President Biden is experienced, honest and patriotic! Vote Blue for Biden-Harris 2024

This is why Paul Krugman is deeply worried right now about America. Echo opinion published in The New York Times:

Until a few days ago, I was feeling fairly sanguine 😊 about America’s prospects. Economically, we’ve had a year of strong growth and plunging inflation — and aside from committed Republicans, who see no good, hear no good and speak no good when a Democrat is president, Americans appear to be recognizing this progress. 

Republicans are the far right extremist political party of "say no good see no good and hear no good" about America.

It had seemed increasingly likely that the nation’s good sense would prevail and democracy would (possibly 😔😟) survive.

But watching the frenzy over President Biden’s age, I am, for the first time, profoundly concerned about the nation’s future. It now seems entirely possible that within the next year, American democracy could be irretrievably altered.

And the final blow won’t be the rise of political extremism — that rise certainly created the preconditions for disaster, but it has been part of the landscape for some time now. No, what may turn this menace into catastrophe is the way the hand-wringing over Biden’s age has overshadowed the real stakes in the 2024 election. It reminds me, as it reminds everyone I know, of the 2016 furor over Hillary Clinton’s email server, which was a minor issue that may well have wound up swinging the election to Donald Trump.

As most people know by now, Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed to look into allegations of wrongdoing on Biden’s part, concluded that the president shouldn’t be charged. But his report included an uncalled-for and completely unprofessional swipe at Biden’s mental acuity, apparently based on the president’s difficulty in remembering specific dates — difficulty that, as I wrote on Friday, everyone confronts at whatever age. Hur’s gratuitous treatment of Biden echoed James Comey’s gratuitous treatment of Clinton — Hur and Comey both seemed to want to take political stands when that was not their duty.

It’s a case of bureaucrats overstepping their bounds in a way that’s at best careless and at worst malicious.

Yes, it’s true that Biden is old, and will be even older if he wins re-election and serves out a second term. I wish that Democrats had been able to settle on a consensus successor a year or two ago and that Biden had been able to step aside in that successor’s favor without setting off an intraparty free-for-all. But speculating about whether that could have happened is beside the point now. It didn’t happen, and Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee.

It’s also true that many voters think the president’s age is an issue. But there’s perception and there’s reality: As anyone who has recently spent time with Biden (and I have) can tell you, he is in full possession of his faculties — completely lucid and with excellent grasp of detail. Of course, most voters don’t get to see him up close, and it’s on Biden’s team to address that. And yes, he speaks quietly and a bit slowly, although this is in part because of his lifetime struggle with stuttering. He also, by the way, has a sense of humor, which I think is important.

Most important is that Biden has been a remarkably effective president.* Trump spent four years claiming that a major infrastructure initiative was just around the corner, to the point that “It’s infrastructure week!” became a running joke; Biden actually got legislation passed. Trump promised to revive American manufacturing, but didn’t. Biden’s technology and climate policies — the latter passed against heavy odds — have produced a surge in manufacturing investment. 

His enhancement of Obamacare has brought health insurance coverage to millions.

If you ask me, these achievements say a lot more about Biden’s capacity than his occasional verbal slips.

And what about his opponent, who is only four years younger? Maybe some people are impressed by the fact that Trump talks loud and mean. But what about what he’s actually saying in his speeches? They’re frequently rambling word salads, full of bizarre claims like his assertion on Friday that if he loses in November, “they’re going to change the name of Pennsylvania.”

Not to mention confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi and mistaking E. Jean Carroll for one of his ex-wives.

As I also wrote last week, Trump’s speeches make me remember my father’s awful last year, when he suffered from sundowning — bouts of incoherence and belligerence after dark. 

HELLO❗❓ And we’re supposed to be worried about Biden’s mental state 😏😒❓

Over the past few days, while the national discussion has been dominated by talk about Biden’s age, Trump declared that he wouldn’t intervene to help “delinquent” NATO members if Russia were to attack them, even suggesting that he might encourage such an attack. He seems to regard NATO as nothing more than a protection racket and after all this time still has no idea how the alliance works. 

By the way, Lithuania, the NATO member that Trump singled out, has spent a larger percentage of its G.D.P. on aid to Ukraine than any other nation.

Again, I wish this election weren’t a contest between two elderly men and worry in general about American gerontocracy.

But, like it or not, this is going to be a race between Biden and Trump — and somehow the lucid, well-informed candidate is getting more heat over his age than his ranting, factually challenged opponent.

As I wrote at the lead, until just the other day I was feeling somewhat optimistic. But now I’m deeply troubled about our nation’s future.

* "Biden’s defenders in white hot fury at political damage from Special Counsel Report. America faces a political disaster if the lawless, dangerous Trump reelected. Biden experienced, honest...",

General Barry McCaffrey, on X/com.

Vote Blue Biden-Harris 2024

Criticism of Donald Trump for his poor decision making on national security

https://shareblue.com/retired-4-star-general-slams-trump-for-casually-discussing-killing-millions-of-people/

"Trump’s judgment is fundamentally flawed."

Retired 4-star general slams Trump for casually discussing killing 'millions' of people by Oliver Willis

Echo reported on ShareBlue.com

The retired general asks, 'What is Trump thinking?'

Retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey slammed Trump on Monday for casually claiming he had a "plan" to end the war in Afghanistan that involved killing "millions" of people.

Trump discussed the bloody scenarios as he met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.

"We could do a number the likes of which they've never seen before and win it very quickly," Trump said. "I don't want to do that because you're talking about millions of people, and I don't want to do that."

General McCaffrey has repeatedly criticized Donald Trump for poor decision-making on national security issues.

Trump then claimed he could end the war in Afghanistan in "10 days," and even claimed to have a plan for it.

"I have plans on Afghanistan that, if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth," he said. "It would be over literally in 10 days. I don’t want to go that route."

He added that he had "not chosen that" supposed plan because "it wouldn't be fair, in terms of humanity."

"Troubling listening to Trump Oval Office news conference with Pakistani PM," McCaffrey responded. "Trump baldly states that we have analyzed and considered using nuclear weapons to kill millions of people in Afghanistan as a solution to the conflict. WHAT IS TRUMP THINKING?"
McCaffrey served over 30 years in the military and has been awarded three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, and two Distinguished Service Crosses.

He has repeatedly criticized Trump for poor decision-making on national security issues.

Last year, McCaffrey said Trump was a "serious threat to US national security" after he refused to stand up to Russia's repeated aggression toward the United States.

As Trump lashed out as news of his corruption spread, McCaffrey said Trump was "starting to wobble in his emotional stability," adding, "Trump’s judgment is fundamentally flawed."

Trump's decision to declare a phony "national emergency" at the border to push his border wall led McCaffrey in February to call him a "rogue president."

The Pentagon has not confirmed that any such plan to nuke Afghanistan "off the face of the earth" exists or has been suggested to Trump.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

Canaries in the "Trump coal mine"

In my experience, the political transition of Donald Trump to Washington DC is a saga of stomach turning power grabs. Surely, it will backfire, but not before people wake up to the "canaries in the political Trumpzi coal mine".
When Donald Trump appealed to coal miners who believed his pledge about "making American great again" and the intent to save their jobs, its likely they were not remembering the old "canary" test once used to detect noxious gases inside their dangerous work zones. Well, now Donald Trump may have his own human versions of "canaries". Namely, Newt Gingrich, Rudolf Giuliani and even General Barry McCaffrey.

For those who might need a metaphor refresh:

The idea of placing a canary or other warm blooded animals in a mine to detect carbon monoxide was first proposed by John Scott Haldane, in 1913 or later. Well into the 20th century, coal miners brought canaries into coal mines as an early-warning signal for toxic gases, primarily carbon monoxide. Often, this metaphor is used to establish the symbol of an "early warning" symptom.

So, here're the "canaries" who we know about:  Newt Gingrich says he "doesn't want" to be Secretary of State in the Trump administration, even after months of being one of the few surrogates willing to go out on a limb for the Trump regime.  Rudolph Giuliani now says he "withdrew his name" from being considered for a cabinet position in the Trumpzi administration even though he was reported to be an "insider".  General Barry McCaffrey once said he would support Donald Trump's decision to appoint a former colleage to be National Security Advisor, but has recently changed his mind. These are the "canary people" who we know about. Obviously, there are others.

DailyKos reports by Jen Hayden
Gen. Barry McCaffrey withdraws support of Trump national security advisor, calls for investigation

General Barry McCaffrey tells NBC News that he was initially supportive of Donald Trump’s decision to name Lt. General Michael Flynn as his national security advisor.  Nevertheless, a closer look at Flynn’s social media use shows that he sent out at least 16 different fake (propaganda) news stories via social media and General McCaffrey pulled no punches, bluntly calling the tweets and stories “demented.”

The Trump transition team is also rightly getting criticism for allowing Lt. General Flynn’s son, Michael G. Flynn, to not only take part in the transition team, but to seek out security clearance for him when his own social media has shown him to be prolifically disseminating utterly false and outrageous politically motivated news. (You can watch a smarmy Mike Pence evade Jake Tapper's pointed questions about Flynn, Jr.'s security clearance six different times by clicking here.) (As far as I'm concerned, everything Mike Pence says when interviewed is "smarmy"- ever since the Vice Presidential debate, he has perfected the art of "Christian lying".)

One of those fake stories prompted a man to walk into a pizza place and fire his high-powered gun to personally “investigate” the child sex trafficking ring run by Hillary Clinton that Flynn was tweeting about to his followers. Which, of course, wasn’t happening.

General Barry McCaffrey went on to say that “we need to aggressively examine what was going on” with Lt. General Michael Flynn and his son. Hear, hear!

In short, Lt. General Flynn’s outrageous peddling of fake news and/or propaganda should be disqualifying. Period. End story.
Meanwhile, 

Philip Mudd called Trump’s security transition a “clown show”:
Mudd, a counter-terrorism analyst for CNN, denounced retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for leading calls to imprison Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign and for past incendiary remarks about Muslims. The former CIA and FBI official also contrasted the Trump transition with that of former GOP presidents.

“We have a history of remarkable servants in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room under Republican presidents,” Mudd told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." “We transition now to a national security adviser in a political realm who argues that an opponent on the stump should be locked up in prison and who argues that a billion-plus Muslims should be grouped together."

Americans still have time to heed the warning signs we are witnessing in the Trump transition.  We have been duly forewarned to stay away from Donald Trump because his erratic behavior and weird appointments are creating a dangerous nation.