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Hi Doc Sarvis

The US should never have been an empire in the first place. The American people fought off an empire to become an independent republic. As a congressman from Illinois in 1846, Abraham Lincoln kept questioning the warmongers who pushed for war against Mexico. He would say: "Show me the spot on the map where Mexican forces went into US territory." The newspapers began calling him "Spotty Lincoln."

As a militiaman mustered into service to fight the indigenous tribes, he was elected commander and his unit apparently never engaged the enemy during months of patrols-- A. Lincoln had no blood on his hands.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln did not invade Canada and he had pretext to do so. Confederates ran an espionage and sabotage ring out of Quebec and their envoys worked out of Ontario. Raids were conducted into the northern states and a plot to burn down Manhattan emanated from Confederates in Canada. SECWAR William Seward and the cabinet were all made aware of these machinations.

Protests from all quarters couldn't stop the Spanish-American War (1898) and within four months the US became an empire.

Protests against entering the First World War initially worked, but failed.

"I don't want my son dying in some far away place for some far away reason."

The US would occupy the German Rhineland until 1923 while sending a brigade to help the White Russians and Czech Legion against the Bolsheviks.

Pacification against the Moros and resistance forces in the Philippines continued until the Imperial Japanese Army kicked us out in 1042: "I shall return."

The US wins the Second World War, establishes Bretton Woods, the Five Eyes Intelligence alliance, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM, USPACOM, USSOUTHCOM, and then sacrifices our boys "in a far away place for a far away reason" called Vietnam. Then Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Iran.

While our "empire" rapidly declined and our population pauperized under Republican Party malfeasant governance, the US amassed the most billionaires in history and Israel recorded the highest per capita number of billionaires on the planet.

Endnote: 'Twas a northern oligarch named Horace Greeley who funded CSA Jefferson Davis' post-Civil War bond granting him freedom. Jefferson Davis would outlive A. Lincoln by 20 years or so.

Read A. Lincoln's prophetic words below:


__________
2paragraphs.com - Ex-GOP Congressman Says "Something Sinister" Is Going On Between Trump and Putin

|------- Adam Kinzinger said: "Trump, after having a 90 min phone call with Putin, puts out a truth social that he is considering withdrawing all troops from Germany. Something sinister is going on between them. It's time for 'concerned' Republicans to speak out."
-------|

According to AP: "... U.S. defense official... said the branches of the U.S. military didn't have prior knowledge of the decision [announced on Truth Social] to draw down the 5,000 troops and learned about it 'in real time.' " ...

.

More of recent Trum/Putin and their attempts to rehab Putin with the US and/or the West (Reverse Kissinger):

1. Trump's State Dept is preparing to officially invite Putin to G20 summit in Miami (though Trump coyly said he wants "to invite Putin but doubts he will come" while Putin's FM coyly said "G20 is very important").

2. There were plans for Putin's proposal inviting Trump to Russia's WWII Victory Day parade on May 9 as a sign and possible announcement of thawing relations between US and Russia, as well as a one-day unilateral "ceasefire" with Ukraine, but due to military shortages and fears of UA drone attacks, both Moscow's annual military parade and the guest list (that had 29 heads of state last year including China's Xi and Brazil's Lula, but conspicuously absent India's Modi), were "downsized" and it became obvious that inviting Trump would not a good look at this time, so it was scrapped during their 90-minute conversation.

Victory Day is on of the most important holidays in Russia, and Putin tied the war in Ukraine to the Soviet Union's (not Allies) victory over Nazi Germany, as part of a broader historical struggle against "Nazism."

As Europe and Asia (Japan, Korea etc.) are taking more active financial and military role in Ukraine's defense, along with advanced homegrown industry (UA's Sting interceptor drones took down over 32,000 Russian drones in March alone), they look visibly less and less to the US (Trump) for solutions... and that's not good long term for the US:
kyivindependent.com - How Zelensky ran out of patience with Trump " and what it means for US-Ukraine relations - 2026-04-30

|------- In just two months, President Volodymyr Zelensky shifted from being the first world leader to back a U.S. military operation in the Middle East to openly criticizing Washington's foreign policy. ...

... In Ukrainian, there is a phrase often translated as "nerves of steel," and many in Kyiv use it when describing Zelensky's approach to dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump.

For months, that approach meant restraint. ... But recent months have shown a noticeable shift. ...

"It's disrespectful to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it's just disrespectful," he said on April 20.

Zelensky also criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance for praising the halt of American military aid to Ukraine, saying the stance benefits Russia and weakens the United States. ...
-------|

TrumPutin is actively pursuing "Russia First" and "America Alone" policies. No one cares [to guess] what he thinks anymore, because he himself doesn't know and just keyfabes it day-to-day, so as much as possible they cut him (and the US) out of the loop on foreign and trade relationships.

He doesn't have "all the cards" but he has quite enough of them to seriously damage the US for a long time.
__________

Almost forgot: Iranian missiles - understandingwar.org

Gosh, it's almost as if they put some thought into this.

These U.S. industries can't work without illegal immigrants (2019)
www.cbsnews.com

... The nation's attention is once again focused on the southern border, where President Trump claims the U.S. is facing a "crisis" over illegal immigration.

Sometimes forgotten as the nation focuses attention on migrants currently trying to cross the border is that millions of undocumented immigrants continue to live in the U.S. " and most of them work.

And in fact, these workers play vital roles in the U.S. economy, erecting American buildings, picking American apples and grapes, and taking care of American babies. Oh, and paying American taxes.

My work as the director of the Cornell Farmworker Program involves meeting with undocumented workers in New York, and the farmers who employ them. Here's a snapshot of who they are, where they work " and why Americans should care about them.

A snapshot of who they are

Pew Research Center estimates that about 11.3 million people are currently living in the U.S. without authorization, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. More than half come from Mexico, and about 15 percent come from other parts Latin America.

About 8 million of them have jobs, making up 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, figures that have remained more or less steady for the past decade.

Geographically, these unauthorized workers are spread throughout the U.S. but are unsurprisingly most concentrated in border states like California and Texas, where they make up about 9 percent of both states' workforces, while in Nevada, their share is over 10 percent.

Their representation in particular industries is even more pronounced, and the Department of Agriculture estimates that about half of the nation's farmworkers are unauthorized, while 15 percent of those in construction lack papers -- more than the share of legal immigrants in either industry. In the service sector, which would include jobs such as fast food and domestic help, the figure is about 9 percent. ...


Airlines scramble to help stranded Spirit passengers after budget carrier collapses
www.reuters.com

... Major airlines and the U.S. government scrambled to help stranded passengers and employees after bankrupt discount carrier Spirit Airlines (FLYYQ.PK), opens new tab ceased operations on Saturday, the industry's first casualty linked to the Iran war. ...

United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab , Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab, JetBlue (JBLU.O), opens new tab and Southwest (LUV.N), opens new tab are all capping ticket prices for Spirit customers who now need to rebook canceled flights and customers must provide a Spirit flight confirmation number to qualify. Rival airlines are also offering free seats to help Spirit employees get home. ...


Trump says he won't sign GOP's compromise immigration bill (2018)
thehill.com

... President Trump on Friday said that he would not sign the House GOP's compromise immigration bill, delivering a major blow to Republican leadership's plans.

"I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one," Trump said on "Fox & Friends" during an impromptu interview on the White House lawn. "I need a bill that gives this country tremendous border security. I have to have that."

GOP leaders reached an agreement to hold two votes next week on a pair of immigration bills including a compromise immigration bill, which is the product of weeks of negotiations between moderate Republicans and conservatives, and a more hard-line immigration measure from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.).

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) earlier in the week said that Trump was excited about the compromise bill and seemed to be on board with the plan, which sticks to the four main "pillars" outlined by the White House.

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, a hard-liner on immigration, told members of the Republican Study Committee earlier this week that the Trump White House expects to support both immigration bills coming to the House floor next week. ...


More from the article ...

... Kathleen Naranjo was almost eight years into paying off her portion of $50,000 in student loans when a federal appeals court last month ended one of the most affordable loan repayment plans in history. That Biden administration-era plan had reduced her monthly payments to $92 and she was working toward the day when the remaining balance would be forgiven after 10 years of payments doing public service as a nurse.

Now amid soaring gas and food prices, Ms. Naranjo is enrolling in her next best option. Her monthly payment will triple, scrambling her personal finances at a moment when she is hunting for her first house.

"That's the only way that I can really do it, otherwise I'm going to be paying this loan until I die," she says.

More than 7 million borrowers who had been enrolled in the income-based Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan like Ms. Naranjo have been told that beginning July 1, they will have 90 days to get into a new loan repayment plan or be routed into one by the government.

The SAVE plan arrived in 2023 as millions of student borrowers were emerging from a three-year pause in payments during the pandemic. It was meant to chip away at the now more than $1.8 trillion in total student debt held by borrowers across the country by tying payments to income.

The plan lowered payments to $0 for many of the lowest earners -- preventing unpaid interest from accumulating and offering earlier loan forgiveness.

But many critics charged that American taxpayers were being saddled with debt. Republican-governed states challenged the executive action and ultimately the courts stopped it because Congress had not approved it. ...




@#34 ... If your answer to either of these questions is "no" then you are the racist" ...

Really?

Do you actually think that a Southern White Nationalist will properly represent non-white Constituents?

If so, why do Republicans seem to be going through great lengths to suppress the voting power of Black voters?

U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down North Carolina's Voter ID Law (2016)
www.npr.org

...The appeals court noted that the North Carolina Legislature "requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices" -- then, data in hand, "enacted legislation that restricted voting and registration in five different ways, all of which disproportionately affected African Americans."

The changes to the voting process "target African Americans with almost surgical precision," the circuit court wrote, and "impose cures for problems that did not exist."

The appeals court suggested that the motivation was fundamentally political -- a Republican legislature attempting to secure its power by blocking votes from a population likely to vote for Democrats....

[emphasis mine]

Georgia's GOP House Speaker says vote-by-mail system would be 'devastating to Republicans' (April 2020)
thehill.com

..."... a multitude of reasons why vote by mail in my view is not acceptable," [Georgia state House Speaker David] Ralston went on, before adding "the president said it best, this will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia." ...

"The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you ever agreed to, you would never have a Republican elected in this country again," Pres Trump said...




And, for the record ...

President Trump Job Approval - Inflation
www.realclearpolling.com

...
RCP Average 3/30 - 4/28
Approve: 29.1
Disapprove: 67.9
Spread : -38.8
...

Oh, that ain't good ...


I was in Louisville, KY for the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby. The US Post Office even issued a commemorative stamp for the occasion.

I will say that the city of Louisville goes crazy for the Derby.

I saw residents selling parking places in their driveway for multiple hundreds of dollars, so that the out-of-state participants could park their cars.

OK, maybe because it was the 100th anniversary of the Derby that occurred.

But friggin' wow. The city of Louisville went crazy back then ...


1974 Kentucky Derby
en.wikipedia.org

... he 1974 Kentucky Derby was the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 4, 1974,[1][2] with 163,628 people in attendance.[3] The 1974 Kentucky Derby holds the title of the second-largest crowd in the history of U.S. Thoroughbred racing. [4] The 1974 running featured the largest field size in Kentucky Derby History with 23 starters. [5] ...


Verve Pipe - The Freshmen (1997)
www.youtube.com

(wish there were an HD version available ....)

Trump says he is reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war
www.politico.com
... President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war.

"I'll let you know about it later," he said before boarding Air Force One, adding that "they're going to give me the exact wording now." ...

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