The End of the Month News.

The 2nd GOP Presidential debate during the 2024 election is over. Donald Trump wasn't in the debate, and it was held in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. There were many moments of debate and divergent views being shown by the Republican candidates. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (who wants to defund Democratic cities which is wrong) criticized businessman Vivek Ramaswamy over the issue of Tik Tok. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that Trump was missing in action for missing another debate, and Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that Trump was Donald Duck in hiding behind his golf clubs. All of the GOP candidates criticized President Joe Biden. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott said that Biden should be on the southern border instead of joining striking auto workers (when 71 percent of all Americans support unions), but Scott is the one who denies the existence of systematic racism in society. Tim Scott made the outrageous lie that LBJ's Great Society was harder to survive than slavery. Slavery in America involved rape, torture, splitting families, murder, genocide, theft of lands in Africa and in America. There is no comparison. LBJ was wrong to promote the Vietnam War. Yet, the Great Society's programs and laws of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights of 1965, The Fair Housing Act of 1968, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and the War on Poverty saved the lives of millions of Americans (including black Americans). DeSantis didn't answer the question on how to handle student debt when even Biden tried to deal with student debt with actual policies. 

Mike Pence said that Biden should be on the unemployment line, but Pence made a conscious decision to be Vice President for Trump when before Trump was inaugurated, we knew of Trump's racism, xenophobia, sexism, and bigotry in general. Pence said that he is tired of mass shootings but refuse to advocate gun control laws and other policies to stop mass shootings. Still, Trump has a major lead in the Republican primaries. DeSantis criticized Trump for deficit spending. Chris Christie said that Trump divided the GOP, divided families in America, and divided friends in America. Christie wants Trump to not be the GOP candidate for President. This 2nd GOP debate had interruptions, emotion, and crosstalk. DeSantis and Haley are closest to Trump in the polls, so they used strategy to not get too caught up. Tim Scott and Nikki Haley had a shocking debate since both seem to get along well. They debated on Haley's spending habits. Pence criticized DeSantis on his record as governor of Florida. Haley said that she wants more transparency in prices to lesson the power of insurance companies and providers (plus overhaul lawsuit rules to make it harder to sue doctors). So, this GOP debate was dominated by far-right ideologues (some of them want to end birthright citizenship, invade Mexico, and ban books in schools including libraries) who has major divisions and dysfunctions (like DeSantis defending his racist Florida curriculum trying to say that slavery caused benefits to people when slavery by definition is evil and has no redeeming social value. DeSantis refuses to expand Medicaid in Floria when Florida has disproportionately more uninsured people. 250,000 Floridians are kicked off of Medicaid now). The irony is that this debate is held in the Reagan Presidential Library when Ronald Reagan is a known racist (caught on tape calling Africans slurs, etc.), anti-poor, anti-middle class, and pro-Southern Strategy.

There is the impeachment inquiry against Biden by GOP House members which makes no sense. Meanwhile, Trump said that General Milley committed treason being worthy of death. That is why General Milley has taken safety precautions because of extremists like Donald Trump. Trump is the actual treasonous person who was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow American democracy as we know it, to keep classified documents in his house  even after the government kindly told Trump to bring them back, and Biden addressed the extreme MAGA agenda. The GOP House members have voted to cut the salary of Defense Secretary's salary to one dollar in a racist move. This move won't go anywhere, but it shows how the MAGA agenda is even worse than Reaganism (and we know Reaganism was a terrible agenda too). Milley said that Trump disrespected the U.S. military with his execution comment. The GOP is silent on Trump's evil words too.

As many people know, I am related to many people of the Artis family found in Southampton County, Virginia and all over the world. Recently, I had a DNA match to a person named Celeste Artis on my maternal side of my family. Ancestry.com stated that she is my 4th to 6th cousin. In my family, genealogical research is part of my culture. So, I did a lot of research to find out that we share the same common ancestor of Zilphy Claud, and that Celeste Artis is my 5th cousin. Celeste Artis was born on November 17, 1977 at Norfolk, Virginia. Her parents are Lawrence Harry Artis and the late Vivian Artis (1950-1997). Her siblings are Nya Francheri Artis (b. 1973) and Tiffany Monique Artis (b. 1980). Vivian Artis was my 4th cousin and her parents are Clarence Lee Rollins (b. 1920) and Ruth Victoria Claude (1923-2009). Ruth Victoria Claude's parents are Joseph James Claud (1894-1988) and Georgia Bynum (1893-1975). Joseph James Claud's parents were Frank Thomas Claud (1856-1948) and Elizabeth Whitehead (1868-1939). Frank Thomas Claud is a direct descendant of Zilphy Claud (1820-1893). Zilphy Claud is my 5th great grandmother.

Cassidy Hutchinson released her book "Enough" recently. Cassidy is still a Republican but rejects the agenda of Trump. The book talked about the chaos of January 6th. January 6th had the insurrection when an irrational male Donald Trump tried to overthrow democracy as we know it. He agitated a mob of terrorists to attack the U.S. Capitol. Cassidy Hutchinson expressed credible testimony under oath to investigators and in Congress. She said that Matt Gaetz never dated him, as we know that Gaetz is a creepy person. Also, Cassidy Hutchinson has worked hard to expose the MAGA agenda in many months. The January 6th attack can never be minimized. It involved violence, treason, sedition, and many of the criminals involved in the insurrection have been convicted already. Trump faces multiple indictments too in a historic fashion. The many sections of the book shown candid facts and vulnerability. Today, we face a time where our democracy is under threat like no other time in American history since the American Civil War. It's that serious.

By Timothy