politics

Leave a comment Posted on ABC, Disney, First Amendment, Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel is Back . . . and so is the First Amendment

Last week, Disney reinstated ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after an “indefinite” weeklong hiatus. For many, this news felt like a breath of fresh air—a flicker of light in a time that’s felt like a freefall into darkness.

Let’s be honest: we’re talking about a late-night comedian, not a head of state. In the grand scheme of 2025’s challenges, this ranks low on the scale of victories. And yet, for the half of the country that didn’t vote for you-know-who, it’s a symbolic win—a reminder that dissent still has a voice.

Comedians like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart offer more than laughs. They provide a lifeline to those deeply concerned about a presidency that operates without guardrails, wielding unprecedented power and dominating public discourse with relentless appearances and social media tirades. Their monologues—sharp, satirical, and unflinching—serve as miniature reality checks, countering the illusion that the current administration enjoys universal support.

I witnessed an ICE raid firsthand. It was terrifying. I never imagined seeing such a scene unfold in America. While many support stronger borders, few endorse masked agents with automatic weapons storming car washes and restaurants. And let’s be clear—people working minimum-wage jobs for years aren’t the criminals we should be chasing.

For months, it felt like opposition had vanished. Executive orders flew unchecked. Vitriolic posts went unchallenged. The president even told a reporter, “When you have evening shows, and all they do is hit [me]… they’re not allowed to do that.”

Actually, they are. It’s called the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”

Those who clutch the Constitution when it suits their agenda must respect the entire document—or risk unraveling its very foundation.

Critics who accuse Kimmel of lacking journalistic ethics miss the point. He’s not a journalist. His show isn’t the ABC Evening News. It’s satire. It’s commentary. It’s meant to challenge power, just as Johnny Carson and Mort Sahl once did.

Imagine the uproar if President Obama had suggested that the FCC revoke Fox News’ license or silence Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity for criticizing him. The backlash would have been swift and fierce.

And then there’s the petty cruelty: a recent addition to the White House colonnade features gold-framed portraits of every U.S. president—except Joe Biden. In his place? A photo of an autopen, the machine that replicates signatures. Why stoop so low?

As conservative columnist David Brooks observed, “You’ve got an administration where people are going to do the things that are disgraceful, because they just don’t see any disgrace in it.”

That’s why voices like Kimmel’s matter. Satire is not just entertainment—it’s resistance. Someone has to call a spade a spade.

Leave a comment Posted on Donald Trump, election, Kamala Harris, president

America’s Split Personality

An avalanche of political discourse has spilled over the media pipeline the past couple of weeks in a futile effort to explain the results of this year’s presidential election.  For those who voted for Harris, it is a fruitless search for answers.

I’ve read op-eds, watched YouTube videos and heard podcasts where political pundits offer their version of why Trump won and Harris lost.

In my common-sense view, I’ve concluded I don’t know and neither does anyone else no matter how much data they pour over.

For me, I view the election results through a bare bones lens.  America had a choice for president:  one was a convicted felon and one was not.

And America chose the felon.

No matter why or how Donald Trump appeals to the public, whether they like his policies or his non-political correctness in his language, his actions on Jan. 6, 2021 of inciting a riot on the U.S. Capitol after two months of denying the election results and not working towards a smooth transition of power to his successor is more than enough evidence to be disqualified for running for president.   Yet for nearly half of all Americans, Jan. 6 meant nothing.

That fact is hard to wrap my mind around.  It’s like living in a society where half of the people feel it’s okay to drive recklessly (oh, wait a minute, we are already living in that society).

For Harris voters, the frustration of her loss is based on perception.  For months, pollsters concluded that the race was too close to call.  Most people ignored the fine print attached to every poll:  a margin of error of a few points.  Therefore, the polls for the most part were accurate.  In the popular vote as of this writing, Trump has 49.9% and Harris has 48.2%, with 2,600,000 votes separating them.  That’s close.  What is not close is the electoral vote which gives the wrong impression that the race was a mandate:  Trump collected 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226 (270 is needed).  You can’t compare those two numbers mathematically.

The presidential contest has historically been close.  Five of the past nine presidential contests have resulted in the winner not reaching 50%; in other words, a plurality not a majority of Americans voted for the actual president.

“We live in divisive times” is a proclamation that permeates airwaves, as if the times we live in are unique, yet when it comes to raw votes, about half the country chooses a Democrat and the other half chooses a Republican for most of the United States’ history.  The electoral votes exaggerate the 50-50 splits.

Rarely does any president receive more than 60 percent of the popular vote.  John Quincy Adams was elected in 1824 with only 30.9% of the votes.  Imagine him trying to declare a mandate.  Can you guess which president had the second lowest popular vote?  Abraham Lincoln at 39.9% in 1860, often cited as the greatest American president.  More recently, Bill Clinton won with only 42% of the popular vote in 1992.

Only four presidents have ever received 60% or more of the popular vote:  Lyndon Johnson  61.1% (1964), Richard Nixon 60.7% (1972), Warren G. Harding 60.3% (1920), and Franklin D. Roosevelt 60.2% (1936).

American voters since the beginning have divergent views of who should lead our nation.  And when who we want loses, we wonder, “What the hell is wrong with the half the country?”  Instead of getting overly anxious, realize that such angst is part of our tradition.   America takes pride in its diversity in religion and ethnicity so it makes sense that we all don’t vote for the same winner.  That is what makes America great.  And the fact that every four years we get to reset all over again.

1 Comment Posted on Corey Comperatore, Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, Joe Biden

Two Assassination Attempts

Last week, a 20-year-old troubled man thought it was his life’s goal to kill President Biden or former president Trump.  He chose Trump because of his close proximity (40 miles) to where the rally took place.

No matter one’s political leanings, it is a terrible day in America when a citizen targets a former president.  At a time when few events unite all Americans, Saturday was a time for calm reactions.  However, in today’s America, a majority of the people no longer agree on facts.

Look at the immediate reaction from Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, now the Republican Party’s Vice President nominee who said this.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

In other words, President Biden was behind it.  That’s not true.  The shooter was tracking both politicians.  He was mentally disturbed and the investigation into his troubled life has revealed that he wasn’t political, just insane.

President Biden spoke to reporters after the event about how the rhetoric on both sides needs to be toned down.  But that unifying message has to be accepted by both sides; like a game, everyone must abide by the rules.

As an American who doesn’t belong to any political party, I was heartened to hear that Biden placed a call to the former president to check in on him.   Even Trump acknowledged that kind gesture, not publicly, but in a private conversation with another presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

Trump released a statement that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”  But was it also “God alone” who took away the life of Corey Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter who attended the rally with his wife and daughter?

If hate speech were on the ballot, Trump would win in a landslide.  Since he ran for president in 2015, he has not followed normal protocols as a national political figure.   He says things that no other president has ever said, yet that is part of his appeal for a good portion of Americans.   His focus is divisiveness, not unity.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, Biden’s health has declined, most notably on display in the debate a few weeks ago.  Ever since then, there has been another type of assassination brewing, non-violent but still lethal.  Joe must go.  Each day there is another headline of an even more powerful Democrat who jumps on the bandwagon.  If this were Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, the senators would call a meeting with the president concealing daggers, distracting Biden until each senator took turns stabbing their leader, with Vice President Harris, the loyal Brutus figure, providing the final blow as Biden cries out, “Et tu, Kamala?”

For Trump supporters, the past few weeks have been a combination of Mardi Gras and the Fourth of July rolled into one big MAGA celebration.  The Republicans are so confident in the election that when Trump spoke at the convention, they didn’t wait for his inauguration in January.  He stood in front of an IMAX-sized image of the White House, as if to show he’s already returned.

Unlike, the attempt on Trump’s life (a bullet grazed the top of his ear), the “killing” of Biden will be successful.

What it comes down to is this.  Even though Trump is the only president in history who has been impeached twice and found guilty of a felonious crime, the things that should disqualify him are, one, not accepting the results of the 2020 election, two, inciting people to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 and not putting a stop to it for over three hours, and three, the only president not to attend the inauguration of his successor, a sacred symbol of democracy’s smooth transition.

For those of us who believe in the law, thank goodness Mike Pence also shared that belief by validating the results of the presidential election.   Would possible future vice president Vance do the same thing if he ran for president in 2028 and had to certify the results of an election he lost?

A few days after the shooting, President Biden put in a call to Comperatore’s widow to offer his condolences; however, she refused the call “because of her husband’s political views.”  Imagine refusing to accept a call from the President of the United States?  That’s how bad it’s gotten in this country.

Leave a comment Posted on Donald Trump, Joe Biden, presidential debate

Trump Looked Healthier Than Biden: So What?

I recall Muhammad Ali’s last boxing match against Trevor Berbick in 1981.  At almost 40 years old and out of shape, it was a shame to see the greatest boxer of all time stand motionless, covering his head with his gloves, moving his body back against the ropes, avoiding contact to his aged body.

That’s what I thought of as I watched President Joe Biden debate Former President Donald Trump.

If you plan on voting for him, it was painful to watch.  No one wants to see a decent person look feeble.  But he is 81.

If you plan on voting for Trump, the fourth of July came early.  Shoot off the fireworks.

Presidential debates are a form of entertainment where viewers tune in to see if their guy can make the other guy look bad.  And Biden looked bad, but Trump sounded worse, his lies and hyperboles swimming in superlatives:  “He’s the worst,” “I’m the greatest.”

Close your eyes, don’t be fooled by the “Apprentice” reality star, and listen to what he says about the country you love.  He sounds anti-American.  Remember his Inaugural speech which painted a dark and damaged picture of America? 

The first televised debate of presidential candidates happened in 1960 between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy.  People who watched the first debate thought that Kennedy won it.  Those who heard the debate on radio thought that Nixon won it.  And ever since then, Americans have chosen presidents based more on their appearance than on their substance.

If that history is any indication, God help America with a second Trump term.

For me, I don’t care what policies Biden or Trump which to implement, how they feel about Ukraine or Israel, about immigration or inflation.  This election is about democracy.

I will vote for Biden because of what he represents—stability, the Constitution, honesty, decency.  A vote for Trump represents chaos, anarchy, lying, meanness.

It stuns me that just 12 years ago, Americans voted for Barack Obama’s second term.  I’m not sure if he were running today if he would get re-elected.

For those Americans who still believe in voting for the candidate who will best lead the most vital country in the world in the future, I’d rather have a frail old man than a hateful one.

Trump thrives on attention and he has already made his mark in history.

He is the first president to be impeached twice.

He is the only former president to be a convicted felon.

He is the only president to break with the traditional smooth transition of power began by George Washington when he refused to attend Biden’s Inauguration.  That act is what separates us from other countries.

People have short memories of when Trump was in office.  Not a week went by without a hysterical false statement from him or a cabinet member resigning from the chaotic West Wing.

After the debate, it is surprising how many Democrats dumped on Biden or wish to drop him off the ticket.

There is one thing Biden has going for him more than any other Democrat:  he beat Trump by seven million votes.

When your guy is down, it is not the time to step on him, but to offer support, to get him up from the mat.

This election is not about Americans’ personal financial situations, it is about America’s democratic situation.

The question foremost on Americans’ minds should not be, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”  The question must be, “Is democracy better off today than it was four years ago?”

The clear answer is January 6, 2021.  Trump almost didn’t leave office.  He refused to accept facts that he lost the election.  If he’s elected again, what will he do come January 6, 2029?  He may never leave the White House.  His followers will be more violent.  How can voters hand over the keys to American democracy into his hands again?  This country will never be the same again.