A bulletin board has been added to this website. The primary goal is for political discussions.
There will certainly be additional topics such as blogs and opinions on various science topics.
Please visit that board here:
Forums
And please be tolerant of my lack of skills in its creation and maintenance.
If you might be interested in being part of, and even guiding some political conversations,
then please contact me and join this board.
A new email was created for this site and bulletin board: webmaster at mbkelly dot net
Trump has never provided any evidence. None of his 62 law suits provided any substantiated evidence of fraud. Yet, of all the news shows I have watched since then, of all the interviews, (to be honest, not a very big number), of all the written articles, there are essentially none that ask the question: What is the evidence? And there are certainly none that demand: Show us the evidence!
We can write to each of those Republicans and ask the questions. We can find Democrats in their districts and encourage them to write and ask the questions. However, we can also predict those questions will be ignored. But maybe the Democrats in those districts will remember to ask the question during political debates.
We can also ask the news media to ask the question. Write to the hosts of shows such as “All In with Chris Hayes” and Lawrence O’Donnell of “The Last Word.” We can write to people like Fareed Zakaria of “GPS” and Kristen Welker of “Meet the Press.”
Suggestions are solicited. We can get together in small groups and visit our local newspapers. We can visit local television stations and ask them to put the question on the air. And ask them to repeat the question on a regular basis. We need to impress upon the local media the importance of these questions.
What have you done? What else might we do. Please join my bulletin board on this web site and post your comments and opinions.
Vote Forward as a non-profit organization to send letters out to people in swing states who, in my words, might vote and vote for Biden with just a little encouragement. Contributors are asked to not mention candidates or parties, just encourage the people to vote. Their website is https://votefwd.org/
When you sign up you select from, currently, one of seven swing states. They provide a list of 20 names and a form letter for each selected person. The letter has space for a few sentences for you to write. Complete the form letter, address an envelope, and put it in the mail in October.
The have select about 500,000 names and something around half of them have been assigned to groups and individuals such as yourself. This might be the most direct action you might take to have an effect upon this election beyond your personal vote. The below table contains a few statistics about the the swing states and some polling numbers.
The web site provides some suggests concerning what to write to our fellow citizens. Here are some suggestions.
The single most important action that we, average citizens, can do is vote.
It will soon be time to exercise our authority as citizens.
Please VOTE!
Sometime the middle sentence is changed to:
This 2024 election cycle will be incredibly important.
If you have any suggests to post, please join the forum hosted by this web site: https://www.mbkelly.net/forum/
I have taken some time to post a few statistics about Vote Forward in the table just below.
Key Column Descriptions| State | Electoral Votes | Current Polls | Biden Trend Since April | 2020 Polls in November | 2020 Results | Adoption Count / Remaining |
| Arizona | 11 | 39.7 / 43.2 | +0.1 | +2.6 | +0.3 | 84,352 / 20,250 |
| Georgia | 16 | 39.3 / 39.3 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +0.3 | 119,123 / 50,601 |
| Michigan | 15 | 39.6 / 42.8 | +0.5 | +7.9 | +2.8 | 151,440 / 53958 |
| Nevada | 6 | 37.2 / 42.8 | -0.3 | +5.3 | +2.4 | 34,654 / 14,190 |
| North Carolina | 16 | 39.7 / 43.3 | +2.5 | +1.8 | -1.3 | 4,088 / 859 |
| Pennsylvania | 19 | 41.9 / 43.0 | +2.5 | +4.7 | +1.2 | 142,146 / 55,292 |
| Wisconsin | 10 | 40.8 / 42.0 | +2.3 | +8.4 | +0.6 | 18,936 / 1,959 |
Here is a pic headed to the post office with my Vote Forward efforts shortly before the 2020 election.
BTW: The table is not working out as hoped. If you have any suggestions, please advise me.
You might join the forum and post something there.
Thank you for your time.
Have you thought about the recent increase in physical violence here in the United States? Have you thought about the huge increases of threats for violence based on politics? President Biden made remarks on 6 Jan 2024, the anniversary of the Washington DC riots at the capital. He is quoted as saying:
I will say what Donald Trump won’t. Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States’ political system, never, never, never.
And yes, these threats of violence are almost exclusively made by Republicans. (I suspect the “almost” adjective is not needed, but it is there just in case.) There is a major hint here. If the Republicans cannot win the vote honestly, they will not hesitate to win it via violence. Indeed, they are using violence to get they way.
This is a hint to Republicans who have not been sucked into the Trump mindset. It is also a request to them. We, this country and your party, need you to stand up against Trump. We need you to be public and vocal about it. We need it now. If you remain within the party, and if you remain silent, then you are part of the problem. Not just a minor part of the problem, a major part of the problem.
Your actions, your behaviors, tell us of your choice. Are you a part of the problem? The answer for most Republicans is: Yes. If you don’t like that, then you must “DO” something different. Silence does not cut it.
And just a reminder, look at the previous section with the line: What is the evidence?
The only honest answer is: We have none. Please consider this deeply.
Much has been said about corporate taxes and how little tax many of the larger corporations pay. Here are some very simple suggestions for laws that might ensure more fair taxes for corporations, meaning more fair to the government and to average citizens. Please have a look here and see what you think. Comments and improvement suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
We, this country, needs you, Dear Reader, to Act. Today!
Not since the Civil War has these United States been in such peril. The man who attempted to overthrow the election and the government in 2020 and 2021 is running for president again. Indeed, the Republican party itself is part of the deal. The majority of the Republicans and conservative actually support him and are trying to get him elected. We, citizens who want to continue this democracy, must activate this amendment and prevent the loss of our democracy.
A call for action is described on this web page: Activate 14th Amendment
On November 8, 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided that an attempt to disqualify Trump was not ripe for adjudication. This citizen strongly differs as the situation with Trump is not only placing our democracy in danger, it is causing damage today and every day that Trump is allowed to continue his attempts to resume office. Please read that opinion here: Activate 14th Amendment
I wrote a letter to Judge Sarah Wallace of Colorado urging her to take action on a 14th amendment suit. The same letter was sent to the justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court for the same purpose. It was ignored. But the concept of the letter is applicable to all states and all election officials. Please review that letter here: Judge Wallace of Colorado
Headline:
Quoted from the article: Wallace said she was keeping the former president on the ballot because the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban” does not apply to presidents, though she found that “Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 through incitement, and that the First Amendment does not protect Trump’s speech.”
From what body of law does she draw this conclusion? Judge Wallace, you need to read the 14th amendment. You will find it says no such thing. I, the owner of this web site, sent you an email, and mailed you a letter spelling this out. Using words from Constitutional authorities. I told you where to find the paper from Baude and Paulsen, and included their summary. The amendment states: “any office or civil or military, under the United States…” Exactly where do you find the words that exclude the office of President?
Judge Wallace, please tell us: What really prompted you to make this judgement? And no, its not the words in the amendment, or indeed, anywhere else in the Constitution. And before you answer, please refer to the paper by Baude and Paulsen, mentioned next.
Multiple legal scholars have written about how and why the 14th amendment is directly applicable to Trump and his allies. One of those documents is a 126 page essay by William Baude & Michael Stokes Paulsen. At the bottom of each page is this notice:
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4532751
You may have to register with SSRN to gain access. SSRN stands for Social Sciences Research Network. A search for “copy” as in “copyright” produced only that notice so I presume it is legal to post here. If there are any complaints, please contact me. Meanwhile, please find the paper on this site here: The Sweep and Force of Section Three
Here are two organizations that are working for 14th amendment judgements, along with other activities. I was motivated to make a donation to each and help their cause. Please join me.
The first is Free Speech For People. The web site is href="https://freespeechforpeople.org/">Free Speech For People
The second is “CREW,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. One review site proclaimed they are not without bias and are left oriented. At this time, I am good with that. We, citizens of these United States, right now, need all the help we can get. Please visit them here: href="https://www.citizensforethics.org//">CREW
A new page has been added presenting some proposals for constitutional amendments.
One quite important topic is what might be done when the Supreme Court is wrong.
This is not a new topic as noted by the Anti-Federalists and this specific web page:
here
Further, this will require an amendment to the Consitition. Anything less can simply be
declared unconstitutional by the Court.
Please visit that page here
We, meaning this country, are at a fork in the road. Well, we are always at multiple forks
in our roads, but this one is rather more ominous. The fork of concern is a multi-path
fork. A few paths lead us and keep us on the several paths of democracy. (There is not
a single path of democracy, not a single path that destroies democracy.) Several of them depart
that path of democracy and take us places we do not want to go. Please read that essay here:
Our Fork In The Road
Politics seems to be composed, in large part, of conflict. This is not a new trend but
can be seen in almost all history of politics. This essay about Socrates reflects upon
the conflicts present in his time that continue to rage today. The conflict then?
Conservatives versus Liberals / Progressives
Please read about how this conflict worked out in the time of Socrates
here
A new page is under development, the heading says it all. We, meaning the citizens of
these United States, have a significant cadre of dangerous people holding political office.
The list is currently headed by the Speaker of the House, McCarthy. Being second in line
to the presidency makes him truly dangerous.
This page is definitely short and lacking. There is a significant list of people to add.
More will be added as I can.
That page is
Dangerous People In Office
The political battles of the day can be loosely, very loosely, divided into a cultural
clash: conservatives -vs- liberals/progressive. This is not a new conflict. Indeed,
it is as old as politics. Yes, it really is that old. Some of this conflict came to a
head during the age we now call The Enlightenment. The conflict was not
resolved then, it continues today, but huge, and hopefully irrevocable, steps were taken.
Steven Pinker wrote a book dedicated to those concepts:
“Enlightenment Now, The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress”
This essay is titled after the era of the same name. Please read the essay here:
The Enlightenment
Update: It is now clear that the gains of The Enlightenment are not irrevocable. Indeed,
there is quite a list of politicians who are, today, striving to reverse those gains.
The best, and maybe only way to prevent that, is to understand what "The Enlightenment"
was and what it means today.
We have all heard the old saw stating you are not allowed to shout fire in a crowded theatre. Its still true. But, some elaboration is needed. We need to bring this up to date in our ever more connected world. We need to establish and implement some actual rules about this bad behavior. The essay is here
Over the last two years we have written over 1000 letters and postcards to elected officials and to members of the news media. That does not mean a bunch, it means count them one at a time to get more than 1000. Only one representative has responded with a generic form letter that did not address the topic of the letter. We have an idea that might take the concept of letter writing to a new level. Maybe even two or three levels up.
That level is in person visits. This is easily achievable for our representatives in the House and for state legislatures. But it is quite difficult for Senators. And even there, it is difficult to get an acknowledgement much less a specific response.
Here might be a new approach. We need to find someone in our district who is near to,
or regularly travels near, where our representatives have an office. We can send our
letters to those people. They can hand carry the letters to the representative’s office.
When there, they can state to the office staff something to the effect:
These are letters from your constituents. Each of these is about (some topic).
I will return in one week and will expect a reply that addresses these topic. Your reply
will be shared with all those who wrote these letters.
We suspect that this has a much better probability of getting their attention and a reply than any letter sent via USPS.
But wait! It might get better. We need to get in contact with people at a Democratic headquarters in or near Washington DC. Maybe we can get one or several people there to act as our representative. That person, or people, would receive the letters to federal representatives, senators and representatives, from the constituents back in the states and districts. Those people can then hand carry the letters to the appropriate offices and insist upon a specific reply to the letters.
It can get even better. If our representatives don’t respond, we can go to our local news media with out story and maybe get something published or even shown on local TV. If we can get enough excitement, maybe even some national coverage.
What now? All this looks like a good idea, but the most critical part is implementation. We are unsure of how to do that. One thought is to implement a forum, a bulletin board, or maybe a page on something like Facebook. If you have any suggestions, they will be very appreciated.
A look through history will turn up major events in which millions of people died.
Or stated more accurately, were murdered. The definition of murder is “the unlawful
premeditated killing of one human being by another. Some named people are Hitler,
Stalin, and Mao. But how many people did those individuals actually murder?
Nowhere close to a million. Almost certainly not even in the hundreds.
But why write this now? Because if we look at the paths taken to get to the point
of mass murder, some political leaders and many citizens of these United States are
now on that path.
Please visit that article
here.
This is a work in progress. Please visit again. This is the web site of an individual person, not a corporation with a nameless face. Comments will be read and appreciated.
Bryan Kelly, April 2023 email to webmaster at mbkelly dot net