conservative commentators have spoken words of caution to the leadership of the Republican party and these commentators have in many cases resigned from the party as long as Trump tries to control the direction of Republican ideology. There are many other criticisms of Trumpism which we will not address today but we will be speaking about this topic of Trump’s weaknesses over the next 18 months. The main thing now is to convince people who have not voted or people who are undecided why they should vote for progressive candidates—In some cases for the Democratic candidate and in some cases for the progressive challenger in primary elections. George Will Article March 2021 “Will Republicans Let The Louts Rule Their Party?” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/will-senate-republicans-allow-their-louts-to-rule-the-party/2021/02/11/ce082db6-6caf-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html?outputType=amp https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/will-senate-republicans-allow-their-louts-to-rule-the-party/2021/02/11/ce082db6-6caf-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html?outputType=amp Cuomo 5/3/21 Chris Cuomo leads a discussion of Republican Party confusion and division in which a variety of commentators and politicians outline the dysfunction in the Republican ranks as of May 2021. It will only get worse from here in my opinion! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuomo-prime-time-with-chris-cuomo/id1393858741?i=1000519975774

This episode begins with a quote from Lindsay Graham On Fox News Sunday from February 14, 2021 where the senator tells the country that the future of the Republican Party, for at least the next few years is aligning with Donald Trump since he managed to get 77 million votes in the 2020 election—the numbers are, for many Republicans, all the evidence that you need to convince the objective observer that the direction for Republicans need to take for the next 19 months—double down to support the former president at least until the level of his prosecutions finally becomes too damaging. In the mean time the Republicans will continue to fight (Liz Chaney vs. Kevin McCarthy), deny the significance of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, pass restrictions on voting in many states, crack down on civil protesting, complain about how much Democrats want to spend on pandemic treatment/economic relief/infrastructure restoration, claim (falsely) that the Democrats want to raise taxes on everyone, and continue to engage in denial of spectacular scandals (like Matt Gaetz and Rudy Guliani/Donald Trump). We all need for the person who has never or rarely voted to become informed, speak up, and cast your vote. Apolitic will continue to give you high quality information. In episode 59 we will tell you what long time conservative George Will recently said about the Republican Party is headed in the next two years. https://video.foxnews.com/v/6232137591001#sp=show-clips

In this episode we are discussing the future strategy of two leading Republicans—Mitch McConnell the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate and Lindsey Graham the Minority Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. These men are considered by many pundits as the leaders of the Republican Party. On February 13, 2021 the Democrats from the House of Representatives concluded their impeachment arguments against Donald Trump, the now former President. Their intention was to set a precedent of condemnation for the President who they believe encouraged, on January 6, 2021, thousands of demonstrators to “Stop The Steal” (Trump’s false claim that he had been re-elected president in a landslide victory) by disrupting the House and Senate members who were trying to confirm the results of the Electoral College, who had voted to finalize the November election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in December of 2020. The Republicans chose to avoid hearing the impeachment charges while Trump was still president and then voted 43-7 (on February 13 as we cited above) to acquit President Trump because they felt that because Trump had been defeated in the election and had left town following Biden’s official installation as president, making the impeachment invalid. So officially Trump was not officially barred from running for re-election in 2024 (at least as of February 23). Immediately after the vote Senator McConnell surprised many observers by making a long speech on the Senate floor that he thought that Trump was guilty of grave misconduct that could still be convict-able in court—thus communicating a break with the 74 million voters who voted for Trump and the loyalists in congress who still felt that Trump hadn’t done anything all that bad (especially because they did not accept the election results from November-December and plan to go on resisting the Democrats for the next two years). Lindsey Graham went on Fox News Sunday and declared that Mitch McConnell was still his friend, but Graham was of the opinion that Trump was the best hope for the Republican Party to lead the party to victory in 2022 and it was vitally important for all loyal Republicans to back Trump as much as possible for the next two years. The American People are going to have to speak again clearly in 2021 and 2022 to either stop the progress proposed by progressives or clearly signal that the corruption of both Republicans and conservative Democrats must end and it is finally time to pass laws and implement programs that will put the interests of the American people ahead of all other agendas. The speech by Mitch McConnell and to interview with Lindsey Graham are linked here. If you listen one or both men bare in mind that they both, in my opinion speak with “forked tongues” as our native peoples used to say. https://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-mcconnell-s-full-remarks-following-senate-vote-to-acquit-trump-100994117808 https://video.foxnews.com/v/6232137591001#sp=show-clips

In this episode we are discussing the future strategy of two leading Republicans—Mitch McConnell the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate and Lindsey Graham the Minority Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. These men are considered by many pundits as the leaders of the Republican Party. On February 13, 2021 the Democrats from the House of Representatives concluded their impeachment arguments against Donald Trump, the now former President. The Democrats’ intention was to set a precedent of condemnation for the President who they believe encouraged, on January 6, 2021, thousands of demonstrators to “Stop The Steal” (Trump’s false claim that he had been re-elected president in a landslide victory) by disrupting the House and Senate members who were trying to confirm the results of the Electoral College, who had voted to finalize the November election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in December of 2020. The Republicans chose to avoid hearing the impeachment charges while Trump was still president and then voted 43-7 (on February 13 as we cited above) to acquit President Trump because they felt that because Trump had been defeated in the election and had left town following Biden’s official installation as president, making the impeachment invalid (but remember that Trump and many Republicans still maintain the fraud that Trump was re-elected in a landslide victory). So officially Trump was not officially barred from running for re-election in 2024 (at least as of February 23). Immediately after the vote Senator McConnell surprised many observers by making a long speech on the Senate floor that he thought that Trump was guilty of grave misconduct that could still be convict-able in court—thus communicating a break with the 74 million voters who voted for Trump and the loyalists in congress who still felt that Trump hadn’t done anything all that bad (especially because they did not accept the election results from November-December and plan to go on resisting the Democrats for the next two years). Lindsey Graham went on Fox News Sunday and declared that Mitch McConnell was still his friend, but Graham was of the opinion that Trump was the best hope for the Republican Party to lead the party to victory in 2022 and it was vitally important for all loyal Republicans to back Trump as much as possible for the next two years. The American People are going to have to speak again clearly in 2021 and 2022 to either stop the progress proposed by progressives or clearly signal that the corruption of both Republicans and conservative Democrats must end and it is finally time to pass laws and implement programs that will put the interests of the American people ahead of all other agendas. The speech by Mitch McConnell and to interview with Lindsey Graham are linked here. If you listen one or both men bare in mind that they both, in my opinion speak with “forked tongues” as our native peoples used to say. https://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-mcconnell-s-full-remarks-following-senate-vote-to-acquit-trump-100994117808 https://video.foxnews.com/v/6232137591001#sp=show-clips

The day after the conclusion of the United States Presidential (And Other) Elections November 3, 2020 was ironically the day that the United States formally withdrew from the International Paris Climate Treaty. Reducing the production of greenhouse gases that are causing the increase of global warming was first proposed by President Obama in 2015. 200 countries, backed by the vast majority of the world’s climate scientists, agreed to reduce the production of so-called “greenhouse” gasses with a goal of slowing down the warming of the earth’s climate and slowing down the melting of the polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise which are expected to cause world wide damage and many other unpleasant and unhealthy consequences. But the politicians who have been financed by the fossil fuel industry in alliance with other special interests tried to stop the Paris Climate Agreement from being implemented when President Trump announced that the US was withdrawing from the treaty due to the “fake” ideas of climate change and global warming. Amazingly, no other country agreed with President Trump’s plan and as a matter of fact such major polluters as the People’s Republic of China realized that they must make even more efforts than they first thought to reduce carbon emissions as soon as possible. For more information on this topic there is an NPR audio podcast on the topic at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/short-wave/id1482575855?i=1000497452785. There is also a longer article https://www.nrdc.org/stories/Paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know. The good news is that the newly elected US President Joseph Biden has pledged to re-enter the Paris Climate Agreement on his first day in office! Elections have consequences! So keep tuned about this topic—we will be following it closely.

The foundations of Progressivism are good health and good education prepares each citizen to maximize their expression of individual and public potential. The potential of each person to overcome disabilities and other limits has been greatly increased over the past 50 years. Much more progress is needed to help no person be left behind. Public funding of education must be reformed to help failing schools. The Supreme Court of Ohio has declared that the current funding system is inadequate. The legislature continues to fail to act. What is the remedy? As usual the public must vote solutions. That means you and me. Don’t want to vote? Well if not prepare to be disappointed. But, if we all put in the effort, study the options, and vote we will see progress and positive change. Our kids and grandkids cannot be expected to thrive in inadequate schools. We must study to learn about the options, vote and evaluate the results.

In this episode we begin to discuss how Progressivism demands that we increase our ability to discuss issues with a culture of respect for one another. I may or may not agree with you, but I may not allow myself to be offended by what you say and I will not hate you no matter what. We cannot progress until we can listen to each other and explain our positions with facts. We discuss how that has been done in the and how we can get back there to a foundation of honoring one another. (Part 1 of 2)

In this episode, Apolitic focuses on the views that average Americans—black and white, men and women—have of the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on their lives. We will also be highlighting the men and women who influenced Dr. King. Meet the forgotten woman who forever changed the lives of LGBTQ and workers: Pauli Murray. https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2020/06/26/pauli-murray-lgbtq-rights-civil-rights-act-title-vii/?sh=6e9e7c497620

We examine the Republican Party which appears to be led, as of February 7, 2021 by two leaders: Representative Lynn Chaney (R-WY) and the immediate ex-president Donald Trump. These two leaders are representing: 1) the more traditional (the last 20-25 years) Republicans like Chaney who favor the interests of the wealthy class of Americans (the so-called “Country Club” Republicans—who favor smaller government (especially less emphasis on government back Social Security Retirement, Medicare, Medicaid, Educational, Environmental Protection Programs, free trade globally and active support for the carbon-based energy industries), concern about the national debt (especially when the Democratic Party was in control of spending), muscular military equipment spending with active use of military action to promote “defense of the homeland” including active use of the intelligence services to keep foreign and domestic terrorism under tight control and 2) the newer form of Trumpian Republicans who favor “America First” policies such as promoting religious freedom and reducing LGBT rights and gay marriage, increasing tariff barriers, increasing physical and diplomatic barriers at our borders (such as a wall at the Mexican border), withdrawal from treaties such as the Paris Climate Accord and the Iranian Nuclear Deal (aka JCPOA—Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action), distancing from with traditional allies such as NATO (North American Treaty Organization), Japan and South Korea (to balance the problem of North Korea’s military increases, greater military support by our allies, closer ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia, having a more neutral relationship with Russia and a more strict relationship with China. Both wings of the Republican Party were in agreement on making abortion illegal, keep taxes low with 80% of the benefits going to the top 1% of that 80% going to the top 0.1%), giving billions of dollars of tax credits to the corporate giants and large banks, a distrust of any plan to reform immigration laws, and a hostility toward healthcare reform, especially the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as “Obamacare.” President Trump was very vocal about how much better the Republican healthcare plan would be, but the Republican plan never quite saw the light of day—some people even doubted that the Republicans even had a comprehensive alternative. We will discuss the ongoing Republican struggle and some programmatic alternatives in future programs. https://ballotpedia.org/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2016-republican-party-platform https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2012-republican-party-platform https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2008-republican-party-platform https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2004-republican-party-platform https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2000-republican-party-platform

In this episode, Apolitic focuses on the views that average Americans—black and white, men and women—have of the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on their lives. We will be highlighting the published works of Dr. King as a part of this broadcast. The first work that I would like to recommend is “Martin Luther King Jr. : The Essential Box Set.” This is an audio book which contains many audio recordings of speeches that Dr. King gave during his 13 year public career as a civil rights leader. The collection begins with the 1955 speech Dr. King gave to kick off the Selma Bus Strike that was designed to support the legal defense of Rosa Parks who was arrested for defying the law that expected her to give up her seat near the front of the bus to a white person. 1955 was a year of great turmoil in Selma, Alabama for it was during that year that the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed—4 little girls were killed in that attack. Dr. King gave the eulogy at the funeral and during that memorial he spoke these words which rang so true: “Death is not a period that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that punctuates it to a more lofty significance. Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into a life eternal. Let this daring faith, this great invincible surmise, be your sustaining power during these trying days.” Well said Brother King!

In this episode we examine this question of how we rebuild our society after the disasters of the global pandemic, the economic meltdown in the United States, the highlands divisive presidential and general election of November 2020, and the post-election chaos of President Trump and some of his followers to storm the national Capitol building on January 6, 2021 and interrupt the certification of the new president. We discuss Ann Applebaum’s ideas as presented in The Atlantic Magazine and add a few thoughts. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/seditionists-need-path-back-society/617746/

This episode examines the question of whether or not this twice impeached president who still (as of February 5, 2021) calls himself the 45th President (and will not let anyone use the modifier “former” in his presence) does not recognize that there is a new, duly sworn-in, legally and legitimately elected replacement named Joseph Biden, should be convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors in the form of violating his oath of office, when he swore to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. 45 members of the senate (all Republicans) voted that the question of impeachment and conviction were now irrelevant and moot because Donald Trump is no longer sitting in the Oval Office—ignoring the fact that Mr. Trump still claims to be president, maintaining that he was re-elected in a “landslide.” Here are three opinions: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/01/why-mcconnell-dumped-trump, https://theweek.com/10things/962326/10-things-need-know-today-january-21-2021, https://theweek.com/10things/962326/10-things-need-know-today-january-21-2021.

This episode continues and concludes our discussion on the legislative tool called “The Nuclear Option.” The main point is that a simple majority should replace the term “Nuclear Option.” We need to progress into the 21st century whereby a simple majority is going to be needed to exercise responsibility to make sure that the American form of democracy will flourish far into the future. We need all of us to participate in the American experiment. Here are some suggestions about dealing with the financial side of the pandemic (https://time.com/nextadvisor/in-the-news/what-to-know-about-every-stimulus-program/). This is more of the history of the nuclear option (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_option). Conservatives claim that the nuclear option is very threatening to liberals, but this is, in my opinion, much more of a downside for conservatives (https://www.heritage.org/political-process/commentary/5-years-after-going-nuclear-democrats-have-reaped-what-they-sowed).

In this episode we examine the historical use of the “Nuclear Option” by our House Of Representatives and our Senate to take care of Urgent or Emergency problems without excessive delay. These show notes link you to the fuller stories of how the legislature has taken care of extraordinary situations—such as the pandemic of 2020. In this emergency many businesses and organizations had to drastically alter their operations either by allowing their employees to work from home or closing down their operations—this was particularly harmed on the restaurant and bar segment of our economy. Also many service sector businesses were forced to go through major difficulties. The unemployment level rose from about 4% (which was a 50 year low rate) to over 10%—and that doesn’t really include all the unemployed and under-employed people. Companies like airlines were not able to operate on a normal schedule and were threatened with bankruptcy. Also millions of people who rent their living space were not able to pay their rent. Millions of people paying for a home mortgage loan were also left up in the air. The first signs of this problem led both parties to come up with a major $2.2 trillion economic stimulus program called the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The CARES Act was designed to help the American people and our businesses to cope with the fallout of the crisis. Everyone knew that there would need to be another relief bill we just didn’t know when and how much would be needed. The Republicans made sure to help businesses very generously as well as the top 5% of society. The Republicans started questioning a second Bill about the same time that congressional Democrats started to pass a second relief bill—only they also wanted to help state and local governments who had many unreimbursed expenses during the pandemic. Ted Cruz, for example, said that many restaurant workers would rather take money from the government rather than go back to work—https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/07/27/sen-ted-cruz-significant-resistance-from-republicans-against-their-own-partys-coronavirus-stimulus-package/?sh=1415ae1d6c9c. But as of today (February 4, 2021) the story of corona virus relief is still not over. The second relief bill is still being negotiated and the Republicans and Democrats are still going through much drama. A relief package is waiting for the Democrats to act on the pandemic crisis and millions of people especially to lower half of our people are quietly waiting for more help. Again, this is the reason that I hope many of you non-voters will become interested in our history, current events, and in your power to swing the balance in the favor of progress by coming back and becoming active voting citizens again. We the people can change the course of history if we only vote based on an in-depth knowledge of the facts.

In this episode we examine the historical use of the pardon by our president to either cut short a person’s criminal sentence or to wipe clean the criminal record of a person convicted of a crime. These show notes link you to the fuller stories of how President Washington pardoned every person involved in the Whiskey Rebellion. There are many interesting stories of presidential pardons in the show notes. But as of that day the unfinished story of the Trump administration at the time of this recording (January 21, 2021) was completed when Donald Trump left office without pardoning himself and his children—that was a greatly anticipated event which never happened. Some times we think we are sure something will happen and we are surprised to see what really happens. But as of today (February 3, 2021) the story of Donald Trump’s presidency is still not over. The second impeachment is still ahead and the Republicans and Democrats are still going through much drama. Again, this is the reason that I hope many of you non-voters will become interested in our history, current events, and in your power to swing the balance in the favor of progress by coming back and becoming active voting citizens again. We the people can change the course of history if we only vote based on an in-depth knowledge of the facts. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/12/controversial-history-presidential-pardons-from-watergate-to-whiskey-rebellion/ https://www.insider.com/list-of-most-famous-shocking-presidential-pardons-in-us-history#george-washington-issued-the-first-presidential-pardon-by-excusing-two-men-who-participated-in-the-whiskey-rebellion-1

In this episode we examine the tragedy of Flint Michigan in the first of several parts of this complex story. These show notes link you to the fuller but as of today unfinished story of this epic struggle of people versus an unjust government that is non-democratic and promotes entrepreneurial ideas without accountability to the people Who are being governed. This undemocratic plan also demonstrated a lack of common sense to determine whether or not the public good is being served by these ideas. We will link you to programs by Rachel Maddow and Michael Moore that give a pretty fair depiction of more details of the story. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rumble-with-michael-moore/id1490354763?i=1000505529809 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rachel-maddow-show/id294055449?i=1000505409017

This episode discusses the second impeachment of Donald Trump. The big news was that 10 Republicans voted for the impeachment. On the one hand the 10 Republicans were given great credit by many people for breaking ranks with their fellow Republicans in voting for Trump to be impeached and removed from office. On the other hand the number of Republicans who were willing to register their disapproval in this current climate is a palling Lee small and subject to the question why are they not more concerned about trumps behavior and The direction of the country in general. So we ask why were you not more concerned about the taking over of the capitol building and what will it take to get you more concerned about the direction of our country? What about the pandemic which is killing 4,000+ people per day? In the last few weeks President Trump has only done two things: 1) he has visited Texas to show off a very small portion of the border wall that he pledged to build 4 years ago (“and Mexico will pay for it”—complete fiction which any sensible person would have immediately rejected as a suckers bet), 2) he has released an executive order citing China as deserving sanctions for being threatening to the United States. We release the link to the statement (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-letter-speaker-house-representatives-president-senate-011321/) and question the validity of trumps analysis the China is so threatening to our position. Btw, the congressional representative that Steve called and very respectfully asked to consider the duty to put the consideration of the violation of our constitutional rights above party politics (Steve Stivers R-15-OH) and vote in favor of impeaching President Trump Rep. Stivers voted against impeachment and by extension to accept Trumps false claims and incitement of the demonstrators to take over the Capitol. The impeachment resulted from Trump’s false claim that he was re-elected in a “land slide” and then Trump encouraged the demonstrators at his rally to battle the House of Representatives and the Senate to confirm the results of the electoral college voting. Rep. Stivers is also a major general in the Ohio National Guard and, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, “Newly promoted Ohio National Guard major general [is] among [the] highest ranking currently serving in Congress.” https://www.dvidshub.net/news/385347/newly-promoted-ohio-national-guard-major-general-among-highest-ranking-currently-serving-congress In other words, a member of congress and major general in the Ohio National Guard did NOT think that the President Of The United States did anything wrong in falsely claiming that he was re-elected by a LAND SLIDE and then encourage his supporters to walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to enter the Capitol Building and assault the Capitol Police, and on and on—we will deal with more details in future programs. Now just in case your impression of Rep Stivers’ judgement not to join the impeachment movement was “well this was a partisan attempt to attack our president,” I will share with you that Anthony Gonzales (R-16-OH) a fellow Republican voted in favor of the impeachment. “The President of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked in United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution. In doing so, five people have died—including a Capitol Police Officer—and many more have been injured, and our democracy has been shaken,” Gonzalez said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. https://fox8.com/news/ohios-rep-gonzalez-crosses-party-lines-votes-to-impeach-president-trump/ Stivers should be held accountable for his decision！

This episode addresses the question of where the members of the House Of Representatives and Senate who are also members of the Republican Party stand on the most important questions of the day: 1) Who won the presidential election of November 2020–Joe Biden or Donald Trump? 2) Was the assault on the Capitol building a big deal or not? Should Donald Trump be held responsible for instigating of this demonstration and be impeached for violating his oath of office. We are again giving the link to the YouTube https://youtu.be/ht20eDYmLXU which is about 4 hours—the first hour is music and lesser figures; Don Trump Jr is in the second hour; a number of higher ranking figures such as Rudy Giuliani are in hours 2-3 and finally President Trump takes the stage for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. So Trump has put the congressional Republicans in a bind—is Trump the victim of voter fraud? Is Trump in political and/or legal jeopardy for his claims of “disgrace” and “we will never let the country be destroyed ....by the radical left.” Your support for Trump or your opposition to Trump is critical—Trump supporters are totally in support of their man. Where are you Republicans? Where are you the great numbers of current non-voters? The next election in 2022 will be critical in helping the country clarify our future direction—forward or backward?

We were anticipating a major day of confrontation in the Congress given that there was a run off election in Georgia the day before on January 5, 2021. Many of the pundits (i.e., the people who make a living giving their opinions) expected that the voters of Georgia would vote to return one or both Republicans to the Senate. What actually happened was that the voters of Georgia elected two Democrats! Then, the next day, the Congress, newly realizing that the Democrats were in a newly elected razor thin majority, met to affirm the voting of the electoral college which had voted to elect Joe Biden the 46th president. But President Trump scheduled a rally which after 3 1/2 hours (the full event is linked to a YouTube recording https://youtu.be/ht20eDYmLXU in which the President falsely claimed that the election had been stolen by the Democrats) led to an assault by several thousand people on the Capitol Building which led to 5 people dying, 1 death being a demonstrator being shot by a Capitol policeman, people chanting “Hang Mike Pence”, erecting a scaffold and collecting hangman’s nooses, multiple assaults on Capitol police, and many other destructive and larcenous acts (https://apnews.com/article/us-capitol-attack-14c73ee280c256ab4ec193ac0f49ad54). This assault was very similar to the assault of the Bastille in Paris, France in 1789. There are obvious differences between the two demonstrations, but the main point of comparison is the public outrage which led to mob violence. In France, the Bastille Day is remembered as a day when the public stood up to the power of the monarchy—they were saying “no.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille is the link which gives the history of the storming of the Bastille prison. The French people of 1789, very importantly, did not have the right to vote, unlike the crowd in 2021. The videos of the actions of January 2021 are numerous—the listeners can look these up. Significantly, there was condemnation of the President from both Democrats and Republicans. Surprisingly a second impeachment of Donald Trump was initiated by the congress on January 13, 2021. The result of that action will be the subject of our next episode. The inauguration on January 20, 2021 seems a long way away.

Episode 43 “This Day In History: December 31, 2020: The Storm Gathering Around The Congressional Affirmation Of The Electoral College Vote For The 2020 Presidential Election January 6, 2021” The issue of electoral college affirmation of the 2020 presidential election became a big deal when Donald Trump decided that he was going to claim victory in the election in spite of no evidence that the result was different than was accepted by the new major news outlets, the courts, and the majority of the voting population—Joseph Biden was considered the winner of the election. Since Trump has continued to claim that he actually won the election and then he was robbed of the legitimate victory many of his 74 million supporters have continued to believe the myth that their candidate was the victim of a massive fraud. The normal process of counting the electoral college votes and finally certifying The official results of the election is being complicated by the ongoing process of confusion courtesy of Donald Trump. We will discuss the 2 senatorial runoff elections in Georgia on January 5 and the expected finalizing of the 2020 vote. There’s significant conflict between the Trump supporters and everyone else that will be played out in Congress on January 6. Ari Melber interviews a Trump supporting legislator who tries to explain his opposition to the 2020 election results (not very convincingly to me ears—this was previously linked on the 39th episode): https://youtu.be/S3tm3ID0eDM. The show down on January 6, 2021 will be the subject of our next episode.