Invasion Of The Mind Snatchers

 Sunday, November 29th, 2020 

My Dear America:

I still remember the day that I went to see what would become my All Time Favorite Science Fiction Movie of All Time, "Invasion Of the Body Snatchers." It was sometime back in the Fifties when watching Black and White Movies was still Cool.  It was the Original Black and White Movie starring Actors Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter.  My Family, lived in the small town of Clark Summit, Pennsylvania and I must have been in my teens because my parents were letting me walk to the only Movie Theater in Town and walk back home by myself.  I remember it was a considerable walk.   

The movie scared the hell out of me.  

The premise of the movie was this.  A Doctor who had not been back to his home town in a long time comes back to town and as he becomes Re Acquainted with his Neighbors and Friends he begins to get a feeling that there is something wrong with these people who he has known all his life.  Gradually Kevin McCarthy (The Doctor) figures out that what is wrong in his hometown is that plants have fallen out of the sky and taken root on earth.  These plants produce large Pods and those Pods, while people are sleeping, are Reproducing the bodies of his friends and neighbors.  The finished products of the Pod People Reproductions are bodies that look and sound like and have the memories of those people they replaced. The only difference is that the Replacement Pod People don't have any emotions.  They can't feel anything.

Although it sounds like a concept that people could see through easily the movie builds its suspense gradually and the end of the film is very frightening.  When I was a teenager in Clark Summit I came out of that movie theater rather shaken.  As I walked back home it took me awhile to realize that what I saw in that movie wasn't real life and that every person I saw on my trip home was not an Unemotional Pod Person.  I even looked at my parents in a rather paranoid way for a few days after watching the movie.  I eventually got over my paranoia and realized that the movie was just a movie, despite how real it had appeared to me.

Showtime featured the Remake Version of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" this past weekend in the middle of the night.  I had seen this color version of the movie before and I remembered that I didn't like it.  At the end of this version of the movie I realized what it was that I didn't like about it.  I'm not going to tell you what happened at the end because you might want to watch the movie yourself.  The Remake version of the movie had a similar concept regarding the Pod People but it took place in San Francisco instead of a small town and the story was a little more complicated than the first version.  It had a Great Cast featuring Leonard Nimoy, Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldbloom.

While I watched the updated version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" this weekend I suddenly realized that this movie had an important message for me that I want to share with the American people.

That message has some serious relevance, I believe, to our recent Presidential Election.  In that election although Joe Biden clearly won the Popular vote and also won the Electoral College Vote, his Election has been challenged not only by Donald Trump but by 70 Percent or more of the Republican Party.  

A Great Majority of Republicans seem to be continuing to accuse Joe Biden, in collaboration with George Soros and Hugo Chavez (Who has been dead for many years) of Stealing the Election away from Donald Trump.  

Never mind that Christopher Krebs, the Department of Homeland Security Computer Expert charged with keeping the election untampered with stated plainly that this past election in which more people voted than in any other election in history was the most secure election in history.  

Krebs reward for keeping the Election secure and stating so didn't square with Trump's claims of Election Fraud so Trump fired him.

So now, who should we believe?  A Man who has a lifetime of proven expertise with regard to Computer Security or a man whose lies are so numerous it is impossible to keep track of them.  

I'm betting on the Computer Security Expert.

I have been having a hard time understanding what has happened to the Republican Party.  Republicans used to be Anti Russian and Pro American.  Now it seems as though the opposite is true.  Republicans used to get along with Democrats even though they had differing views on Political Issues.  Now those important friendships that Republicans and Democrats used to have don't seem to exist any more.  Now when Republicans talk about Democrats they often accuse Democrats of being Pedophiles who drink the blood of children they kill and eat and they seem to mean it, at least some of them do.

What is clear to me after the incredible voter turnout for Donald Trump in the last election is that Trump's ridiculous bullshit conspiracy theories are no longer Fringe theories.  They are Mainstream Republican Concepts.  Where did they come from?  And where do they go from here? These conspiracy theories are so far off the rails that they should be laughed at.  But nobody is laughing these days.  Not Republicans or Democrats.

I think I have finally figured it out, though.  It came to me as I watched "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" between Saturday night and Sunday morning.  It was right there in front of me as I watched that strange and frightening movie this past weekend.

What is it that is wrong with the Republican Party?

Pod People.  That's what is wrong with the Republican Party today.  Think about it.  There is no amount of empathy for the children taken away from their parents at the border with no path to be returned to their parents.  Certainly there is little or no empathy for those kid's blood drinking Democrats.  

Wake up, America.  The Pod People have arrived and they are voting for Republicans in droves.  The Pod people not only don't have empathy for anyone other than themselves, in many cases they are gun toting losers who are dangerous as hell.  

Cases in point:  

The prospective Kidnappers and killers of the Michigan Governor.

The young teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, who traveled to Kenosha and gunned down three people only to be bailed out by the "My Pillow Guy" and some other high powered rich people and is now being hailed as some sort of Right Wing hero.

There have to be some Pods in Michigan and Wisconsin and who knows where else that need to be tracked down.

We Dodged a bullet for sure in Electing Joe Biden but we need to realize that the Pods are with us for the near future and we also need to realize that Donald Trump has dealt us a dirty deal and even if we can somehow make him go away and golf for the rest of his life he has left many Pods stashed everywhere in America and we had better find them and get rid of them before they produce more Pod People.

Heaven knows we have more than enough of them already.    

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

A Strange And Terrible Lesson

 Monday, November 23rd, 2020

My Dear America:

Good God, Can it be true that at this crucial point in time Donald Trump has finally and completely lost the support of Chris Christie.  It must be true.  I saw a video this morning of Christie clearly telling Donald Trump that he needs to think of the Country rather than just the Republican Party.  The sad truth is that Donald Trump does not care about the Republican Party.  He also doesn't care about the Democratic Party either.  After all, he was a Democrat until 2016 when he accurately figured that he had a better shot at becoming President by running as a Republican.  

Certainly Donald Trump does not give a damn about the Country.  Christie's pleas are falling on deaf ears.

I wish that it might be true that losing Christie could actually get Trump to realize that his dream of World Domination is over.   Even before Trump had sown up the Republican Party Nomination for President in 2016 Chris Christie had puckered up his lips and attached them to Donald Trumps Ass for what appeared over the years to be forever.  Well, I guess Chris Christie's folding is better than nothing.

Slowly, Bit by Bit and One by One, it might be hoped that Republicans will finally do what Christie, to his credit, has done and tell Donald Trump to get out of the way so that Joe Biden can begin the Presidential Transition that should have taken place long before now.  So Far, Liz Cheny, Senators Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse have voiced their concerns about Trump standing in the way of progress.  Not many others.

Where is Mitch McConnell and when will he and other Republican Lawmakers do their part to keep Democracy alive in America.  Are they truly Okay with the prospect of Donald Trump Stealing another Presidential Election backed by the Russians.

The Coronavirus Pandemic is now at its peak with over 257 Thousand lives lost, most of them needlessly, and what is clearer and clearer every day is that Donald Trump has done nothing about slowing Covid 19 down and has no plans to begin to do anything about slowing it down other than having a Vaccine.  Certainly Trump continues to see the Pandemic as nothing more than a plot to mess up his Re Election. He tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away or that no one would notice that their Friends, Neighbors and Relatives were dying like flies. It appears as though he was right, though, in recognizing that Covid 19 was not going to do anything to enhance his Re Election chances.

Although Donald Trump does not want to admit it, he lost the election decisively to Joe Biden.  The results of the Presidential Election, despite Trump's blatant attempts to slow down the mail, among other despicable election suppression tactics, brought victory to Former Vice President, Joe Biden.

As we sail toward 300 thousand Covid Deaths why can't Trump get the hell out of the way, For Gods Sake.  You have killed enough people Donald.  You are truly a Mass Murderer of Epic proportions and as you stand in the way of Joe Biden actually doing something about Covid, you are continuing to kill people.

I will never understand the hold that Donald Trump has over so many of his followers.  Despite the fact that many people in states like North Dakota are personally experiencing people they know, sometimes even family members dying of Covid, some people are still acting like wearing a mask is some sort of treasonous action toward Donald Trump.  

People wake up.  This man does not give a damn about you or your friends or your family members.  He cares only about himself.  Why can't you see that?

We are living in some mixed up and dangerous times.  That's for sure.  Clearly no one in their right mind wants to wear a mask every time they go outside.  I certainly don't want to.  But if a mask is going to help to keep you and other people you care about from dying, wear the damn mask, at least until the vaccines are distributed.

Truly, help is clearly on the way, at this point in the pandemic.  Possibly the only thing that Donald Trump did right throughout his four years in office was to push for Operation Warp Speed, which was an extremely accelerated process to develop Covid 19 vaccines.  

At least three Vaccines seem to be effective and almost ready to go very soon.  Clinical trials seem to have shown all of the three to be highly effective when used correctly.  

So lets stop the nonsense involving masks and social distancing and wake up to the reality of recognizing what and who is important to us.  We need to protect ourselves and those we care about.  We need to wear masks, wash our hands and stay six feet apart from one another until we can get the Vaccine and get through this horrible pandemic.  When it is available we need to get the vaccine and go on with our lives in a country in which our Future President will be trying to keep us alive rather than trying to kill us.

In addition to the mantra: "Make America Great Again"

Lets also add: "Make America Sane Again"

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher  

Building A Better Cabinet

 Sunday, November 15th, 2020

My Dear America:

Although Everyone else in America knows that Donald Trump has lost his bid to retain the Presidency, it seems that only Democrats are willing to tell him that the Jig is Up, The Dance is Over, The Big Con Is No More.  Republicans are still living in fear of Donald Trump Tweets or Being Primaried.

While Republicans still tragically keep hope alive for the Big Orange Loser it is obviously time to Move On for President Elect Joe Biden and he is obviously doing just that.  Biden has already chosen who he wants to serve as his Chief of Staff.  The Individual who has gotten the nod for that job is Ron Klain.  Klain will be a familiar face to anyone who watches MSNBC.  Klain appeared a lot on almost every show on the Network.  He has always shown himself to be a man who is smart and steady and fairly unflappable.  He has been someone who has worked for Joseph R. Biden for many years in vitally important capacities and has always done a good job for Gentleman Joe.  Klain was an effective Aide when Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  

Right Now it may seem premature to be talking about Biden Administration Cabinet members to be hired when we are having enough trouble convincing Donald Trump that in January he will no longer be the President of The United States or the occupant of the White House.  

It is truly a shame that Trump feels entitled to keep his job when he has, by all measures of counting, truly lost the November 2020 Presidential Election by a wide margin.  Yesterday, Trump supporters filled the streets in Washington for a Million Maga Rally that was nowhere near a million people.  Estimates were closer to 50 thousand.  I watched for awhile on C Span as the Red Hat Society marched in the streets and shouted many odd slogans such as ALEX JONES, ALEX JONES.  I am not sure whether Alex Jones was there or not but certainly some of his Co-Conspirators were there calling his name.

It is not surprising that Donald Trump refuses to do what Philadelphia Mayor advised him to do following the election.

When asked what he advised the President to do when it became obvious that Trump was not going to win the election, Philly Mayor Jim Kenny stated the following advice to the President

"He should Put On His Big Boy Pants and Congratulate the Winner," Kenny said.

Of course that hasn't happened yet.  

Unlike 2000 when at least there was some shred of doubt about about who won, this time out there is no doubt at this point in time about who won the election. 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election by a hefty margin despite the serious and reprehensible Republican Voter Suppression Efforts.

Every legal challenge that Trump and his embarrassingly Feckless Lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have stoked have been thrown out of courts in nearly every state in the Union.

It is Over.  

Why can't Donald Trump and his Gutless Republican Cronies accept that.

Why the hell can't Trump do what was done for him at the end of the 2016 Election.  Certainly Barack Obama wasn't happy about Donald Trump Being elected with the same number of Electoral College Votes that Trump called "A Landslide" when he was on the winning end.  But unlike Trump, Obama immediately welcomed Trump to the White House and cooperated with Trump in order to provide a fairly seamless Transition from the Obama Administration to the Trump Administration.

It is time for Donald Trump to put on his Big Boy Pants and do for Biden what was done for him in 2016.  Reports are that Donald Trump is thinking about running in 2024. I certainly hope that is not true but if it is maybe Trump should think about his legacy.  

Does he really want to be known as THE SORE LOSER PRESIDENT.

And what is wrong with Republicans like Mitch McConnell, a long time friend of Joe Biden not accepting the results of this election.  

We are a Democracy, if we can keep it.

We can keep our Democracy if Candidates in America do not act like Candidates in Dictatorships who suppress voting and fail to accept the will of the People Voting.  

The truth is that while some of us get anxious with good reason at Donald Trump's Transition Obstruction Efforts, Joe Biden has provided an example of remaining calm and doing what he can without the help of Trump and his cronies to move forward with planning for his Administration.

One thing that Biden has learned over the course of his long career in Politics is not to panic in the face of adversity.  

We all need to pay attention to Biden and not overreact to what is going on.

What is true, however, is that if and when Donald Trump runs again in 2024 we will all remember that he was an Extremely Sore Loser and that by his failure to lead his followers in the right way with regard to Covid 19 many of his followers died.

I applaud Joe Biden for leading us onward toward a New Day in America when his Cabinet and Government Agencies in his Administration are filled with qualified individuals who have the experience and know how to do their jobs well.

Certainly Joe Biden has a Great many qualified individuals to choose from for his Administration.  I just hope that Biden steers clear of picking United States Senators or Representatives for top positions.  Admittedly it is not fair that Senators, in particular, should not be picked but the truth is that if we want to get important worthwhile legislation passed through Congress we need to keep every Democrat we can in the legislature.  Hopefully the time will come when we will have enough Democrats in the Senate and the House that we can spare a few for the President's Administration.

But even though we should not be picking Senate and House All Stars for Biden Administration Top Jobs we have a strong Back Bench of highly skilled Democrats for Gentleman Joe to Pick From for his Cabinet.

Some of those Democrats are Susan Rice, Pete Buttigieg, Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang, Deval Patrick, Julian Castro, Joe Sestak, Beto O'Rourke, David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Jay Inslee, Heidi Heitkamp, Tom Dolilin, Mike Morrell, Sally Yates, Preet Barara, Jeh Johnston, Ernest Moniz, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacy Abrams, Steve Bullock and many more.

Some Republicans and/or Former Republicans that might be considered for some important jobs might be Steve Schmidt, Michael Steele and Nicole Wallace.

The important thing that all Democrats need to keep in mind is that this is a time of incredible importance in our country.  We have elected a Great Democrat to our Presidency primarily because we looked at the dangerous situation in our country and although we had a slew of Democrats running for President for awhile we got smart and got United.  

We need to stay United as a Party and a Country.  Somewhere along the line in America things got messed up and average Americans mistakenly started looking at the Republican Party as the Political Party that was looking out for them.  

That has never been true.

I'm not sure if it was Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh or Fox News or all of the above who influenced average Americans to become Republicans.

One thing is for sure.  We have found out over many years that Republicans are the Party of the Rich, the Powerful and the Corporations, not the average Joe or Jane.

Through the Biden Administration we can hopefully get back to convincing the Average American People what should have been obvious to them the whole time.

That The Democratic Party has always been the Political Party that has been looking out for the Poor and Middle Class Americans, providing them with Social Security, Health Care and Important Services when they need them.

Lets hope that the Biden Administration can help us to work toward a New Day in America for Average Americans.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

In Honor Of Veterans Day

 Wednesday, November 11th, 2020

My Dear America:

Today was Veterans Day.  To honor Veterans (who Donald Trump has identified as Suckers and Losers because "What do they get out of it" ) Donald Trump fired the United States Secretary Of Defense, Mark Esper this past Monday.  Esper was not the best Defense Secretary that the country ever had but he wasn't the worst either.  From what I can gather Esper was pretty much of a "Yes" man to President Trump up to and including the incident in which protesters were driven out of Lafayette Park across from the White House so that Donald Trump could walk, along with Mark Esper, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley, Attorney General Barr and others, over to St. Johns Church so that Trump could hold a bible upside down and could get his picture taken. 

Later on, when Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley realized just how Trump had manipulated and used him to denigrate protesters and appear to legitimize Trump's disgraceful stunt, Milley apologized for his role in the shameful spectacle.  

Mark Esper also apparently saw the error of his ways in the upside down bible picture situation and following this incident Trump apparently gave Esper instructions to give marching orders to U.S. Troops to confront Black Lives Matters Protesters in the streets of American Cities and when that happened the "Yes" man said "No".

Good for Him.

But now on Veterans Day 2020 Former General Mark Esper is out of a job and so are several other Pentagon Leaders and White House toadies are taking their place.

What is Lame Duck President Donald Trump up to in firing all of these Pentagon leaders shortly after an election which he falsely claims he has won.  Trump refuses to allow the apparent legitimate President Elect, Joe Biden to receive the consideration, cooperation and the guidance that Donald Trump received from Barack Obama and his Administration following Trump's questionable victory in the 2016 Election.

Is Donald Trump firing Pentagon leaders so that he can control sending Pentagon controlled Armed Forces into the cities of America to wreak havoc on Black Lives Matters Protestors.

Or is he getting control of his Armed Forces so that he can claim that he has won the Presidential Election and stay in power past January 20th, 2021 using the Armed Forces to back up his claim to the Throne, Excuse me, The White House. 

Where have we seen this kind of Authoritarian behavior before?  Why in Iron Curtain and other Dictatorships around the world.  We thought that this kind of behavior would never happen here.  Well, we were wrong and it is time that Republicans in Congress wake up and smell the Treason before it is too late for all of us.  

And as this sick and disgusting delegitimization of the Democratic Election Process takes place how and why do the Republican Congressional Legislators allow Donald Trump to go on this post election rampage when they are all fully aware of the danger to Democracy that Donald Trump presents.

Clearly all that Republicans on Capitol Hill care about (with a few exceptions) are the votes that Donald Trump seems to control.

But if they don't do something now, or very soon, we will be kissing our Democracy goodbye.  

I don't think that any of us are prepared for that eventuality.    

Saturday Night Live In Wilmington, Delaware

Monday, November 9th, 2020

My Dear America:

Saturday Night, November 7th was a Spectacular Night in Wilmington, Delaware following a Spectacular Day in America.  It was the kind of soft breezy summer night that Joe and Jill Biden loved when they walked along the Boardwalk of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.  Those nights were special and so was this one.  Joe and Jill Biden and Joe's New Political Sidekick, Kamala Harris and her husband were finally getting the chance to get on stage and savor and express thanks for  the Victory that they had shared in the Election that took place on Tuesday Night, November 3rd across the United States of America.

Kamala came out on stage first wearing a Suffragette White Pants Suit and looking stunning.  It was almost as if we hadn't noticed how gorgeous this woman was as she had flashed across our eyes and our lives in the past few years.  When we saw her during the past couple of years she seemed to be either on the move with her dark hair flying or she was seated on the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the Presidential Debate Stage Kicking Ass in both cases.  It was clear as a bell that this woman was no shrinking violet.  She was every bit a Girly Girl when she was comfortable being one.  But when a Trump Appointee or Official was trying to worm their way around the truth, the Experienced Prosecutor came to the forefront.  

Indeed, No One was more aware of Kick Ass Kamala than Joe Biden.  She made his first Democratic Presidential Debate Performance such a  miserable experience that although it appeared as if although Kamala was the right choice for VP, It seemed unlikely that she would ever get the nod.  But as we all found out Joe Biden was certainly a more forgiving and Smarter Presidential Candidate than Donald Trump and on this beautiful night in Wilmington, Joe's choice of Kamala Harris as his Vice President had paid off.

In her speech Kamala paid tribute to her own family, especially to her mother  and to all women in history, but especially Black Women, who had become some of Kamala Harris's biggest fans and hardest workers in the Democratic Race.  Like Joe Biden also would, Kamala Harris thanked all the Democratic Women who had gathered together in this Presidential Campaign to lift up Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to Victory over Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

When it came time for Joe Biden to give his speech he came running up the ramp not even appearing to be winded, as if he was saying take that, Donald Trump, you lumbering fool.  Like Kamala, Joe Biden talked from the heart on Saturday Night.  He reminded his audience that he remembered The devastating loss of his first wife and his daughter and the injuries to his sons in an automobile accident around Christmas time many years ago.  He also remembered his son Beau, who like Kamala Harris, was also a state Attorney General (In Delaware) and was a friend of Kamala's.  Joe knew how much his son admired and respected Kamala Harris when she was the Attorney General of California.  Beau was gone now but he would never be forgotten by his father.

Both Kamala's and Joe's Speeches were filled with thanks to the Voters who had made it possible for the Networks to call the race for Joe and Kamala  earlier in the day even though vote counting was still going on.  Joe and Kamala successfully ignored the fact that the current President of the United States was continuing to avoid facing the reality that he had lost the Presidential Election.

Throughout the celebration in the parking lot of the Chase Center in Wilmington the horns honked and the masks were on.  Covid was still in the air and people were still dying from it.  But the time would be soon that Joe and Kamala would be taking over the Federal Government and would not ridicule and disrespect people who wear masks and socially distance.  

It was nighttime in Wilmington but clearly a new day was dawning in America and Americans could breathe a sigh of relief as Joe Biden made it clear that he would be governing with the knowledge that not everyone in America would initially be a Biden Supporter but he would try his best to reach out to Trump Supporters in his Administration.  They might be Trump Supporters but We are all Americans Joe Biden clearly said.

After the speeches Kamala and her blended family came out and joined with the Biden Family on the stage.  It looked to me as though what Joe Biden had said was true.  Kamala and her family and the Biden Family were now one big happy Family.

Unity was not everywhere in the united States but as the Drones spelled out Biden over the crowd and the fireworks were set off there was at least Unity on the stage and in the parking lot of the Chase Center.

Hell, at least Unity had a start here in Wilmington, Delaware.  

Maybe it was a concept that would catch on.

One could hope anyway that unity would start here on this beautiful night and continue on all across the country catching every American in its wake.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Democracy Wins In America Once Again

Saturday, November 7th, 2020

My Dear America:

I woke up today to find out that I was once again living in a Democracy.

After four year of living in a country that I didn't really recognize or want to recognize, I can once again see the light of Democratic Values at the end of the tunnel in my country and on this day it has been shining bright.  Although all of the votes haven't been counted yet, enough votes have been counted to allow MSNBC and CNN to be comfortable in calling the Election for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket.  

I have been watching the Democrats Celebrate in all parts of the country all day on television switching off from time to time between MSNBC and CNN.  Both networks had some of their big guns on today narrating the Democratic Celebration.  Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Brian Williams, Ali Velshi and Joy Reid all shared the spotlight on MSNBC.  On CNN it was mainly Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett.

One has to give some serious credit to all of the MSNBC and CNN and other television Network Staff Members who have all had meager amounts of sleep over the past few days since the Presidential Election took place on Tuesday.  Certainly Steve Kornacki deserves a good nights rest, as do others who did standout work covering the election vote count.

There are very many people responsible for todays good news.  Certainly Joe Biden and Kamala Harris need to be credited for all they did to make their Campaign successful.  Joe needs to be credited for choosing Kamala Harris as his running mate.  Early on he announced that he would choose a woman.  He took his time making the choice, of course. Joe had a Great Many Fine Democratic Women to choose from.  Stacy Abrams, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Susan Rice and Elizabeth Warren were just some of the top contenders for the Second in Command on the Democratic Ticket.  Harris's choice for VP was greeted with great enthusiasm.  Her election today is greeted with even greater enthusiasm.  Just as Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden was a signal to the nation that the man had good judgement, Kamala Harris's choice for Joe Biden was a signal that Joe's judgement was also First Rate.

Although today's celebration by Democrats has taken center stage I don't think we have seen the last of Donald Trump's efforts to steal this election.  Certainly his untrue and poisonous statements on November 5th claiming that he had won the election and that the Democrats were counting illegal ballots were so foul and incendiary that most Television crews shut down their coverage of the President's remarks.  I watched those remarks on You Tube yesterday and they were disgusting and untrue.

Although I feel very happy today watching Democrats all over the country celebrating, I can't help but be very concerned about the outcome of this election.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had more votes than any President and Vice Presidential Team in history.  That was an amazing accomplishment by the Dynamic Democratic Duo.  What needs to be taken into account, however, is that Donald Trump and Mike Pence very nearly beat the Biden-Harris ticket in nearly every U.S. State.  Indeed, Trump won Electoral College votes in a great many midwestern and southern states.  

Certainly the large numbers of votes cast for both the Trump and Biden Candidacies show that Voter participation in this election was something extraordinary and we can feel hopeful that this kind of highly improved voter participation will continue into other future elections.

What frightens  me is that it does not seem as though we can afford to trust political polling any longer.  The polls showed in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was going to easily win the Presidency.  The polls were wrong.  Hillary Clinton didn't win the Presidency.  Donald Trump did.  In 2020 the Polls showed that Joe Biden was going to win the Presidency easily.  They showed him far out performing over Donald Trump.  While the end results were better for Joe Biden than they were for Hillary Clinton, the polls which showed Joe trouncing Donald Trump were wrong again.  Yes Joe Biden beat Donald Trump but by very slight margins in those states where Biden was declared the winner.

In my mind it scares me to observe the massive numbers of Americans who voted for Trump after the reprehensible attitudes and behaviors Trump has shown throughout his Presidency.  I find it hard to accept that Trump has been as successful as he has been.  Don't any of his followers realize how much he lies, or what he has done to immigrant children and parents at the border.  When I see people arrested in Philadelphia for plotting to shoot up the Constitution Center where votes were being counted to disrupt the vote counting or people with guns gathered outside where votes are being counted in Phoenix, Arizona I think it is definitely time to wake up to what Donald Trump has done to Democracy in America.

As we voted in this past election we were at a place where the wrong winner could have and probably would have made Democracy completely disappear in America.  Thanks to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris we have hopefully saved Democracy Once Again.

In Philadelphia as Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall following the Constitutional Convention in 1787 someone shouted to him:

"Doctor, what have we got?  A Republic or a Monarchy?"

To which Benjamin Franklin supposedly replied:

"A Republic, if you can keep it"

It appears as though we have kept our Democratic Republic once again thanks to American Voters on Tuesday, November 3rd.  

Now that we still have our Democratic Republic in our grasp after nearly losing it, we need to continue to work hard and steady to Keep it.

Today is, indeed, a Great Day For Democracy.

Election Daze on the Planet Of The Apes

Thursday, November 5th, 2020

My Dear America:

It has been a very stressful couple of days in Pennsylvania this week.  

It appears as though the Keystone State is truly a Keystone State in this incredibly important American Election.  While most of the Election Votes in other states have already been determined, the total number of votes in Pennsylvania are still being counted on the afternoon of November 5th.  

The reason that votes are still being counted in Pennsylvania is because Republican Voter Suppression efforts have been trying to change the rules in the middle of the game and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court got in their way.  Pennsylvania's Republican Legislators initially were Ok with how Pennsylvanian's were going to vote in this 2020 Presidential Election.  Then they were contacted by the Trump Campaign and all of a sudden Pennsylvania Republican Legislators were doing weird things to get in the way of voting, especially voting that tended to apply to mainly Democrats.  

In the runup to the November Election Pennsylvania Democrats and Republicans found themselves taking their cases to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  One of the most disturbing  moves on the part of the Republican Legislators was their efforts to keep Democrats from having their mail in votes counted.  It was expected that Democrats who were in favor of wearing masks and social distancing would prefer to vote by mail in the November Election,   While Democrats attempted to allow mail in votes to be counted before November 3rd they were blocked by Republicans from doing so.  The end result was a decision from the State Supreme Court preventing mail in ballots from being counted until November 3rd but allowing votes that were received by November 3rd to be counted for 3 days after November 3rd.  A last minute attempt by Pennsylvania Republicans and the Trump Campaign to have the U.S. Supreme Court step in  and keep the mail in votes from being counted failed.

Although Donald Trump is leading in the vote total in Pennsylvania right now the initial vote count has been mainly in person votes at the Pennsylvania Polls.  What is happening in Pennsylvania right now is that in the second day of extended vote counts Trump's lead is shrinking fast as mail in votes are being counted.

Trump's blatant Voter Suppression efforts have certainly had an effect in this Election, including Trump's reprehensible efforts to slow down the United States Postal Service.  it must be noted, however, that Donald Trump has also shown an overall very strong measure of support in this Election throughout every state in the America.  Clearly Polls that showed a very strong preference across the board for Joe Biden in the last days of the Presidential Campaign and pointed toward an easy win for Biden were far from correct.  

This election has shown that although Joe Biden did have more people voting for him than in any other Presidential Election clearly Donald Trump also had a great many more votes than many people, including me, expected that he would have.  

Certainly on November 3rd it was obvious to anyone watching Election coverage on Television that something big was happening.  Everywhere in America the voting lines were extremely long.  That, along with the fact that many Americans had chosen to vote by mail made it clear that interest in and participation in this election was going to be very very high.

Certainly the Pre Election Pronouncements by the President of the United States were concerning.  It almost appeared as though he was encouraging his followers to pick up their guns and hit the streets if he wasn't elected.  Although Trump has continued to Tweet during this tense period of time this week it appears as though his advisers have been successful in keeping him from inflaming an already difficult situation.

It is not easy to figure out much at this point in time when vote counting continues in several states. What we can realize right now is that this election has been very successful in bringing out voters in every state in America.  Certainly to have the massive election turnout we have had in the throes of a Coronavirus Epidemic is stunning. Clearly the increased use of mail in voting has been a big factor in the increased turnout.  But the truth is that Americans have checked in this time to have their votes counted because they were interested in the Presidential Candidates and the Presidential Elections.  

I  fully expect that in the end of the process that Joe Biden will be elected President.  What concerns me is that many of Donald Trump's followers are people who are uninformed and in some cases armed and dangerous.  It is hard for me to understand how and why Donald Trump continues to show such strength at the ballot box.  

Clearly, many Trump followers do not care about Immigrant children separated from their parents and caged at the southern border with no plan to reunite them with their parents.  Trump's followers also don't seem to care about Trump kissing up to dictators while disrespecting our Allies all around the world.  So what if Trump pulled our troops out of Syria allowing Russia and Turkey to come in and massacre our Kurdish Allies who, in fact, did much of the fighting that led to the control of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  Trump followers also seem to feel that there is little or no value to wearing masks and Social Distancing even though the latest total of Covid deaths in the U.S. is 240 Thousand, a staggering amount.

Even if Joe Biden pulls off a win in this election he is not going to have an easy time leading this country.  Donald Trump will have left a country that is conflicted and hard hearted.  Can Joe Biden pull America together.  We certainly have to hope so.  He was able to unify the Democratic Party.  That was not an easy task so we hope that a President Biden can do what he has done all his life, which is to do a good job and to try to unify the country.  

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Voter Suppression: The New Republican Party Principle

 Sunday, November 1st, 2020

My Dear America:

As we continue to live through the last weekend before the most important Election in our Lifetime it is difficult to fathom what has happened to the Republican Party in the United States Of America in the year 2020.  I don't know what is going to happen for sure on Tuesday, November 3rd.  I know that we are going to have an Election and I am pretty sure that Joe Biden is going to win that Election despite the Blatant Efforts of Donald Trump and Republicans in my state of Pennsylvania and in almost every other state in the union to suppress the Democratic Vote this time around.  I think that despite the Republican Suppression Machine that the Biden-Harris team will still have enough votes to make it across the finish line successfully.  But I am worried, not only about this Election but about every future Election to come.

I feel sorry for those Truly Patriotic American Republicans of the past who may be observing this situation from On High.  Those Republicans, including John McCain, Barry Goldwater, Dwight Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and many others, have to be disappointed and quite frankly disgusted by what has happened to their Party and their Country under the Outrageous and Disturbing Leadership of Donald Trump.   

It seems as though Donald Trump has genuinely ripped the Guts out of what had always been a Gutsy Political Party.  I have never had much love for the Republican Party.  In my mind it has always been the Party of Privilege, The Party Of the Rich and Powerful, The Corporate Party, The Right Wing Party. Since those things did not apply to me the Republican Party had little to offer me.  When I first signed up to vote I was inspired by John Fitzgerald Kennedy and I proudly voted for him and for every Democratic Party Nominated Candidate for President in every Subsequent Election.  I don't regret any of my votes.  I have always voted proudly for Democrats and this year is no exception.

Joe Biden has been an Outstanding Democratic Candidate for President in 2020 and I am certain that if he is Elected he will make an Outstanding President.  He will be just as capable a President as he was a Vice President.  I think his Vice Presidential Choice has also been a Great One.  Kamala Harris is a woman of Extraordinary Capabilities.  She has the serious leadership experience of a San Francisco District Attorney, A California Attorney General and A United States Senator From California to prepare her for her role as Vice President on the Biden Team.   

The main reason that I worry about this upcoming election is because there is something terribly wrong with the Republican Party this time out that I don't believe has ever been this wrong before.  

In 2020 Donald Trump has once again chosen to lead his party down the wrong path once again.  Instead of recognizing that he deserves to lose the election due to his Foolish and Corrupt Choices over the course of his Administration he has chosen to try to win the 2020 Presidential Election in the same Foolish and Corrupt manner that he has done everything else during his Presidency and during his Lifetime.  This time as Trump has chosen the Dark Path to Election Victory it seems as though his Party, The Republican Party, has chosen to join him on that Dark Path to Election Success by any Corrupt Means Necessary in order to keep themselves in power regardless of the effects on The United States of America.

One has to give some meager credit to Donald Trump, the habitual liar, for at times telling the truth about himself with regard to his intentions to hijack the 2020 Election.  

On a fairly recent "Fox And Friends" television interview discussing a Democratic led push for Voting Reforms due to the Pandemic, such as Voting by Mail, Same Day Registration and Early Voting Donald Trump said the following:

"The things that they had in there were crazy.  They had things, levels of voting that if you'd ever agree to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.

Yes Donald, Thank You for your Candor.

You are, indeed, telling the truth, for once.

The fact is that whatever happens in this coming election, what is coming in future elections is indicative of what is coming in our country in the relatively near future.  Republicans are afraid of Immigration for some very good reasons.  The main reason that they fear immigration is because the future and complexion of America is changing faster and faster and the day is coming and not that far away when Blacks, Latinos and other minorities will become the Majority Citizens and Voters in the United States Of America.  

Something tells me, however, that many American Citizens are not thinking that far ahead to recognize the future makeup of American Citizenship.  I think that the Americans voting for Trump are, to put it mildly, not that well informed.

One of my best friends calls these voters LIJOS, which he says stands for Low Information Jerk Offs.  It may be crude but it is certainly true that if Trump voters really looked hard enough at who he is and what he does they would be running away from him rather than gathering together maskless at his Death Rallies.

I would certainly advise these people to "Wake up and Smell the Treason" as Donald Trump prepares to turn over a great deal of the power and influence in this country to his buddy, Vladimir Putin, a man who certainly doesn't have our Best Interests in mind.  He doesn't even have Donald Trump's Best Interest in mind but Trump seems to be too mindless to recognize that.

So as the clock ticks along in these last days and hours of our discontent we are seeing just what Donald Trump and his Republican cohorts are willing to do to keep Joe Biden out of the White House and to keep his voters away from the polls.

Certainly one of Trump's recurring themes in these last days before voting is his objection to "The Ballots," by which he means Mail In Ballots.  I watched him at one of his rally's today asking his followers "Who sent in mail in ballots" and a great many of his audience members cheered.  He looked shocked and perhaps a bit dumbfounded that his people had already voted by mail.  He asked his audience also who was going to vote on November 3rd in person at the polls and many people shouted.  It seemed to me, though, that as many people had already voted as were going to vote on election day.  So why has Trump been so down on voting by mail?  Clearly he has been railing against "The Ballots" because commentators on Television have generally been predicting that many more Biden voters (who recognize the danger of the Coronavirus Pandemic) will vote by mail as opposed to going to the polls.  So as a result Trump has probably discouraged some of his voters from voting by mail and as a result may have some fewer voters than he might have had in the first place.  Dumb move, Donald

We have seen and are continuing to see Donald Trump's efforts to slow down the mail being delivered by the United States Postal Service in recent months.  Trump Donor and Republican businessman and now Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy has proven to be just as arrogant and corrupt as the President and seems to have been unapologetic in his response to criticism that he has needlessly shut down and gotten rid of Postal Sorting machines, as well as mail collection boxes all over the country. He has also cut back on overtime, all in efforts, he says, to save money and improve services.  These efforts were exposed in time for efforts to be made to stop DeJoy from continuing these practices.  Efforts have been made to go to court to keep DeJoy from further efforts to slow down mail services but reports are as of today that slowed down mail services will probably be preventing mail in ballots from being received in time to be counted in half the states in America.  Although Democrats have been strongly opposed to the Postmaster General's voter suppression efforts almost no pushback has been heard from Republican Lawmakers and Party Leaders.

Although the slowed down mail efforts have been brazen they are not the only brazen efforts on the part of the Trump Campaign  and the Republican Party to tip the voter suppression efforts in their favor.  

In my state of Pennsylvania the Republican Party and the Trump Campaign were not happy with a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that gave the state permission to count ballots for three days after the Election Day of November 3rd.  The Republicans appealed this decision to the United States Supreme Court, which let stand the lower court hearing.  

In a similar case from North Carolina the U.S. Supreme Court also let stand a lower court decision allowing the state Board of Elections to extend the deadline of counting ballots to nine days after election day.

In another  decision concerning Wisconsin the Supreme Court ruled that it would not extend Wisconsin's deadline for mailed ballots to be counted.

Also in Pennsylvania a report in The Atlantic magazine revealed that some members of the Republican State Legislature had discussed the prospect of dismissing the votes of State Residents if Biden won in Pennsylvania and instead having the Republican Controlled Legislature appoint Electors who would vote for Donald Trump. Since the Atlantic Article, Republicans seem to have backed off that plan, at least for now.

Voter intimidation has also been an issue that continues to rear its ugly head elsewhere recently.  We have seen men with guns on the streets of many of our American  cities.  Not only have men with guns been seen wandering in the state capital in Michigan but a plot to kidnap and kill the Governor of Michigan because she had the gall to initiate state efforts to save peoples lives due to the pandemic was also discovered.  We have seen Donald Trump defending racism and racists over and over.  

Yesterday in Texas a Biden-Harris Bus was surrounded by a number of pickup trucks with Trump flags flying.  Some inside the bus felt that the Trump Trucks were trying to force them off the road.  Instead of condemning this outrageous conduct Donald Trump spent today proudly talking about the incident and falsely claiming that the Trump supporters were trying to protect the Biden-Harris Bus.

Also in Harris County Texas the courts had to get involved in allowing more than one drop box for early voting for this County which has the highest population of any County in the state.  

In addition, Republicans have been fighting to have over 127 thousand votes which have been cast at a Drive Through Voting site in Harris County disqualified.  The State Supreme court has so far supported the voters who have cast their ballots.

A report just came out today from someone familiar with the Trump Campaign who states that although not all votes will have been counted by Tuesday Night that if he is ahead in the voting on Tuesday that Donald Trump will declare Victory Tuesday night.

Whatever happens Tuesday we are all in for a continuing Shit Show in the coming days weeks and months.  

It is time to batten down the hatches and get ready for some stormy weather.

The truth is that we, the voters, have had it easy for a long time and this time around things may not be so easy.  We have had it so easy that a lot of voters didn't even bother to vote.  That does not seem to be the case this time around, though.  With a lot of early voting the number of individuals voting seems to be staggering.  What will all these voters mean to all of us.  We will hopefully begin to find out on Tuesday.

As the Political Leaders are fond of saying:  

God Bless Us All And God Bless The United States Of America.

I pray that the Voters of America will make the Right Choice for all of us.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher  

tating clearly that 

onne of The most blatantly corrupt efforts by Donald Trump in trying to tilt the American election system in his favor and block "The Ballots" from being delivered on time