Some end of the year political hot takes; New Xitter feeds and Podcasts to come by the end of the month

I’m gonna make this my last post on this blog for 2023.

Barring Breaking News, this will also be the last post until Spring 2024. I originally planned to put this blog on hiatus two months ago but then the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out.

If I do break my planned 4 to 5 month hiatus, it would be for one of the following kinds of breaking news:

• Trump dies
• One of the remaining Republican Presidental Nominees goes on offense against Trump
• Major update with the conflict in Ukraine
• Major update with the Israel-Hamas Conflict
• Major update with the Venezuela-Guyana situation

 

Those would be the big things. Outside of one of these things happening, don’t expect another post after this one until April or May 2024. The main reason for the long hiatus is I have 11 other blogs.

I’ve spent more time writing for this blog than the other 11 blogs combined over the last almost five years. This is the biggest reason I’m putting this blog on hiatus. Another reason is burnout. I need to take a long break especially with all the heavy topics I’ve had to cover in detail. Depending on a variety of factors I may extend my hiatus until the Primaries over the Summer. That would actually be my preference so we’ll see.

I do have two big housekeeping announcements to make. The first is the blog/newsletter Bitter Realities will likely be hosted on Substack, Mastodon or Patreon. Or a combination of all three. We’ll see. Google disabled the Gmail email address I set up for Bitter Realities so instead of fighting that, I’ll just make a new one with Yahoo or Outlook (FKA Hotmail). I am pushing back the setup to the Summer of 2024 though.

The other big housekeeping announcement is most of the Xitter Feeds and Podcasts featured on this blog will be replaced with new Xitter Feeds and Podcasts by the end of this month. The Mea Culpa Podcast recently joined the MediasTouch Network so I’ll need to look into updating the embed link related to that. Mary Trump seems to have discontinued her podcast several months back and switched to a email newsletter so I’m going to take her podcast embed down.

Coming in soon will be the Xitter Feeds for Malcolm Nance, Jim Stewartson and MeidasTouch. I also plan to add the podcast embeds for Joe Trippi and The Lincoln Project. Michael Cohen’s Xitter Feed will remain on that note. So will Stephen A. Smith and Steve Hassan’s respective podcasts and Xitter Feeds. I plan to have all this done by the end of the month. I don’t expect the changeovers to take that long personally.

…Now that all this is done, let’s get to some Political Hot Takes.

Nikki Haley has started to emerge as a legit alternative to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in recent weeks. Republican mega donors are backing her and now Republican politicians such as New Hampshire’s governor Chris Snunu are publicly endorsing her. The bigger question is will her momentum snowball into her openly going at Trump head on. It’s unlikely unless he loses the support of most of his base which also seems unlikely.

One scenario I will not discount personally is the very real possability Haley cuts a deal with Trump: In exchange for dropping out, he names her as his running mate. Let’s not kid ourselves, the mantra for most of the year has been “everyone’s auditioning for second place or a cabinet position”. This is why so far, only Chris Christie has gone on offense against Trump. I wouldn’t put it past Haley basically betraying her sponsors like that personally.

Christie is the only sane one but at this point it’s clear he has no real shot at challenging Trump or Haley. Both he and Ron DeSantis as trying to stay in the running for a long as possible hoping Trump will not still be in the running by June. With the help Trump is getting from Congress, that’s unlikely.

Speaking of.

One Republican member of Congress said the quiet part out loud on an open mic when asked by CBS News when asked the impeachment investigation against Biden is really about: Helping Trump get reelected.

Do they know they don’t have a real legal case against Biden? Of course they know. The intent of this and Hunter Biden’s legal issues are to distract and redirect attention from Trump as much as possible but the media is largely refusing to take the bait.

Speaking of Hunter Biden. The GOP wants to hold a Congressional hearing with him but the weird thing is they want it behind closed doors. The problem with that is the preliminary hearing is supposed to be open to the public and the media.

As a reminder, Hunter Biden is ths son of the current president. The difference is unlike Trump’s children, Hunter Biden is not and never was a part of his father’s cabinet. He does not and never did have access to sensitive or classified information. He just happens to be the son of the current president AND has legal issues they’re looking to exploit. As a reminder, Hunter Biden’s legal issues have absolutely nothing to do with his father and they precede his father running for president.

Getting directly involved with Hunter Biden’s legal issues and the impeachment investigation–by the way they’ve already admitted they have no evidence Biden actually did anything wrong–is part of the GOP’s calculation. They don’t care what the political cost they take is as long as they get what they want.

I said this before several months back but Trump’s GOP allies in Congress want one of two things to happen if they push hard enough. One is they’re hoping if they apply enough pressure, Biden will get directly involved in his son’s legal situation and more so now that they’ve started whispering in the judge’s ear.

Originally, the prosecution and Hunter Biden’s attorney cut a deal to get him a light sentence. GOP Congressmen protested this and a mistrial was declared shortly afterward. Biden’s not getting involved. Period. He likely knew the GOP would pull something like this the moment he ran for president. Most importantly, Hunter Biden probably knew as well. He’s not gonna let the GOP use him a political fodder and has called them out on wanting a closed door Congressional hearing with him.

The other thing the GOP is hoping for–more insidiously–is for Biden to get so stressed from the impeachment investigation that Biden’s health suddenly fails or worse. They’re not afraid of Kamals Harris who would succeed him if Biden becomes incapacitated. Don’t even get me started on the fact current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is a Christian Nationalist and wants America to be a Theocracy.

All the said. The GOP knows these effors are fruitless. The intent is for them to be distractions. Unfortunately for them, the media’s largely refusing to bite.

 

This isn’t getting anywhere near as much attention as it should be but the new American Dream now appears to be leaving America. Yes, really and I mean regardless of politics. The two biggest reasons behind this being cited for people leaving the U.S. are the costs of living and the political situation.

I’ve been pretty open on this and two other blogs about wanting to leave the U.S. myself largely for those two reasons. With everything that’s been going on in the U.S. over just the last 10 years, now might be a good time for people with the means who’ve been thinking of leaving the U.S. to consider trying to leave before the 2024 election. The reason is because if a Republican win the 2024 election–especially Trump–it may suddenly be very difficult to get passport and visa applications approved. More so if you didn’t vote for the Republican president.

I can easily see a scenario especially with Trump back in the White House in which you’re required to get permission directly from the government to leave the country. They’ll claim it’s for “national security” or make up some other arbitrary reason. More so if there’s an indefinite nationwide martial law imposed. Hopefully we don’t have to find out in January 2025 but I digress.

Getting back on topic. For those who currently don’t have the means of leaving the country, try to get the means ASAP. Apply for a passport and pay the extra money to expedite your application. For those who don’t know, it currently takes 4 to 6 months for your Passport application to be processed. The reason it takes that long is because of severe staffing shortages in the U.S. State Department. If you pay extra to expedite the process, it will be done in 2 to 3 months though.

Once you’ve decided on what country you want to move to, do as much research as possible on the immigration process. Here’s a few things to consider depending on your reasons for leaving the U.S. behind:

• Extradition Treaty with the U.S.: About half the world’s countries have an extradition treaty with the U.S. Basically, it means if the U.S. puts out a warrant for your arrest and the country you go to has an extradition treaty with the U.S., the other country can arrest and send you back to the U.S. to face those charges. And vice versa. Even if a country doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., they can still arrest and send you back at their own discretion. More so if the country already has friendly relations with the U.S. and other factors such as having a criminal record in both countries.
• Costs of Living: This is something to take into consideration and more so if you are bringing a family with you. U.S. Currency will still get you a lot in most of the world but careful planning is still important to make sure you can take care of yourself once you’ve made the move. That means being able to generate income, be self-sufficient or both in the country to move to. Like the U.S., most countries will expedite the immigration process for you if you either work in or study in an exceptional field. You want to make sure you’re not relying on wire transfers to survive.
• Building a Social Network: Easily the second most important thing and more so if you’re moving to a country where English is not widely spoken by most. You’ll likely run into a lot of people who are fluent in English but it’s still a good idea to learn the local language to better blend in. Unlike most of the U.S. in recent decades, it’s actually a real good idea to get to know people in the new country especially in the area where you plan to live. More so given most of the world is not as ignorant of what is going on in the U.S. as many Americans think.
• Dual Citizenship: Yes, you can keep your U.S. Citizenship while being a citizen of another country. It’s called having Dual Citizenship. Maintaining your U.S. Citizenship while living abroad allows you to vote in elections and also entitles you to the full services of the U.S. Embassy in the country you live in. While you can live outside the U.S. indefinitely and still keep your U.S. Citizenship, you should still make it a point to return to the U.S. for brief periods of time. More so if you’re living in a country with an unstable political situation is a war zone or is dealing with some kind of nationwide crisis. If you don’t provide the U.S. State Department with regular updates or keep your intent to return up to date, you will be declared as having abandoned your U.S. Citizenship. You will then have a short window with which to appeal that decision if you can provide reason you did not keep in touch with the State Department but I digress.
• Cultural and Political Differences: This is a big one especially if the country you go to has vastly difference cultural beliefs or political differences from the U.S. For example, ancestor worship is a thing culturally in most of Southeast Asia. It’s also still a thing in parts of South and Latin America but not as much due to the blending of Catholicism with Paganistic Beliefs. Some parts of Northern and Eastern Africa are VERY hostile to Westerners in general. I mean so hostile, international aid organizations can’t operate.This is to say nothing of language challenges even if we’re talking about a country where English is widely known or used. For example the UK. Certain words are spelled differently or have different meanings from American English.
• Developed vs. Developing: This probably the biggest factor to consider and more so given America has a consumer-driven economy. Ask anyone who’s spent a week or two in a country like Ghana, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam,  Tanzania, The Philippines or South Africa. Certain things like free Wi-Fi, clean drinking water and paved roads most take for granted in the U.S. are a rarity in those and most other counties. This is to say nothing of food shortages and food scarcity with no social, religious or government safety nets. I haven’t even mentioned the undeveloped or in many cases virtually non-existent healthcare systems in most of the world. That last one’s the biggest reason to hold on to your U.S. Citizenship if you go to a developing country. It would make more sense to return to the U.S. to get  medical treatment if need be. On the other hand if you go to a developed country like the UK, China, Japan, Australia or most of the Middle East it will just be a matter of being as self-sufficient as possible for the most part. Most of the conveniences you enjoy in the U.S. you will find in other developed countries.
• Leaving Family/Friends Behind: This can be pretty difficult and more when your family either views your decision to leave the U.S. as abandoning them or abandoning America. Worse–and more so these days–you may have some try to say you hate America. People don’t need to like or accept your reasons for wanting to leave for another country. I’ll just put it like that.

Those are all the major stuff to be mindful of.

I don’t think it can be denied any longer the new American Dream for new generations has become leaving the U.S. The overwhelming majority of people who are leaving the U.S. are in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

The main reason most people are leaving the is purely U.S. economical. No where in the U.S. can you hold a 1-bedroom apartment on a single entry-level salary. The national average on montly rent is between $1,200 and $2,000 though in places like Boston, San Francisco and New York it’s as high as $3,000 in a growing number of cases.

…Yet some want to downplay the looming homelessness crisis in plain sight.

 

Before the weekend, Vladomir Putin held a primetime town hall-style press conference in Russia. With military aid from the U.S. stalled in Congress and the European Union coming up short in a vote for additional military aid, the timing for Putin publicly celebrating makes sense. More so given his eyes and ears in Western Europe and the U.S. have helped largely ensure World War III happens. Because Putin will not stop with Ukraine. China is going to go after Taiwan Militarily. And who knows what else.

Yet the isolationists in the Republican Party who just want to focus on turning America into an Autocratic Theocracy could care less about what’s going on with Ukraine. This is to say nothing of far right politicians in Europe who are so afraid of WWIII, they don’t want to look like they’re helping Ukraine even indirectly.

Well, WWIII is for sure going to happen if Ukraine falls to Russia. Putin has already repeatedly said he wants to annex the Baltic States since invading Ukraine. Enboldened by the U.S. and NATO letting him take Ukraine, he will go after Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania next. He won’t care about them being NATO countries by that point.

As a reminder, this is exactly how WWII started. Europe let Hitler take Austria but he didn’t stop there. It wasn’t until after Hitler invaded France that the world realized the only way to deal with a warmonger is with force. Putin has been nuclear saber rattling to keep the U.S. and Europe out of Ukraine but all bets are off if Putin goes for the Baltic States after taking Ukraine.

This time, America likely won’t be there to bail out Europe regardless of who the president is after the 2024 election. It won’t matter because whoever the president is after the election will likely be dealing with major problems before, during or right after the election. Or a combination of all three.

Over the weekend, the UK finalized a deal with Rwanda that has rightfully angered Human Rights Organizations and aid groups that adovcate for migrants and refugees. According to this new agreement that has already been challenged in both the UK’s Supreme Court and the United Nations, people seeking assylum in the UK will be sent to Rwanda where if their assylum petition is successful, they will live in Rwanda forever. In exchange, the UK will give Rwanda $5 Billion.

For those who might not know or remember, there was a genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Next year will be the 30th anniversary of that. Rwanda is a very small developing nation and is about twice the size of New Jersey. Rwanda became the second country after Mozambique to join the British Commonwealth with no historical ties to the UK in 2009.

It is a fact that Rwanda lacks the infrastructure let alone the resources to take in the tens of thousands if not hundredss of thousands of Refugees the UK (and possibly other European nations) will be sending their way. British burocrats who pushed for and brokered this arrangement insist they will provide Rwanda with the necessary money and resources but let’s be honest, that’s highly unlikely to be sufficient.

There is also no ignoring the overt racist and xenophobic overtones of this arrangement. Why? Because the overwhelming majority of refugees trying to get into Europe are coming from the African continent. The European Union gave Turkey half a billion Euros and overlooks the Turkish government’s human rights violations in exchange for being a “Bulwark” against Refugees trying to get into Europe. Refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

When Turkey closed their northern boarder to refugees, most switched to using makeshift rafts and leaky boats to enter Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea via Greece and Italy. Refugees–those who survive the crossing of course–then head for either Germany or the UK. Germany is still welcoming refugees but the countries surrounding it do not. When the UK still openly accepted refugees France, which has a rail and road tunnel link with the UK did not. This created some political issues as E.U. member nations struggled to figure out how to deal with the influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East.

During the Pandemic, I watched the 2017 documentary film Human Flow which is on Amazon Prime. I urge everyone who lives in North America and Europe to find a way to watch it and more so now. The documentary film does a masterful job of trying to make this key point: We do have a moral obligation to those who are in need. Especially those who who fleeing war or pursecution in their homeland.

All these efforts by right-wing politicians in the United States and Europe in particular to basically criminalize not just being a refugee but being poor and/or homeless betrays how morally bankrupt they truly are. As the old saying goes, treat people the way you want to be treated. When you treat people like trash, you’re telling others it’s ok for prople to treat you in kind.

More importantly before I move on. Many Op Eds in Europe have been saying in recent years there is a general understanding in Western Europe in particular that they are morally responsible for the refugee crisis they are now facing because of their imperialism from centuries earlier. Africa, the Americas, Southeast Asia and China were plundered and exploited by Europe’s empires between the 1500s and mid-1900s.

Globalism and the Internet have shrunk the world in many regards. It’s also made it much harder to not see the plight of people in developing countries in particular.

 

In what should shouldn’t be breaking news but is, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump is disqualified from being on the ballot due to his role in the Capitol attack on 1/6/2021. The Colorado Supreme Court cited the 14th Amendment as its reasoning in a 4-3 decision. Trump’s campaign has promised to appeal the decision with the Supreme Court.

I actually originally planned to add former Republican and former Congressman Joe Walsh’s Xitter Feed and Podcast embed to this blog later this month but after hearing his views on the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, I changed my mind. Largely because between him proudly proclaiming he is a Zionist after the events of October 7 in Israel, I no longer felt comfortable giving his Xitter feed and blog that exposure on my blog.

Walsh was exiled from the GOP for speaking out against Trump but outside of that, he’s made it clear to me he still retains a lot of the views that has his former party on its current path. When people show and tell you you who they really are and what they really think, believe them the first time.

I listened to his interview with Michael Cohen on Mea Culpa a few weeks back. At the very end of the interviewed, I got annoyed when Walsh decided to “correct” Cohen and say Merry Christmas in response to Cohen, who is Jewish saying Happy Holidays to him. That came off as not respecting the fact Cohen has different religious beliefs from him and it was hard to miss the intentionality behind it.

That aside and getting back to this ruling out of Colorado. I wasn’t surprised to hear the other GOP candidates blasted this ruling. Some Far Right actors are now saying if the Supreme Court doesn’t overrule Colorado’s ruling, there will be a Civil War. Mind you, other states are also looking into disqualifying Trump based on the 14th Amendment.

Many anti-Trump Republicans–and former Republicans like Joe Walsh–say Trump should be kept on the ballot “to be fair” and taking him off under these circumstances is more political ammo for the GOP and Trump. That’s funny coming from a party that has admitted in recent years they can’t “play fair” because they can’t win elections otherwise.

I do think when more states start following Colorado’s lead–and this should have started right after Trump entered the 2024 presidential election–it will be much harder to make the arguement there’s some elaborate conspiracy against Trump by the Democrats. More so given most of the states currently looking into taking Trump off the ballot via the 14th Amendment are either purple states like Colorado or Red states like Arizona. Again, this should have started the day after Trump declared last year.

Anywho, if the Supreme Court decides to pick this up they would need to make a decision before the Republican Primary next summer. More so assuming Trump officially becomes the Republican nominee. Joe Walsh and others think this ruling from Colorado is political ammo for Trump but realistically speaking it means by default, Trump can’t get the electoral points from states he is not on the ballot in.

That means other GOP candidates now have a realistic shot at getting the nomination instead of Trump. This is what makes their shared support of Trump on this issue–Chris Christie included–so suspect to me. They know they can’t beat him head-on. Colorado is helping them get the nomination and they refuse to take the hint. I mean I get it, they fear Trump’s base but it still makes no sense for ALL of them the back Trump unless they want Trump backi n the White House.

If the Supreme Court decides not to hear this case, it would open the floodgates to other state Supreme Courts making similar rulings. If the Supreme Court does decide to hear this case–no doubt Trump is telling his three appointees to pressure John Roberts to pick this up ASAP if he hasn’t already–a ruling would have to be announced before the primary because of implications it could have assuming Trump secures the Republican nomination. More so if other states take Trump off the ballot before a ruling on Colorado is announced. By default, Trump would not be able to win the election in November.

Again: It’s funny to hear Republicans rage over Colorado’s Supreme Court “overstepping its bounds” with this decision when they’ve always been the ones to talk about wanting States’ Rights to supercede the Federal government–when a Democrat is in the White House of course–for decades.

As for if the current Supreme Court would help Trump, he will be surprised and disappointed to find out the answer is likely (hell) no. The Christian Nationalist movements that helped him get elected in 2016 no longer need Trump now that they control the Supreme Court. He’s no longer useful to them and they want someone who’s firmly on their side in the White House instead of Trump.Of those remaining, DeSantis makes the most sense despite him being third behind Trump and Haley. Some Evangelical leaders threw their support behind DeSantis early on and that hasn’t changed which tells me they likely have a plan in place to ensure Trump doesn’t get the nomination if need be. Many Republican mega donors have been backing Nikki Haley in recent months which tells me we might indeed see a DeSantis/Haley or Haley/DeSantis Republican ticket.

Everyone should keep this in mind regardless of where they lean politically or who they plan to vote for at the local, state and federal levels: Don’t believe the media’s polls. I mean ANY of them.

Why? Because officially, they mean NOTHING. Even worse is they’ve been consistently proven wrong over the last 20+ years now. Remember that imfamous Red Wave predicted by Republican talking heads and pollsters for months in 2022? It never happened. The GOP did in fact regain control of the House of Representatives as expected but it wasn’t by the super majority polls told them to look forward to for months.

That brings me to the polls on Trump and Biden: Ignore them. They don’t account for a lot of variables. I mean either way.

What the other side is forced to admit is it doesn’t matter if the election was today, next week or next month. It also doesn’t matter that Trump is facing 94 indictments at the Federal and State levels: Barring the unforeseeable, Trump WILL lose to Biden head to head. Full stop.

Notice I said “barring the unforeseeable”. I mentioned earlier GOP policymakers have recently started publicly admitting they have to rig elections and disenfranchise minority voters because they know they can’t win elections fairly otherwise. Not saying all Republican politicians feel that way but many are starting to publicly admit this in Right Wing Media.

When Trump refused to concede after the 2020 election, you couldn’t help but look back to Gore v. Bush. As a reminder, the Supreme Court chose the 43rd president of the United States. Not the American people but the SJC. What if Gore refused to concede despite that which many felt he should have? Even worse is we would find out months later in 2001–several months before the September 11 attacks–after a recount that Gore had indeed won the election after all. Whoops!

Just 20 years, five presidental elections and two presidents later, an incumbent president refused to accept the will of the American people who voted for change. This opened the floodgates to Republican candidates like Kari Lake–who lost her bid to become governor of Arizona last year–telling voters in advance their opponent cheated if they didn’t win the election.

“Trump should be get special treatment despite everything he’s done and everything he’s vowed to do if he gets back in the White House” indeed. The truth is the truth is the truth. It must be proclaimed like it or not. One truth about the 2020 presidential election is only half the country voted. 80 Million people voted for Biden and 70 million voted for Trump. What about the other 150 Million+ eligable voters who chose to stay home?

Honestly, I worry about elections being decided by low voter turnout more than anything. Even more so these days. This is a problem unique to the Democratic Party on that note. Republicans only need to tell voters who to vote for and when. Democrats need to beg voters TO VOTE every single election.

Don’t even get me started on Democratic Voters who’ve already said they’re not voting for Biden for one reason or the other. As long as he’s on the ballot and still alive come Election Day, I am voting for Biden. As much as I would prefer to vote third party, now isn’t the time for that. From what I’ve been hearing, serious third party contender are not planning to enter the race because they know that if they do, they’ll likely end up helping Trump get back in the White House. They want to avoid that at all costs despite how much they’d like to challenge Biden or Trump head-on.

I want to end with this largely because it’s hilarious first and I got recent confirmation yes, they are in fact paid actors.

By now, most of you have at least heard of the political entity or group known as Blacks for Trump. Well, it’s been confirmed–but long presumed–they are in fact paid actors. They are paid by a combination of Trump PACs and his campaign to appear at his events to give the illusion Trump has a large base of Black supporters. As for why Trump is not paying them himself, he is a cheapskate as a reminder.

Oh and similar groups such as Hispanics for Trump and LGBTQA’s for Trump are all paid actors as well. If you ever wonder why you see the same handful of people at every rally and public event, this is why. Mind you, the arrangement is mutually beneficial. They use the publicity to sell T-shirts and other merchandise. I won’t pretend to know if Trump ever gets a cut of their profits but with his mounting legal bills, he might want to ask at this point!

All that said and in closing.

This will be the last article on this blog for at least the next 4 to 5 months, hopefully longer. Honestly, I’m going to work hard to forget about this blog for a while. I want to focus on most of my other blogs next year THAT much. All the updates I said I would do at the beginning will still happen though.

 

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