The White House: Robert Treat Paine

 This video below was posted to the White House YouTube channel this morning. I see there are similar videos also produced by this outfit known as Prager U and focused often on American history. We're seeing a brand new day under the 47th POTUS Donald Trump.

As you might see in the header on YouTube - America is back. The renewed focus on Making America Great Again and just think in 2026 it will have been 250 years since the Declaration of Independence - essentially the birth of the United States of America.

I never heard of Robert Treat Paine. In this video he talks through his portrait about his role in prosecuting the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre. The person who defended those British soldiers was our 2nd POTUS John Adams. Just as Adams he too signed the aforementioned Declaration of Independence.

My next question becomes I wonder who's curating content for The White House on YouTube. Often when I see content here it's often the President speaking to the press or some public appearance such was events for the 4th of July. So I found this brief video discussing history very interesting.

Check out Robert Treat Paine [VIDEO]

C-Span: Donald Trump inauguration speech

 

[VIDEO] From yesterday's inauguration immediately after President Trump was sworn in at the 47th POTUS.

He sets the tone for the next four years of his presidency. He mentioned how he expect the Federal Gov't will be a meritocracy. He also mentions that gender is either a man or a woman 🤯. He also discusses taking control of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

And of course after this he signs a series of executive orders with regards to some of these issues. He's ordering federal employees back into the office, several executive orders with regards to immigration and taking control of the southern U.S./Mexico border, also with regards to energy opening up Alaska for energy production.

Aside from the more pomp and circumstances aspects of January 20, 2025 he already had a relatively busy day. 

Any thought on his inauguration speech?

Mr. Beat: Combining Every INAUGURAL ADDRESS in U.S. History

 

[VIDEO] Well Inauguration Day has passed in America.

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday - which also just so happens to be the MLK holiday. 

In this video, Mr. Beat recites an amalgamated inaugual address taken from past presidents. And also goes over a bit of the history of presidential inaugurations. Like all things in America politics related the festivities of inauguration day has evolved.

I would like to share what happened after President Trump was sworn in on Monday.

Bill O'Reilly: Confronting the Presidents

 

[VIDEO] On January 20, 2025, the United States of America will inaugurate the 47th President in Donald J. Trump. Who knows what his legacy will be once he leaves office.

Bill O'Reilly in a special on NewsNation discusses his book Confronting the Presidents besides being a "news analyst" his other passion is as a historian. He brags about his "best sellers" and this is one of many of his books.

His 5 worst presidents is surprising.

5. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

4. John Tyler (1841-1845)

3. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)

2. Joe Biden (2021-2025)

1. I already known James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Franklin Pierce served immediately before James Buchanan both presidents are considered a failure. Buchanan especially because he allowed the United States to split apart before his far more successful successor Abraham Lincoln took office.

John Tyler succeeded William Henry Harrison as president (he only served 31 days in office before his passing). He was unable to govern and O'Reilly sites Tyler's absolute support for slavery as why he ranks him as the fourth worst President.

What makes Lyndon Johnson the worst was the Vietnam War. Also they noted some aspects of his personality basically very crude and bullying. However, I would agree his conduct of the Vietnam War hampers his historic legacy which includes the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and even the War on Poverty.

Joe Biden well where do we start with him. He's still our president until at least January 20, 2025. And it's amazing he's already on this list. They cite the troubled withdrawal from Afghanistan, others may cite America's standing in the world since he became President, his cognitive disabilities, etc. Well I'm sure O'Reilly goes further than I do here.

And let's not forget about the 5 best Presidents. However, you have to watch the video to find out.

The White House 1600 Sessions: Making the Presidential Seal

 

[VIDEO] Fascinating to see the White House Historical Association visit with the Institute of Heraldry to look at all the symbols of the presidency. From the seal, coat of arms, and the medals the President can issue to military personnel and deserving civilians.

J.J. McCullough: RESIGN? Trudeau and Biden's overlapping leadership crises

 

[VIDEO] The differences & similarities between the respective leaders of Canada and United States. Duration is over 20 mins for this video.

Allow me to add that Canada has a slightly different electoral system to our nation. Canada has a parliamentary/Westminster system of gov't vs. the USA which is a republican form of gov't.

The next elections in Canada is at least next year, and there is a strong possibility that Canadians may want a change in their gov't. This could lead to Prime Minister Trudeau opting to stand down before the next election and his party chooses another leader in time for the next election. I see no indication that he would although I'm not an ardent follower of Canadian politics.

And now Joe Biden. Before the recent incident in Pennsylvania regarding President Donald Trump - the GOP nominee for President - the news cycle was dominated by whether or not he'd drop out of the race. My thoughts are why wasn't this discussed well before the summer. Someone should've been working on him at least 6 months ago. There is no strong indication that he would drop out and if he did we'd have a bit of a scramble to determine who would run in his place.

Even if he stayed in the race indications are that he would likely lose his rematch with his predecessor President Trump.

Some contrasts here are ages. Trudeau is in his early 50s and his background showed no indication that he could one day become a nat'l leader in Canada. He's also the son of a Canadian Prime Minister in the late Pierre Trudeau. He had talent that led him to becoming not only the leader of Canada's Liberal Party it also led him to the office of Prime Minister, Canada's head of gov't.

Biden on the other hand is aged 81, the oldest President ever elected. He's spent most of his life in politics being elected to the US Senate aged 30 in 1972. He was Vice President under Obama from 2009 - 2017. Then he runs for President in 2020 in a chaotic year and after two other earlier tries he finally succeeds. Whether I like it or not...

Of course I may also add it's debatable if he has the same talents that Justin Trudeau has as a politician. Although we may cringe at Trudeau's attempts to connect with the youth.

Sorry for my longwinded response to this video however time will tell the results of the 2024 race and certainly we will see what happens in Canada once election season commences there as well.

Mr. Beat: The most AVERAGE person to become President

 

[VIDEO] This video just dropped on Monday and I forgot about the 33rd President Harry S. Truman. In this most recent video President Truman's life was chronicled from childhood, adulthood, his military service, and then his political career.

Truman is well known for being the first person and only person so far to order the use of nuclear weapons (the A-Bombs used on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima & Nagasaki). He was the first President of the Cold War a mostly geopolitical conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States.

One thing that's striking about President Truman is that his highest education was only a high school diploma, yet in spite of his very humble beginnings became leader of the free world. He was Vice President to another well known President in Franklin D. Roosevelt who had already served over 12 years in office before his death and somehow still rose the occasion.

He led a very ordinary life and his connections to a Midwestern political machine - the Pendergast machine out of Kansas City, Missouri enabled Truman to embark on a course that led him unexpectedly to the Presidency.  I'd say the true American success story he didn't tick off some boxes that would lead to such a high position primarily he was wealthy or he attended an Ivy League school. He was never on course to make it to high places at a later point in his life. However, it happened and he was in the right place at the right time.

Is he just the most average person to become President? Or was he just able to tap into the experiences of the average voter? From the farmer to the small business owner to the military veteran. Just everyday folks doing everyday things. I often look at his background and where he came from, but then politics is about connecting with the voter also. Truman knew how to do that and some may say we're still living in his world today! 

J.J. McCullough: 26 portraits of Richard Nixon

 

[VIDEO] Richard Nixon was the 36th President from 1969 to 1974. 50 years ago as of August 2024 he resigned the Presidency in disgrace as a result of the Watergate scandal which he had become embroiled in. 

J.J. does view him as a corrupt figure. However, he looks at the caricatures of him over his political career. Of course with most political cartoons they exaggerate certain aspects of his person and then hits him on the issues of the day. He was known as an aggressive young Republican and was portrayed as an angry man. He had a prominent nose and as a result of Watergate was portrayed as a pinocchio nose.

I would say he was a decent president and it's sad that Watergate - which I don't believe he really had any role in - proved to be his ultimate downfall. He had some decent foreign policy accomplishments - Vietnam proved to be a problem for him. His domestic policy well he took America off the gold standard and the economy of the early 1970s wasn't that great.

However, just as J.J. views him as a corrupt figure in general historians seem to list him as one of the worst Presidents in US history.

SCOTUS ruled that student loan forgiveness is dead

 If you were looking forward to this it's over, if nothing else the Biden Administration needs to come up with a new plan. From the New York Post.

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Biden’s controversial program to forgive student loan debt for roughly 40 million borrowers exceeded his executive authority.

On the last day before the high court’s summer recess, the six conservative justices ruled the $400 billion plan could not use an earlier 2003 law meant to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to implement the program.

The other three liberal justices dissented against the ruling.

Biden last August announced his student loan forgiveness plan, which aimed to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for certain borrowers.

But the program was met with fierce resistance from many GOP lawmakers who questioned its legality.

If you borrowed federal student loans you could get up to $10,000 forgiven if you meet certain income guidelines. You could also get up to $20,000 if you used Pell Grants to attend a university.

h/t Newsalert

If you want to read the opinion itself, I found it via SCOTUSBlog.

Politico: Supreme Court agrees to decide fate of Biden’s student debt relief

 If you're still concerned about the Biden admin's student debt relief which got suspended due to court challenges, the Supreme Court will resolve this at some point. Via Politico:

The court on Thursday deferred a ruling on the administration’s emergency request to immediately reinstate its debt relief program. Instead, the court said, the justices will hear arguments on the matter next year.

The case will “be argued in the February 2023 argument session,” the court said in a one-page order. No justice noted any dissent to the court’s decision not to immediately grant the Biden administration’s application to move forward with the debt relief program now.

Putting the case on the docket for the current court term means a decision is likely by June, if not earlier.

The Supreme Court’s decision to fast-track arguments about the legality of Biden’s debt relief plan comes just several months after he first announced it in August following months of pressure from progressives. Conservative groups and Republican state officials have filed a wave of legal challenges to stop Biden’s debt relief.

Meanwhile, get those loans paid off. Uncle Sam isn't coming to your rescue.

Oh yeah, bear in mind the Biden admin has again put federal student loan payments on pause through June 2023.

Also from Politico:

The Supreme Court said it would address two questions: whether the Republican attorneys general have standing to bring the case in the first place and “whether the plan exceeds the Secretary’s statutory authority or is arbitrary and capricious.”

President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan blocked

 

[VIDEO] A federal judge in Texas blocked Biden's recent student loan forgiveness plan because it was said to be beyond the authority of the US Dept. of Education and the federal gov't executive branch. Also in a separate case filed in St. Louis, Missouri it only put on hold the execution of Pres. Biden's student loan forgiveness although those who wished to apply still could.

As of now student loan forgiveness applications are currently on hold.

Forbes: Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Survives Multiple Court Challenges — But Legal Battles Continue

 Sorry I have been slow about this, however, there was bound to be legal challenges to the Biden admin's proposed student loan forgiveness program.

Forbes: 

Ramsey: Reaction to student loan forgiveness

 

[VIDEO] I've been sharing videos of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey over the course of the last few weeks. Ramsey and Rachel Cruze are talking about yesterday's news with regards to Biden's action on student loan forgiveness. I knew he'd have something to say.

Ramsey's deal is he wants individuals to be debt free so he might be happy in those cases. However, he goes into a rant about how this is all about politics. He might also mention the debt and how you and your grandchildren will continue to pay for this debt.

Of course let's add this in the Biden-Harris admin is a failed economic presidency!

CNBC: Pres. Biden cancels $10K of student loan debt for most borrowers

 Well it's not total relief, but how many will argue with this. I won't.

Via CNBC:

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, fulfilling a campaign pledge and delivering financial relief to millions of Americans.

Biden will cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants, he also said in a tweet Wednesday.

The relief will be limited to Americans earning under $125,000 per year, or $250,000 for married couples or heads of households. The relief is also capped at the amount of a borrower’s outstanding eligible debt, per the Education Department.

The president will also extend the payment pause on most federal student loans “one final time” through Dec. 31, 2022, according to the tweet.

The tweet in question.

Inauguration Day

UPDATE 10:36 PM - I had to change the location of watching Obama's first inaugural to Douglass Hall - this is where Morehouse students would go and study. It would bother me to leave that minor detail in this post.

Today Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th P.O.T.U.S. and this election was very contentious and sadly culminated in the riots that took place at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. We're still in unprecedented times with this pandemic and now we have a new chief of state to move us forward once again.

It causes me to remember another historic occasion which was the election of his former boss the 44th P.O.T.U.S Barack Obama. I was still at Morehouse College at the time and watched the inauguration on TV in Mays Douglass Hall at the time. I was a bit older than many of the students there and perhaps a bit more jaded.

Morehouse

Well it wasn't lost upon me that America had just elected an African-American as President a man of Kenyan descent a man who formerly represented in the IL General Assembly a large swath of an urban area from the skyscrapers of downtown to largely Black neighborhoods. It wasn't lost upon me that many of the young people who were in school at the time in the Atlanta University Center were celebrating the election of someone who looked like them as our Chief of State. It also wasn't lost upon me that there were unprecedented times with the financial meltdown back then.

And I felt even more jaded when an older lady who worked at Mays Douglass Hall made us stand up as Obama took the oath of office as she wanted us to give President Obama his due respect. Later when I graduated then Morehouse President Robert Franklin made sure to note to us that we graduated with a P.O.T.U.S. who looked like us.

And today and the lead up the atmosphere is different. The grounds around the U.S. Capitol was surrounded by a heavy presence of not only police but National Guard troops from around the country. I wonder what the polls say about those voters who think there was fraud - though largely unproven - in the 2020 election. I wonder what the polls say about the uncertainty of what the new President will bring to the table for the next four years.

I had those same questions about Obama, for my tastes he was never an executive. He served barely four years as a U.S. Senator and I don't know of any committees he's chaired. Obama was without a doubt a charismatic leader with great oratory, but in my mind I had little idea what he could bring to the table. 

However back in 2009 and up to now I always hope for the best. [VIDEO]

If you want to know why I included My Country tis of Thee, this is the anthem we sung before assemblies when I was in grammar school.

Oh and a trip to the U.S. Capitol needs to be featured on The Sixth Ward YouTube channel. Hmmmm. 🤔

CNBC: Why The Electoral College Exists

[VIDEO] The electoral college is in the U.S. Constitution. Each state has x amount of electoral votes based on the number of representatives to the US House of Representatives and the two senators to the US Senate. Illinois currently has 20 electoral votes and every 10 years per the US Census (it's that time now in 2020) the number of seats in the House of Representatives could change.

Due to population changes in Illinois it's possible our electoral vote count will go down to 19 or more. It's often in the news that the population of this state is declining and especially downstate is losing population. If people are moving to Chicagoland it may not offset the number of people who are leaving Illinois.

It must be noted that the electoral college is a controversial subject. In the 2016 election, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. He won the majority of electoral votes, however, his Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Granted while President Trump is a public figure where there's hardly any in between as far as like or dislike this had been one controversy surrounding him.

The quirk of electing a President on Election Day in November is that while we make our choices for that office we're really electing a slate of electors. These electors are in state capitols throughout the nation to formally cast their votes for President. In most states and definitely Illinois if you win that state's popular votes you will win that state's electoral votes. Some states decides electoral votes according to a congressional district. Occasionally we do have what we call faithless electors who decide that they don't want to vote for their pledged presidential candidate.

Here's the funny thing about the electoral college, electors can actually vote for who they want to vote for. It's their job to elect the President, never mind the convention of pledging your vote as part of a slate to a particular candidate according to the wishes of the voters.

Needless to say the debate regarding the electoral college has led to calls for its abolition.

Impeachment over

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have not followed this as consistently as I should've, however, the result of this wasn't exactly in doubt. No more than the confusion that occurred in Monday's Iowa Caucuses.

So this happened yesterday...

The Senate voted Wednesday to acquit President Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, ending a historic Senate trial that was centered on his conduct toward Ukraine but that did not include live witnesses or new documents.

One Republican — Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah — crossed party lines to join Democrats in voting to convict Trump on the first charge, abuse of power.

Trump stonewalled the House impeachment probe, blocking witnesses and denying documents. He stands as the third president to be impeached.

The acquittal follows a State of the Union address Tuesday night in which Trump pointed to the strong economy as vindication as he sought to move on from impeachment. The speech ended with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tearing up a copy of Trump’s prepared remarks.

The crux of the case against Trump is the allegation that he withheld military aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was vice president.

It's no surprise that there are many in Washington, DC who doesn't like President Donald Trump. He's unlike anyone else who became President in recently memory. I'm glad the impeachment vote resulted in acquittal and we can get on with the business of this country.

With that said, I know many were unhappy with the results of an election that took place just about four years ago. Remember that this year in 2020, we're going through an election season that started in Iowa. By the summer we'll know who will be the Democrat nominee for President.

Still, we do have an election this year. I would encourage you to pick a candidate and if you got people in other states encourage them to vote for the candidate of your choice. If you don't like our current President, we have the opportunity to fix that later this year! 

Trump and county sending help for violence in Chicago

President Trump

Lost in all the tweets of personal attacks on cable network media personalities and a video which portrays the President at a past WWF Wrestlemania attacking someone who represents CNN (whose logo you see in place of their face - probably WWF owner Vince McMahon) was a mention of federal help being sent to Chicago.

Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

Bear in mind earlier this year he wrote this tweet

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

It appears the President of the United States is actually fulfilling that initial promise:

Twenty federal gun agents have been assigned to Chicago to join a newly formed task force aimed at cutting the flow of illegal guns into the city and cracking down on people repeatedly arrested on gun charges.

Hours after the Chicago police department sent out a news release about the task force, President Donald Trump claimed credit for sending in the agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
...
The roughly 40-person strike force, which consists of Chicago police officers, ATF agents and Illinois State Police, will be working on unsolved shootings and gun-related homicides and combating illegal gun trafficking, officials said Friday.

In addition to the federal angle help from the Cook County Sheriff is coming to the south side also announced late last month:

The sheriff's office announced Wednesday that 55 to 60 sheriff's police and staff members would "supplement" the work already done by Chicago police in the Calumet and Gresham police districts.

Sheriff's officers and staff will help with patrol units, special operations, crime suppression tactical teams, evictions and other services.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) asked the sheriff's police to help "to create a safer, healthier environment," according to a news release.

Will additional law enforcement help from the federal government or the sheriff be enough to curb violent crime in the many low-income neighborhoods of Chicago?

BTW, yes the WWF is actually WWE now, however, as a wrestling fan old habits die hard. WWE will always be WWF or World Wrestling Federation to me. The usage of WWF was intentional.

Tribune: Emanuel defends Chicago schools

Just another salvo from Mayor Rahm Emanuel against President Donald Trump as the current President continues to take shots at Chicago. Many of those shots are regarding the gun violence issue. Emanuel also took shots at his old friend Bruce Rauner as he has also made statements against Chicago's schools.

Click the embed tweet below

Emanuel defends Chicago schools after Trump criticism https://t.co/emUVnR765w pic.twitter.com/XtwqFXhRiG

— ChiTrib Clout Street (@ChiTribCloutSt) April 5, 2017

Capitol Fax: New White House website references “thousands of shootings in Chicago”

Now that we have a new administration in Washington, DC we have a new set of priorities. Starting with law and order and the new President has pledged to support our nation's police organizations.

Rich Miller at the CapFax notes the new policy page with regards to law and order. I'll just excerpt what he says regarding our fair city:

The Trump Administration is committed to reducing violent crime. In 2015, homicides increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. There were thousands of shootings in Chicago last year alone.

Our country needs more law enforcement, more community engagement, and more effective policing.

Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter. Our job is to make life more comfortable for parents who want their kids to be able to walk the streets safely. Or the senior citizen waiting for a bus. Or the young child walking home from school.

Supporting law enforcement means supporting our citizens’ ability to protect themselves. We will uphold Americans’ Second Amendment rights at every level of our judicial system.

It has been in the news that the current President Trump had been somewhat boastful about ending the gun violence in some of the gang infested neighborhoods of Chicago. Does anyone think the White House can put an end to the rash of gun violence in this city?