Robert Pogson

“In the U.S. Senate race in Texas, incumbent Republican John Cornyn leads Democrat M.J. Hegar among likely voters, 49 – 43 percent. Seven percent are undecided. On September 24th, Cornyn had 50 percent support and Hegar had 42 percent, also with 7 percent undecided. ”

See Pennsylvania (PA) Poll – October 21, 2020 – Texas In Play: Biden And Trump | Quinnipiac University ConnecticutIt’s not certain but there is some movement at the “top” and “bottom” of the ticket in Texas and both Biden and Hegar could win. That would pretty well seal Trump’s fate and offer Biden good support from Congress.

What a different world we will live in if Biden comes to power with a Democratic Senate and House. Pray that good intentions become good deeds and that as much as possible of Trump’s damage can be undone without destroying USA altogether. We live in dangerous times. What will Trump do as a lame duck? Play golf? Declare war on someone? Roil the markets? Go after his enemies? All of the above?

See Lindsay Graham Getting a Hug at Amy Coney Barrett’s Hearing Just Put Democrats Over the EdgeSome of the leading Democrats are getting very long in the tooth. While they are well connected and great at fund-raising, they are growing out of touch with USAian society and the younger members of the party. After they win this election, they should step aside. This includes Biden who is older than I am. The time to be a mature wise leader is in the 50s, not the 80s.

In particular, Biden is all about a public/private partnership for universal health insurance. That’s nuts. Allowing insurance companies to shift the high-risk people to the government is nuts. Insurance is about sharing risk, not packaging it. The problem with USAian health insurance is its complexity. Adding another layer to that is a bad idea. Go directly to single-payer universal coverage. It’s efficient. States can administer it. The feds don’t have to foot the whole bill, it can be a cost-sharing thing. It will give healthcare providers a simpler way of earning revenue. It will give sick people assured healthcare. The time when you are least able to pay for healthcare or fill out voluminous forms is when you are sick. Do the right thing.

Also, Biden is walking on eggshells about the environment. He has the right idea but he needs bold measures instead of telling labour unions what they want to hear about fossil fuels etc. He should be all-in on The Green New Deal. He should appoint AOC as czarina in charge of getting universal healthcare and The Green New Deal on track. Both of these span departments so an overseer enthusiastic about the programmes is needed, not Biden/Harris. AOC does not need to be in a full time position. She can still function in the House as a representative. If Biden insists on conservative approaches he should ask AOC to announce consultations with experts and the public to devise a made-in-USA approach that works. Give AOC 90 days to make a plan and the legislative branch 180 days to make it into law. It will take Biden that long to untangle the messes Trump has created anyway. He has fires to put out while AOC and other young energetic Democrats can light new fires under the bureaucracy to move USA into the 21st century.

Biden should be putting his DOJ into attack-mode against Trump and Trumpism. There are crimes aplenty there. A special prosecutor is in order along with all kinds of search warrants and cooperation from State, Justice and IRS. SEC should be looking at insider trading. Justice should be looking at obstruction, criminal negligence causing death, crimes against humanity and emoluments. Likely Trump will go into hiding in Russia or Saudi Arabia so lots of international investigations should proceed. Then, Biden should put State and Defence into attack-mode on Russia. Essentially, Russia has committed undeclared war on USA for years with no response whatsoever. Biden should seek a declaration of war from Congress. He should seize all russian ships and planes outside of Russia beyond a certain date, create configurations to drive Russia out of Ukraine and Syria and set Assad, Putin, North Korea and China straight. Trade deals, global treaties and defensive alignments all have to be put right. That would likely take all of Biden’s energy for a year or two at which time he could resign knowing he’s fixed things. Harris can steer the ship Biden will have put on course.

Another thing Biden has to fix is bringing SCOTUS into line with USAian society. It is crazy to believe that folks who drafted the USAian constitution who were all right with slavery and women not being empowered are somehow infallible and their words must be interpreted as written and as meant. Surely those writers did not envision angry young men armed with AR-15s storming the MI legislature to intimidate legislators and shooting thousands of civilians annually forever when they wrote the second amendment. SCOTUS has to be revamped and the constitution with it. Biden should ask the “conservative” skunks on SCOTUS to resign and if not push for impeachment. If that doesn’t work, he should add four or five liberal justices. He should confer with SCOTUS and ask them which remedy they prefer…

I expect the Government of Pigs party to go into a long decline after 2020 so the Democrats have an opportunity to achieve many things which have only been aspirations until Trump wrecked things.

In the war in Viet Nam, some jaded commentators proclaimed, “Kill ’em all. Let God sort them out!”. It’s a commentary on how ugly war can be. The news that Trump is infected with COVID-19 has similar connotations.“The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with issues related to presidential succession and disability.”

25th Amendment On the one hand, civilized humans don’t wish a deadly virus on anyone, but, on the other, it is sweet irony that the guy who eschewed masks, wished the epidemic would “go away, like a miracle”, and called it a hoax, should succumb. However this goes, Trump will proclaim himself an innocent victim, “the Ds did it”, or that he is the president who survived COVID-19. Before the election we should know the truth and it will set us free. If Trump does become very ill, will Pence have the courage to invoke Article 25? How would Pence v Biden go?

Having watched the debate last night, I’m left with some impressions. Biden v Trump was sane v insane, calm v angry, sensible v crazed, focused v scatter-brained, good v evil, etc. I have to wonder what drug Trump was under. Wikipedia: “The symptoms of amphetamine psychosis include auditory and visual hallucinations, grandiosity, delusions of persecution, and delusions of reference concurrent with both clear consciousness and prominent extreme agitation.”

People who watched that “debate” will no doubt run screaming to the exits of Trumpism. Expect fear on a widespread scale about what this monster will do in his “lame duck” period.

King Canute was reported to have commanded the sea to fall back and it did not. Trump is an imitation of Canute, commanding democracy to fall back so he can be king Trump. It isn’t going to happen and I think the House, Senate and White House will all fall to the Democrats this time. Every sane USAian has seen the king has no clothes.

The death of RBG adds a new dimension to the US election. Promptly, the Senators are drawing their lines. The GOP slim majority will become thinner as Collins and Murkowski see writing on the walls. Collins is already trailing in the polls. Murkowski publicly declared she would not vote for a GOP nominee for SCOTUS. Graham is in a close race in South Carolina. Another fight over SCOTUS could put the Ds in control of the Senate. RealClearPolitics shows the parties tied in sure and likely seats. RBG could shift that thinning margin. Women make up more than 50% of voters. Women in the suburbs may see this issue as vital to their interests. It remains to be seen whether Moscow Mitch can push a nominee through before the election or will the GOP run on a promise of doing so? When will 2020 end? Not for decades if the GOP succeed in appointing yet another justice.

Rats are starting to leave the sinking ship of Trumpism. A raft of new books are quite popular and confirmation of many suspicions of Trump’s motives.

Woodward reported that Trump confessed to lying about the seriousness of COVID-19 and has a recording. Trump can’t claim he was misquoted and saving USA from panic doesn’t work as the death-toll mounts. The time for action was months ago and Trump left it to Pence to do little or nothing. Trump is guilty of mass murder. So are several supporters/enablers.

The Atlantic reported that several sources describe Trump as calling volunteer military as “suckers” and the war-dead, “losers”. Ouch! USA worships military service. Trump instantly lost a significant margin of voters everywhere and even a slice of active military and veterans who liked Trump’s public words. Actions speak louder than words.

Mary Trump reported on Trump’s warped early life and present lack of “family values”, a sacred phrase of Republicans from the recent past. Republicans started the Lincoln Project to encourage Republicans to vote for Biden. Some will. Many independents will. The Lincolns are putting out many ads cutting Republican/conservative support for Trump to the bone.

Polling data shows Biden is leading Trump just about everywhere in approval. There’s a good chance the Government of Pigs could lose the Senate. Florida and Texas are in play. Bloomberg just donated $100million to fight for Florida for the Ds so the Ds can spread their huge funds on the other battleground states. Can you see where this is heading less than two months to Election Day? Can you see the momentum building as some states open early/mail voting? Can you see voters rushing to vote on each and every new revelation of the terrible toll Trump is putting on USAians? I can. It’s all over but the voting. Trump is going to lose almost every state he won in 2016 by a sliver of margin. He’s going to lose suburban women, other women, blacks, browns, seniors, veterans, the educated, the unemployed, relatives/friends/news-junkies of COVID-19s victims.

I suspect Trump might gain votes from white supremacists, other scum and the willfully ignorant but fortunately they are a minority in USA today. It’s too bad name-recognition alone seems enough to make one competitive in the run for the presidency but an incumbent has to run on his record and the unemployed and woke citizens can see the folly of letting Trump usurp another term. Many will see the folly of not locking him up in January, 2021.

If I were Biden I would draw up the plan to cuff Trump et al as soon as possible. I have no doubt Trump may well attempt many shenanigans to try to remain in power no matter the outcome of the vote. Fortunately, the constitution of USA turns over the presidency not to the incumbent but to the Speaker of the House should the election not resolve matters. Amen. 2021 could be a great year for USA and the world. There will be troubles but there is light at the end of the tunnel.