Monday, October 28, 2024

America, Do You See What I See? Do You Hear What I Hear?

His followers insult Puerto Rico, calling it a floating island of trash. 

Calls Kamala Harris the "antichrist." 

Labels Democrats as smart and vicious. 

Has Dr. Phil misrepresent history and insults DEI.

Immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our nation." 

Trump's 2024 rally in MSG mimics the 1939 Nazi rally.

Immigrants commit more crime, take our money, vote for Democrats, and other mangled nonsense. 

Hitler did some good things, per John Kelly, a quote of JDT.

Wants the kind of generals Hitler had, but the top six:  one suicide and the other five sentenced to death.

Failed during the COVID pandemic. The US' death rate was far beyond that of other countries because he dallied. 

Created far less jobs than any other president since Reagan while the most has been Biden. 

Is in bed with white nationalists. Just go back and listen to the sound bites from Charlottesville. 

He claims to be God's annointed. 

Chose a VP who voted against aid to Israel and then  changed his mind. 

Increased the national debt by approximately $8T during his term. 

Favors the richest of the rich by reducing their taxes which increases taxes on the middle class.

Thinks that tariffs is a good idea when it will only create higher costs for us. 

Uses awfully coarse language in rallies and public speeches. 

Is complicit with Project 2025 and its authors. Says he is not familiar with it but his name is mentioned numerous times and he's been seen traveling with the Heritage Foundation president before he was fired. 

Insulted a Hispanic family whose daughter was murdered by saying behind closed doors, "No f***ing Mexican is worth that much?"

Insulted both the audience and Arnold Palmer and his family by commenting on his private parts. 

Continues to show mental decline and growing inabilities to reign his impulsivity in.

May be, according to some high ranking officials, be compromised and held hostage by Putin.

Insults people left and right like refusing to pronounce Ms. Harris' name correctly. 

Selected a running mate with a sketchy history of re-eventing himself for the sake of expediency and votes. 

Selected a running mate with 1 1/2 years experience in Congress and is a smooth talker, but is woefully inexperienced. 

Runs a negative, bombastic, insulting campaign, full of disinformation, and in particular insults VP Kamala Harris, claiming that she is dumb or  that she is "mentally incompetent" or "retarded?"

Asserts frequently that Harris wants illegals to vote for her. 

Made FBI stop investigating Kavanaugh's sexual offenses.

Has large groups of physicians and mental health professionals claiming that he is incompetent to run our country.

Often speaks in "word salads" pulling random things out of wherever and puts them in a random sentence structure, and using that to describe how brilliant he is. 

Says repeatedly that FEMA is out of money because the Harris gave it all to illegal immigrants. 

Provided Putin with COVID supplies while American citizens were doing without and dying.

Has continued to talk periodically with Putin in violation of the Logan Act.

Led the White House that shut down investigation into Kavanaugh's background which might have altered his acceptance to the Supreme Court.

Has lied about FEMA and hurricanes wreaking havoc in the SE. 

Says that immigrants have bad DNA while explains their propensity to murder.

Gives poor data and explanation into immigrants and crimes. 

Lies, lies, lies, lies, and more lies. 

Claims he is a very honest person which resulted in laughter by his interviewer.

Continues to assert that tax breaks to the wealthiest benefits middle class and lower class.

On camera has slurred speech, run out of energy, and speaks "word salads" which continues a little bit of everything, which he explains as his brilliance.

Told the audience that Putin can do whatever he wants with those NATO nations not paying their 2% of their GDP. 

After being found guilty of fraud and owing millions of dollars, shows up at a sneak.com and hawks his $399 gold plated shoes with a T on them. 

Asserts that there will be a blood bath if he is not elected.

Asserts that he will go after people who opposed him. 

Asserts that just a one hour or one day blood bath will stop crime in the US

Refuses to rebuke Putin in the death of Alexii Navalny.

Rambles on incoherently, misses key names and places, and slams Biden for less of the same.

Declares vengeance upon those who have opposed him.

Will serve as a dictator for one day. Just one day? 

Promises to pardon J6 participants who are in jail or prison. 

Compares his persecution to that of Navalny who was murdered in Russia.

One of his supporters, Jack Posobiec, vows to finish what happened on January 6, and from Trump, crickets. 

91 charges filed against him with 4 indictments.

Courts and/or judges rendered verdicts of $454M in a civil fraud case and $83.3M in a defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll. 

In February alone, Donald Trump encouraged Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not contribute sufficiently to the military alliance.

He refused to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of Alexei Navalny, 47, a Kremlin critic who died suddenly on Feb. 16 in a Russian penal colony — instead likening himself to Navalny, arguing they were both political prisoners.

And in a Fox News town hall Tuesday evening, he praised Russia for being “a war machine.”

Uses his platform to insult people such as Jimmy Fallon at the Oscars.

Claims to be God's chosen.

Convicted against Ms. Carrol.

Convicted by the state of NY which likely shows that his wealth is a shell game.

Has followers who believe he is a messiah or prophet, ordained of God.

Plans to turn our democracy into an authoritarian theocracy

Denigrates the Constitution.

Creates "events" to fool his followers by using "pseudo events" that are essentially "performative fiction."

Admires Hitler and Mussolini and is following their playbooks.

Will likely sell out Ukraine to Putin.

Is quoted as admiring Putin, Xe, and other dictators.

Vows to bring back Christianity, or his version of it, as a national religion, despite the specific clause in the Constitution that asserts that Congress shall not make any religion a state religion.

Mismanaged and criminalized the presidency.

His administration had an incredibly large number of charges against them, more than any other.

Judged to be the worst president in the history of the USA.

Not even his mother thought fondly of him and warned about him getting into politics because he would be a disaste.

Declared his wealth, but actually was given $400M by his father.

Despite his alleged wealth and power, he plays the victimization game.

Vindictive and self absorbed.

Convicted felon who can't legally carry a gun but can run for office.

Attempted to steal an election despite telling his closest of employees that he knew that he'd lost to Biden.

Insults numerous people including Biden and his stutter.

Attempted to run the government like he did his businesses.

Has had six bankruptcies, but claims to be good at business.

Added $7.8T to the US debt by giving huge tax cuts to the wealthiest while little to none of it trickled down to us.

Promises a blood bath if he is not elected. 

Judged to be a security risk, i.e., Biden should not give Trump classified materials unless he is elected. 

Believes that Joe Biden won the presidency over Barack Obama. 

Blames everyone but himself in his multi-court, multi-charges debacle.

Hawks Bibles and tennis shoes as fund raisers for this his legal fees.

Now selling $500K watches along with shoes and Bibles. 

Autographs Bibles and the American flag. Isn't the latter illegal?

Pulls campaign contributions over into paying for his enormous legal fees.

Believes that violence, threats of violence, and incendiary language are a normal part of his discourse.

Whose followers painted a picture on the back of a pickup truct of Biden tied up.

Verbally and in writing attacks judges, judges families, various DAs, President Biden, and other people with his inflammatory rhetoric.

Coaxes a crowd of young Christians at a rally in AZ to chant "bullshit, bullshit, bullshit....."

Convicted by a jury of his peers in NYC of felony charges on 34 counts.

Promises billionaires that he will slash their taxes if they vote for him.

Insults judge, attorneys, and others such that he has to have a gag order placed on him.

Insults the jury and the decision of his 34 convictions.

Asks Speaker of the House Johnson to work with him to get the court's decision nullified.

Asking Republican lawmakers to create a law that will transfer state cases to federal courts.

Promises to pay back those who have been against him.

Asserts that J6 was a peaceful gathering and that there was a lot of love there, while he and his family were in a tent on the capital grounds watching the insurrection unfold,

Speaks in incoherent "word salads" such as in the case of his monologue about religion.

Claims to be 6'3" 215, but the photo shows him pudge and overweight against other man who are that same height and weight.

Tells some of his followers that he does not like them, that he just wants their votes.

Has a history of screwing those who work for him, promising to pay when the job is completed, but when it is completed he denis payment as the work was inadequate (read his book for that one).

Guilty of sexual assault and defaming the woman to the tune of approximately $1/2M.

His followers refuse to examine his failing mental health, cognitive deficits, and faulty memory, but instead focus on Biden and his gafes and stuttering as some mental illness.

Insults Taylor Swift, asserting that she is working for Biden, and getting more young voters to vote for the Democrats.

Tells 30 lies in the first debate with President Biden,

Mocks others, the "other abled," and Biden's stuttering problem. 

Mocks those coming across the border as taking "Black jobs," and what are "Black jobs," and alas, that is bigotry wrapped up in bigotry. Reverend Warnock said it and I believe it. When I heard the former president use that terminology, I looked at my wife and cringed. I knew of the dark place this was coming from. 



Thursday, October 24, 2024

Dear VIce President Harris: Can We Talk?

October 24, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20050

We represent the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers Group, and we have done so since our beginning with the United States Agriculture (USDA) in 1994 as we have advocated for Black farmers as well as for women within the institution who are being mistreated.

Our motivations for contacting you are simple. Vice President Harris, you have the President’s ear in these final days, and you have much influence with the American people and various subgroups want your support and for that, you get their votes.

We have had two in-depth conversations/interviews with Drs. Cornel West and Jill Stein. As you know, they are candidates for the presidency in 2024. We just talked a few weeks ago to Dr. Stein in Philadelphia regarding widespread abuses at the USDA. Both of them expressed a deep concern about the lack of leadership, accountability, transparency, oversight, and justice which are lacking at the USDA. We wish to hear the same from the two of you.

We recognize within a few short weeks that the people will have spoken and you, VP Harris, stand an excellent chance at being our next president. In these unprecedented times, much is demanded of our public servants, perhaps more than at most any time in the history of our country. This letter, then, will provide the justification for our list of asks.

Black farmers’ skepticism of President Biden remains entrenched and as his VP, some of that follows you. And, our opposition to the President appointing Vilsack goes back to the very beginning.

As we wrote in our most recent letter to you and President Biden on August 16, 2024, our message has been consistent since our inception in 1994 as the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees. From the earlies stages of our communications with Vilsack in 2011, the White House, staffers, and others, our message has been clear and our list of concerns lengthy and legitimate. In fact, a lengthier list is found in correspondence with President Biden in 2022 in which we advocated for systemic change.

We have previously chronicled some crucial historical points, beginning with Senator Elizabeth Warren during her campaign for the presidency, and the development of her policy to address Black land loss, racism, USDA’s failures, and a myriad of other matters in a document that became the standard bearer for the promotion of justice for Black farmers.

Several senators including Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Raphael Warnock succeeded in writing and submitting to the Senate an important piece of legislation, The Justice for Black Farmers Act.  It marked the significance of historical issues and mistreatment of Black farmers.

We have found the White House and the USDA to be closed systems, closed to us in particular in our efforts to address the concerns noted above to the officials who have the influence to take corrective measures. Secretary Vilsack ignored us except for one unsatisfactory meeting via technology as has President Biden. Only Cedric Richmond and William T. McIntee, in the Office of Public Engagement gave us a fair hearing.

We participated with the agriculture transition team, learned that it was steered by Tom Vilsack, and were informed eventually that what we were seeking was unconstitutional. Next came the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) that brought about the banking industry’s complaints and a slow walking process by Secretary Vilsack that allowed twelve frivolous and racist lawsuits to be filed by white farmers alleging reverse discrimination. See those details here.

With the passage of the ARPA, we celebrated with Senators Warnock, Warren, and Booker and numerous Black farmers and members of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers group, but our celebration was short lived and the courts and the white farmer cases stymied our progress.

Senators Raphael Warnock and Cory Booker have in the past shown their interest and concerns regarding the continued abuse at USDA; however, in the past few years because of their busy schedules and political obligations, they have been prevented from doing what is really needed at USDA…..to put the Department into “receivership.” The reason is that USDA is not properly carrying out or implementing its own rules and regulations. The decades of failures regarding Black farmers and abuse of women employees at the US Forest Service, has been long documented at USDA, in the Congress, and nationwide.

Next, Congress passed the race neutral Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which allocated $3.1B for “distressed borrowers” who could be of any race or gender and their debts would be brought to zero. Additionally, a sum of $2.2B was allocated for farmers who could prove that they had experienced discrimination, regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, and gender. We critiqued this bill and its outcomes quite intensely in a letter to the President. The process proved to be laborious but ultimately approximately $1.76B was allocated to Black farmers and the remainder to others.

The process was laborious and complicated, some farmers died before they could see any benefits from the lengthy chain of events and entities. Relatively few of our friends received any benefits as it appears that the few who did were hand-picked by the USDA.

So, that is where we are with regard to finances. However, the saga continues with other matters, and we would like to outline them for you.

We know of zero Black farmers meeting with the President though we do know of a few who have met with FSA Director, Zach Ducheneaux. Their voices are important and unheard.

A significant piece of research found that between 1910 and 1997, Black farmers losses amounted to approximately $326B. Those losses will never be made up. In terms of the pandemic relief funding of billions of dollars, only 0.1% went to Black farmers. This is one example of the many burdens placed upon our Black farmers in rural America.

Various studies from within the federal government have validated what we believe, that inadequacies impact all of us. In November, 2023, the General Accounting Office (GAO) provided a scathing rebuke of the internal tracking system for complaints. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported in September, 2021 that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights was failing to process complaints in a timely manner and potential circumvention of the law. A recent doctoral dissertation provided a negative evaluation of the county committee system, one which continues to be protected by Secretary Vilsack.

Secretary Vilsack refuses to provide information about loans and services by race, asserting that to do so would be illegal, despite two Farm Bills that demand the collection and dispersal of this information. We know globally but not specifically these numbers.

Various investigative reports “The Machine that Eats up Black Farmland,” by Joyce, Rosenberg, and Stucki; ”Forced Off Their Land,” by Holloway; and “How USDA Distorted Data to Conceal Decades of Discrimination Against Black Farmers,” by Rosenberg and Stucki; and numerous internal and external reports, accumulated by the Environmental Working Group, all tell the tragedies of white farmers being advantaged in all areas by comparison to Black farmers. These matters of racism and injustice have been occurring under the current administration as well as that of Obama, Bush, Clinton, and previous administrations for decades. The USDA acts as if it is a law to themselves and fails at too many levels to display transparency, accountability, and a commitment to removing racism from its halls and offices. The Equity Commission of Vilsack and the failures of the County Committee system are two that are most obvious to us.

While this is merely the tip of the iceberg for us as advocates, we have not been silent nor invisible. We have written numerous letters to the White House, the USDA, and to others. We have published many letters in various open forums. Perhaps you know that on March 1, 2023, a large number of us demonstrated in front of the White House with placards, signs, and megaphones.  

We, therefore, have several asks of you, Vice President Harris. We hear you say that you are not afraid of good ideas and that you will not shy away from them. Here, therefore, are our issues to discuss with you and/or your top advisors.

Work together with us and meet with us as have Drs. West and Stein;

Place USDA at the top of your list of priorities and create practical options for rural America and Black farmers;

Hear and validate the pain and suffering of Black farmers and families; 

Address the problems within the Office of Civil Rights and compel the office to settle complaints of Black farmers that are languishing there;

Appoint a new Secretary within your administration, one with the trust of Black farmers and other advocates;

Compel USDA to develop a course of action that eliminates sexism and sexual assaults and other abuses experienced by women in the forestry division, Western Region; 

Compel USDA to develop a course of action that eliminates racism and unfair practices that disadvantage Black farmers and favor white farmers; 

Compel USDA to develop processes that create justice, accountability, and transparency throughout the Department; and 

Require the leadership within USDA address the area in which most discrimination occurs, the Farm Service Administration at the county committee level. 

Many African Americans in urban America are only one or two generations away from the farm in rural America and it is important to know the deep connections between the two. Some of us feel forgotten because of the extensive focus on urban America. To begin to address these matters even prior to the election would make a dramatic statement to our people. Black farmers and families are rural America.

 

We follow you and your campaign closely and appreciate the town halls that you have been in including the one on CNN last night. We understand your time constraints as you travel and speak over the next two weeks. Therefore, we request an immediate conversation with one of your closest advisors, Cedric Richmond, to discuss our issues and concerns relative to Black and minority farmers and abused women within USDA and larger systemic issues.  

We stand available to answer any and all of your questions and assist you in this regard. Many Black farmers and their advocates feel abandoned by our Black leadership in Washington and in rural America. We are “the voice of the voiceless.”

Respectfully,

---S---

Lawrence Lucas
President Emeritus, USDA Coalition for Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064681597169
www.blackmeninAmerica.com
LawrLCL@aol.com
856-910-2399 

 ---S---

Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
Representative, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
www.letjusticering.blogspot.com
Psychologist
Waymon.hinson@gmail.com
903-271-4654