Editor,
James Constantino, in his letter titled “Left-wing bias” in the Jan. 7 issue of the Daily Journal, says that everything the Republicans have done since the Jan. 6 insurrection has been legal and constitutional. According to Constantino, when Republicans in Republican-controlled states vote to strip the local and state elections commissioners of their legal authority to count ballots, and the Republicans assume that authority, to control the counting of votes, that’s legal.
When Republicans vote in states they control, to eliminate or restrict the use of mail-in/absentee ballots, that’s legal. When Republicans eliminate or restrict the use of drop-off ballot boxes, that’s legal. When Republicans eliminate or reduce the number of voting locations, especially in low income and communities of color, that’s legal. When Republicans eliminate voting on Sunday after church, which many communities of color have been doing for decades, that’s legal. When Republicans vote to restrict and reduce to hours of voting locations, that’s legal. When Republicans vote into state law voter suppression laws, to reduce the votes for Democrats from low income and communities of color, by making it harder for these Americans to vote, that is racists and discriminatory, but, to Constantino, that’s legal.
And, let’s not forget, Trump and his Right-wing Republican supporters in Congress, were part of the insurrection on Jan. 6, and continue to this day to deny or downplay their roles. Perhaps, Constantino needs a new dictionary and a copy of the U.S. Constitution for his next birthday.
Michael Oberg
San Mateo
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(33) comments
Beyond lying and cheating, - supporting Trump even when he publicly curses a foreign leader who politely followed established customs and congratulated President Biden, who the vast majority know won fair and square. How insanely childish and crybaby-like can he be, and how should we classify supporters who accept anything and everything from this sorry, embarrassing character, who has brought so much shame on the country?
Good morning, Jorg
Wow... even one of your own compatriots pointed out emphatically that "Trump lost" and wished that die-hard Trump supporters would accept Trump's 2020 defeat. So, while the Republican fringe cannot let go... there are probably more Democrats who cannot move forward. Why is Trump's name still in their mouths?
Care to comment on some contemporary issues discussed in these pages over the past couple of days... or will you continue to look backwards? Important issues like inflation, rising crime, the pandemic, the border and what you expect Joe's administration to do about those problems. Here's a start... stop trying to spend our economy into the tank, tell... don't ask... prosecutors to stop reducing serious crimes to misdemeanors and to stop letting dangerous criminals roam our cities' streets, get some real information to the public re: COVID and follow the science, and finally... send resources and the VP to the border with orders... not a request... to restore safety and order.
Or... post more complaints about a former president who does not have the authority to fix our country's current problems. Your choice.
You said it all, Ray, didn't you? So, no need for me to chime in.
Ray: As soon as Trump crawls under a rock in shame and shuts up, I’ll stop hanging him out. In the meantime, why don’t you abandon your usual sidetracking and “what-about-ism”, and instead respond to what I bring up, - or not respond at all?
Hey, Jorg
A hybrid of your "I'm too busy to answer" and "All other points of view are nonsense." I guess I can be thankful that you did not cue the crickets.
What... and be specific... would you like me to comment on. I will. Then I'll ask you for a comment. Fair?
Ray: My comment to Mr. Oberg's LTE above, of course. What else could it be?
OK, Jorg... here we go. First, to be clear, your comment on Mike O's LTE unequivocally states your extreme dislike of Trump. That's OK. You can argue your feelings all day long, but let's look at some facts and break it down...
Trump lying, cheating and making outrageous comments. I have said in these pages that Trump exaggerates, misstates facts and sometimes appears to present information made out of whole cloth. He also makes insulting remarks about others in the news. What is disingenuous from the left is a failure to recognize that the current president is guilty of all those same faults. I won't dwell on Joe's muffled and sometimes unintelligible comments... let's just set those aside. But remember, Joe is the guy who withdrew from a presidential campaign for lying. More recently... in Joe's first press conference... re: the border, he said the US government is sending back a majority of families illegally crossing the border... not true. During the Afghanistan debacle last year, Joe said Al-Qaida was gone from Afghanistan... not true. Later in the year he said he was against the war in Afghanistan from the beginning, but in 2001, he voted in favor of the invasion of Afghanistan. Oh, yeah... Joe's the guy who campaigned on a platform saying that his presidency would defeat COVID. Take a look around... are we winning? He said there was no difference in the vaccination rates for whites and persons of color over the age of 65. There's a problem with that statement. No data was available to support his claim. He made it up. Just like Joe's claim that his multi-trillion dollar spending plan was already paid for. Seriously? Joe also said no president before Trump was racist. I guess he forgot about the Democratic Party's long history of electing slave owners to the presidency. Joe said he has been endorsed by the NAACP every time he ran for office. Not true. According to the organization's current CEO, the NAACP does not endorse political candidates. Let's not forget Joe insulted African-American voters during the last campaign by telling them they "ain't black" if they support Donald Trump. And Joe is the guy who continually claims that our country is systemically racist. There are many more examples of Joe's dissembling and prevarication.
With respect to the 2020 election outcome. I have said more than once, more than twice that Joe won the presidency. Period. The first time i did so was only days after the election... before the major networks declared Joe the winner. It is not "insanely childish and cry-baby like" to contest the results of an election. But to go on and on questioning and challenging the results is tiresome... just ask Hillary. I have said multiple times that I do not like some things Donald Trump has said and done. Now, I have come to the point where I have said in these pages that I hope Republicans do not pick him as their nominee in 2024.
Finally, you ask how should we classify Trump supporters. Well, I guess a lot of them could be grouped together as Americans who are worried about what our current president is doing about rising consumer prices, rising crime, the pandemic, the border, and foreign threats.
This is not side-tracking; it is taking on issues facing Americans today. This is not what-about-ism; it is looking at real problems that our president must start working to fix... now.
But I'm left to wonder... if Joe, the Democrats answer to Donald Trump is so good, why are Joe's ratings so bad? Must be a right-wing conspiracy...
Ray: I thought I had made myself crystal clear, - yet you didn't understand. I'm out.
Classic... Jorg, I would expect nothing less.
Ray: This is what you responded to by going way out on a wild tangent about, - President Biden:
"Beyond lying and cheating, - supporting Trump even when he publicly curses a foreign leader who politely followed established customs and congratulated President Biden, who the vast majority know won fair and square. How insanely childish and crybaby-like can he be, and how should we classify supporters who accept anything and everything from this sorry, embarrassing character, who has brought so much shame on the country?"
If THAT’s not sidetracking or “what-about-ism”, I don’t know what is!
Why can't you stick to the topic?
OK, Jorg... I said I would respond to your comments, and I did. No rebuttal from you... that's OK. That's your choice. Now, it's your turn to respond to something posted by me, correct?
Here we go...
Yesterday, Rel stated, "Today, 32% of the population has 52% of the representation in Congress... "
What does that mean? Is he trying to say that Republicans... about a third of voters registered in the US control a majority of representation in Congress?
You lauded Rel's statement and wondered if "math challenged Republicans" would understand it. The question is... do you understand it? Can you explain Rel's statement? I asked you the same question yesterday... crickets.
Here's some background for you... Gallup's numbers show that almost 29% of registered voters are Republicans and almost 40% are Democrats. Presently, Republicans control 262 seats in Congress (212 in the House and 50 in the Senate), and Democrats control 271 seats. That means Republican representation is 49% and Democrats are at the 51% mark.
So wouldn't Rel's statement more accurately read... Today, 29% of the population has 49% of the representation in Congress?
Both you and Rel apparently believe the Democratic Party makes up a majority of American voters. Maybe you guys heard Joe Biden say something like that... maybe. It's not true. The reality is that the Democratic Party only makes up a shade under 40% of the electorate. That's not a majority.
So, not only is Rel's notion that Republicans currently occupy a majority of seats in Congress false, it is equally untrue that Democrats are entitled to a majority because there are more registered Democrats than Republicans.
As plain as the nose on your face, no single political party enjoys a clear majority when it comes to the total number of registered voters in the US. That means the two largest parties... Democrats and Republicans... must earn the opportunity to control representation in Congress. In about ten months, Americans voters will choose who can best represent their interests, and they will vote to return a majority of representation in Congress to Republicans.
Your response?
Jorg
You lambaste Trump for lying, cheating and making outrageous statements. No disagreement. However, what is disingenuous and intellectually dishonest from the left is a failure to recognize that the current president is guilty of all those same faults. Several examples were cited.
You asked… How should we classify Trump supporters? Maybe classify them as a group that can be described as Americans who are worried about what our current president is doing about serious problems facing our country. Shouldn’t we describe Trump opponents in the same way?
The question you ignored… If Joe, the Democrats answer to Donald Trump is so good, why are Joe's ratings so bad? Do you have an explanation?
Ray: I feel no obligation, nor do I care, to respond to your lengthy peeves, with no logical connection to my original comment to Mr. Oberg’s LTE. If you stick to the topic, and have something of value to offer, I may be tempted to respond.
Jorg
I wrote just after lunch, "What... would you like me to comment on. I will. Then I'll ask you for a comment. Fair?"
Now, hours later, you feel no obligation to respond. It would have been nice to hear you say so earlier this afternoon. While you choose not to put pen to paper, your choice to not respond actually speaks volumes.
Another day, more living-in-the-past JUNC (Jorg’s Unending Nitwit Comments). Hey it looks like Jorg does realize we’re in 2022, as Jorg just acknowledged Ray’s list of Biden’s America Last policies. No wonder Jorg has to live in the past – he has nothing to write about in the present.
Terence Y: For your enlightenment, it is past history we learn from. If we ignore the mistakes made, we are more likely to repeat them, like sneaking Trump into the WH again, - as if we haven’t learned from the horrible 2016 mistake! Apparently, some are slower learners that others, while some are unable to learn at all. That is true for math and science, as well as politics. Get it?
I repeat. Jorg continuing to live in the past because he has nothing to write about in the present, on this Earth or his flat earth. Again Jorg, thanks for showing you can’t defend bumbling Biden policies. BTW, based on another thread, perhaps you could read up on the history of the Electoral College. Speaking of slow learners, maybe one of these days both you and Rel will finally get it.
Proof by assertion or CNN's say so is not proof. Republicans have only passed laws to endure that only legal citizens of a state vote and only once per election. Republican have actually increased polling hours.
Mr. Kahl,
In your spare time you may want to refresh your memory and Google these names. Rosemarie Hartle, Bruce Bartman, Ralph Thurman, McCrae Dowless and Glenn Youngkin's son. After which you may want to reconsider your comment.
So as Ray describes replies to attacks on our democracy as DNC pablum, in a way he is correct. It has to be base level communications to the right wing infantile minds. In the past year there have been 26 states who have enacted 400 voter laws that are mainly restrictive and suppressive in nature. On 1/6, the Capitol was attacked by rioters who main idea was to overturn the certified results of the most fair and supervised election in history. The right wing response? "Get on with it, no problem here." Well, guess what. There is a huge problem here. Our democracy, especially in the process of how we choose our representatives, is very much under attack. Pablum indeed. How do you want to be spoon fed the truth? How often are we going to have to burp you to get the hot air out of your systems?
Hello, Rel
Please see my 11:03 am response to Mark Olbert's comments following Dirk van Ulden's LTE, "Hypocrisy at its best... " published today. It is applicable to your posting.
When I started participating in this forum, I made a conscious effort to nudge the conversations in the direction of positions instead of personalities. I have since seen why some... not all... of those on the left side of the aisle are unable to do so. Trying to keep the focus on an issue and not the writer does not make anything I say better than the way you might see it... but such contributions to these discussions are different than the standard fare we see too often.
Dear readers, we’ve discovered Mr. Oberg’s New Year’s resolution. Throw letters filled with whatever fake news and outright lies he can repeat at the wall and hope something sticks. Sorry, Mr. Oberg, nothing is sticking but I do appreciate how you can write a 250-word screed about something that can be whittled down into you admitting you don’t understand Voter ID. Actually, you didn’t get a lesson from Jorg, did you? He expanded a 20 word summary into a 250-word rant, too. Or did you both take a rabid leftie writing class discriminating against the right people?
According to Mr. Oberg it is perfectly legal to not require legitimate voter identification, sending out ballots by mail without ascertaining that they are received and completed by eligible voters, and not impose the mentioned voting restrictions that are common in several Blue states, including Colorado and Delaware. Then there are so-called underrepresented voters don't seem to have a problem getting an ID to qualify for welfare programs and functioning in our society where legitimate identification is a given. Mr. Oberg is a pro at spreading out of context gut-wrenching anecdotes as he has demonstrated many times in this forum. He does not appear interested in voter integrity.
Hi, Dirk... thanks for a succinct and cogent rebuttal. I wonder if Michael O is aware that most Americans support voter ID requirements, but I think you put the LTE in context when you closed with Michael O, "does not appear interested in voter integrity."
Ray: What on Earth, flat or not, does Mr. Oberg’s statements have to do with “voter integrity”? We can live with the few dishonest Republicans voting for dead relatives, but we can’t save our Democracy if people are prevented from executing their constitutional rights to vote, like what the Republicans are so desperately trying to do!
Please explain!
I have explained... many times.
My factually based rebuttals to commentary coming from the left side of the aisle re: the left's false proposition that voters are being denied by Republicans of the opportunity to vote have largely gone unanswered. I chafe at doing the left's homework for them, so now I'll have to refer them back to those earlier rebuttals. They are all here in the DJ.
Ray – congrats on receiving one of Jorg’s “flat earth” accolades – it usually means dear old Jorg is flustered and is attempting to feign ignorance about your previous rebuttals. Also, thanks for the update on Wilfred. I miss his wit and wisdom but especially his cheerful avatar. I’m betting Wilfred has more intelligent conversations with his grandkids than he does with most of the rabid left wingers here living in the past repeating the same old debunked jibber jabber. Hey Wilfred - Happy New Year!
Excellent letter, Mr. Oberg. You are 100% spot on.
Hello, Tommy
Hey... we agree! This LTE is 100% spot on... it's 100% spot on for serving up more DNC pablum.
Poor Ray--joining the butt-hurt crowd with Terence and Dirk.
More screeching tires...
100% Ray, 100%. Methinks Tommy Tee is mad because he was hoisted by his own petard – again.
Terence
I'd rather be hoisting me own tankard...
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