February 18, 2024

Every dollar Trump raises to pay legal fees and judgments...

...is a dollar the GOP won't have to try and elect their candidates for office.

February 15, 2024

What news stories about the Democratic party win in New York on Tuesday should be saying.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/what-democratic-victory-in-new-york.html

One of the best barometers measuring both the impact and significance of the special election in New York Congressional District 3 to replace expelled Congressman George Santos is Trump's reactions on his social media site. All of the spin, downplaying, indifference and obfuscation in the conservatively biased media is nullified by everything from Trump's attacks on the Republican candidate, whom he claims he didn't endorse, but which, in fact, he most definitely did, to his over the top, angry, and partly incoherent rants in response.

They wanted this win, they desperately needed it, they recognize the political significance of losing it and it is one more in a growing string of Democratic party election victories that is pointing to the re-election of President Biden, regaining a majority in the House and holding on to, and possibly increasing, their margin in the Senate. On the Democratic party side, the winning combination includes the same post-Dobbs reaction that has led to significant shifts in support for Democratic candidates over Republicans in a whole string of elections going back to the 2022 mid-term, a clear drop-off of support for election denying conspiracy theorists in the core of the MAGA cult, and, perhaps, the newest bad news for the GOP could be backlash from the political game they've played over border security.

This, along with the state legislative seat the Democrats claimed in a special election in Berks County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, is another part of the arrow pointing toward the Democratic party taking control of Congress in November. It's coming. Everything in this particular race, similar to other special elections in this winning streak for Democrats, including the re-capture of the state house in Virginia last fall, is a strong indication that the GOP does not have anything it can run on in order to win. Being Trump and MAGA is obviously not enough, and in fact, it is obviously a losing proposition when it comes to national elections, and even to a majority of elections in the states.

So ignore the gloom and doom news media. They're desperately trying to make money off this while it lasts, which won't be long.

February 14, 2024

This is the kind of biased media coverage Democrats are constantly fighting against.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tom-suozzi-wins-new-york-special-election-george-santos-rcna138674

Suozzi wins, by almost nine percentage points in a district that went for a lying, conspiracy theory spouting idiot in 2022. It's a win that goes about six points higher than the best polls guessed. This big of a win, just as it is, is yet another in a string of wins that point to high levels of success for Democrats in 2024. And MSNBC has a Republican strategist in their coverage, obfuscating, making it sound like they should have done a lot better than they did, which is hogwash and hinting that border security, which the Republicans just blew up this week because of Trump, was the big issue.

Let's put it in its context, at least. It was expected, because of Santos' idiocy and demented rantings, that any Democrat would win this race. Experts thought it would be fairly close, because of the make-up of the district. But races like this are won on turnout, and Democrats had plenty of motivation to turn out more voters than she did.

This election, if you want to call it a bellwether, was a smashing loss for Trump, for the GOP and for their hopes of keeping control of the house. This is a +7 Democrat, -7 GOP turnaround in a redrawn district that was, allegedly, 7 points more Republican after the lines were redrawn. If Democratic candidates do this well in districts Biden won in 2020, against Republicans who won in 2022, it would shift the majority to the Democrats by about 14 seats.

February 14, 2024

Polls miss it again.

It was difficult to find a lot of polling data for the NY 3rd district election, but most of what I saw had the Republican behind by as much as 3 points. Whether that was an educated media guess or an actual poll take of voters, it looks like 8% will be the actual margin for Suozzi. Yes, there are a lot of factors involved, including Trump sending hints to Republicans to play politics with the border, which ought to be good for about 5% of the vote switching to Biden nationwide. Of course, the last Republican to hold the seat was an ideal Republican, a flagrant, pathological liar and all-around nut job, and that probably helped. Then there's the post-Dobbs effect, which is probably the biggest attraction to independent and more moderate voters to go with the Democrat. And frankly, I think the news media's fascination with Trump and their compulsion to broadcast everything he does is a big contributor to Democrats as well, since he's an insane, demented pathological liar himself and the more people who see this, the more voters there are who will vote against him.

If I wanted to set odds and make a bet, I think Biden sits at about 55-41 at this point, and will carry all the states he did in 2020 and add Ohio and North Carolina to the mix.

February 12, 2024

This is not protected free speech, people.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/this-is-not-protected-free-speech-but.html

We have a real problem if a statement like this one, "Let Russia do whatever the hell it wants," made by a candidate for the Presidency, can be made without any consequences. This is not protected free speech by any definition that we know. And the real problem we have, aside from the danger this creates in possibilities of kicking off another World War, is that it doesn't appear America has the will, or the mechanism, to control it and do anything about it.

The fact that there are Americans who not only don't have a clue when it comes to the significance of a statement like this, made by a former President and current candidate for the Presidency, but who will allow treasonous remarks like this to sway their own opinion because of their ignorance, is a sign that the constitutional democracy under which we have prospered and lived for almost 240 years is in real danger. It is also a sign that the world is in danger of another conflict, this time with nukes, that has the potential to completely destroy human civilization. And that's not an exaggeration.

The constitutional definition of treason is, "levying war against the United States, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." This is from Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution. This would include NATO alliance countries, with which the US has mutual defense agreements through the treaty. An American, encouraging Russia to attack an ally, meets the definition of treason and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Is our democracy too weak to defend itself against this?

February 9, 2024

People are laughing at this because its funny.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/people-are-laughing-because-this-is.html

Mainstream conservative Evangelical doctrine does not accept that there are prophets being sent among us along the lines of those who are recorded to have delivered some very specific messages during Old Testament times, particularly when Israel became a divided monarchy after the reign of Solomon, and many of the kings fell under the influence of paganism. However, particularly among the Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions of Evangelicalism, there is a belief that God does provide individuals with a specific gift to predict future events, and they issue all kinds of pronouncements, mainly connecting specific persons or events with the "end times" or the coming end of the world, or involving politics.

Any observant person with reasonable intelligence can figure out the odds of someone making an accurate prediction based on a number of factors which point to it, and which doesn't necessarily depend on a supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit to make. Even at that, there is no religious prophet today, and I'll repeat that so we understand that what we are looking at when we examine self-proclaimed prophets today are frauds and phonies, there is no religious prophet today who has the record of the 100% accuracy required by the Old Testament standard found in Deuteronomy 12:21-22 to lay claim to being a true prophet of God. Not one.

Hank Kunneman, a pastor who says his predictions are remarkably accurate, has indulged in a little bit of persecution as confirmation of his correctness. "People have laughed at you," he prayed. "They've laughed at your prophets, they've laughed at your church, they've laughed at your intercessors, they've laughed at the patriots, they've laughed at those who voted for 45."

Of course they've laughed. How else can they deal with such blatant contradictions and hijacking of true Christian faith? It is, in fact, funny to hear people who were involved in a riot aimed at bringing down the Constitution claim to be patriots. They laugh because people who claim to be better Christians than those they label "liberals" and "woke" lie through their teeth with a straight face and make ridiculous predictions which a six year old can check out and determine is absolutely false, and then, they lie with a straight face while saying, "I never said that." These are all men who already have a reputation as charlatans, deceivers and who use Christian faith as a means to make themselves rich, so they already have a credibility problem. The fact that they're going on a nationwide tour, obviously to rake in more cash from the duped, is, frankly, laughable. So why not?

February 8, 2024

The "Border Crisis" can no longer be a political issue.

The GOP just scuttled it.

So, it remains to be seen how many moronic Americans there are, and how many people were really sincere about border policy reform, or whether that was just politics. If it was the latter, and that's obvious now, it's a question of how many votes that's actually going to cost the GOP. Are we still working through those on the margins who see this for what it is and either won't show up in November or will switch their vote, as sensible Americans would do, or are they buried so far in their ignorance and stupidity that they can't think anymore?

I have a neighbor who has been waving the border issue as a GOP flag for a while now. I ran into him while I was out walking my dog and I asked him, "So what do you think of your party wanting to keep the border open?" He had not heard what had happened, hadn't been paying attention, had to go check it out and when he finally came back, he was devastated. My parting question, "How in the world can you vote for that?"

February 8, 2024

Corruption in America's largest Evangelical denomination mirrors the horrors of Trump and GOP corruption.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/americas-largest-evangelical.html

I can certainly see why this denomination has a credibility problem. This is what happens, when far right wing politics blends with fundamentalist religion. So What Happens?

Ultimately, mixing conservative and fundamentalist religion with far right wing politics produces dangerous extremism. People elevate their passion and feelings above the rule of law, considering it an illegitimate barrier to their freedom which permits them to fight against the freedom and personal rights of others who don't share similar convictions. This skews any conviction of what is right and wrong, and it undermines the value of human life which becomes subject to someone's personal determination of "righteousness." It turns people into crusaders for God's vengeance against his enemies, while he holds their coattails and cheers them on. That's a perspective that is both oppositional to American values of freedom and democracy, and Christian values of the sanctity of every human life.

The Southern Baptist Convention is on the verge of losing its title as "The largest Protestant denomination in the United States." Since it's membership peaked in 2006, it has lost 2.8 million members, almost a fourth of its total, and it has lost 1.8 million in its weekly worship attendance which is over a fourth of the total. The vast majority of these losses, which have climbed into the 400,000 range per year, have occurred since 2015. And the public message that gets put out, after all of the debates, is not concern for the hundreds of women who have been abused because they trusted someone in their church, but is a whine over the money this is costing the executive committee.

This is the Achilles heel of this largest of Evangelical denominations. The lack of sincerity of leadership that appears to be more interested in power and authority than in restoring the cooperative missions and ministry aims of the denomination is visible, and people are leaving because of it. Baptisms, representing the number of people who profess to be converted to Christianity, and which have always been a measure of the relative health of the denomination as a whole, are experiencing all time lows. The denomination is at risk of fragmenting even further, splintering, splitting or completely dissolving, and that's a fact that is quite visible.

February 3, 2024

The survival of American Democracy depends on the re-election of President Joe Biden

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-survival-of-american-democracy.html

The American people are entitled to know, before they go to the polls and vote, whether candidates running for office are criminals. And the laws that we have passed over the years, based on past experience, are there to make sure that we remain a nation of laws which lives under the rule of law, without exception. That's not happening. It needs to change.

The only way to change this, to ensure the survival of our nation, and its Constitution, is that the American people are going to have to educate themselves as best as can be done, get the facts, filter out the falsehoods, and a clear majority are going to have to step up, re-elect President Biden and Vice-President Harris, make sure Democrats have a working majority in the House and control the Senate.

So let's get past all of the trendy, pseudo-intellectual discussion centered around Biden's age and the need for a door to be opened to someone else to pursue the Presidency from the Democratic side of American politics. First of all, there is no alternative candidate on the left who has anywhere near the experience, intellectual ability, or the staff of expert advisors to come anywhere close to governing this country as competently as Biden has done. His list of first term accomplishments, on behalf of the American people and right down the line of all of his Democratic party constituency, is historic.

February 2, 2024

Go Chiefs! How Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have caused another Trump Trauma.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/go-chiefs.html

This is an example of just how divisive, anti-patriotic and anti-American political conservatives, mainly the MAGA crowd and the Christian nationalists have become. They are unable to tolerate thinking that isn't the same as theirs, particularly if it is going to help the other side. The first couple of primaries of the election season, and the news in the current cycle has really shown that the dreamland many of them were living in is not real. Goodness, even Nikki Haley has awakened to the fact that Trump is an enemy of America and democracy and everything we stand for, and he is mentally and emotionally incapable of holding office. Swift, Kelce and the Chiefs are just one more thing against which they can vent their frustration and lash out.

While this gives the politically obsessed something to talk about, it's not really going to change anything. Reality is what it is, Americans are fascinated with celebrities, Swift is at the height of her popularity and Kelce is one of the players who give the Chiefs, one of the better teams in the NFL, their identity. The MAGA crowd is attracted to, and picks up on Trump's inability to tolerate someone getting more attention than he does, and when he lashes out, so do they. It's a pitiful display of a deplorable lack of self-confidence, the epitome of narcissism.

With these kinds of reactions to things, Trump and his shriveling MAGA cult give their opponents a game plan to take him down and out. They know how to push buttons and turn him into a blob of jello, quaking with rage and unable to spit out a coherent thought. That doesn't hurt his support with his MAGA following, but they need a whole lot more than that to win a national election, or make a difference in Congressional elections. And it is clearly hurting him with just about every other group of voters.