Beltway Insider: Biden Bids Adieu, Trump Nominated, Names Vance VP, Menendez Guilty, Lou Dobbs

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 21 July 2024 10:39; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, has succumbed to pressure to bow out of the 2024 Presidential race and is recovering in isolation, according to his physician, and is expected to make a full recovery.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending July 21, 2024, increased by 1.3% to 38.5% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 0.4% to 56.2% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Biden Tests Positive for Covid

President Biden, while on a campaign stop in Las Vegas, tested positive for COVID-19, and immediately began treatment and isolation according to protocols. His physician has updated the White House daily on his condition. The President, considering his age, should have experienced greater debilitation but have exhibited only slight discomfort and limited symptoms.

Biden Withdraws from Race

President Biden has succumbed to pressure from Senate democrats, most recently West Virginia Senator Joe Machin, to withdraw from the election.

"I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the reminder of my term,” Biden said in a statement," reported The Washington Post.

Donald Trump, Convicted Felon, Nominated by RNC

Former President, and convicted felon, Donald J. Trump, was once again nominated by the Republican Party to face Democrat and incumbent President Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential Election.

Nomination Speech Reveals Same Trump

Republican Party Presidential nominee Donald J Trump took center stage at the Republican National Convention to deliver his acceptance speech. The 92-long minutes was a virtual trip down memory lane to the tune of Trump's Greatest hits. As psychologists explain, memories are often influenced by multiple events, and can, at times, be a mix of old and new information. For the pundits who listened to the former president, his recollections appeared glamorized for the moment, and to bring key swing states and undecided voters into his sphere.

Israel, Gaza and Ukraine

The most obvious issue is Michigan, where the largest immigrant Palestinian population has settled. Trump has made the Israel-Gaza Conflict a campaign strategy, promising the voters he, and he alone, can control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's thought process and his determination to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas.

During the speech, Trump stated, "I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, which would have never happened if I was president, and the war caused by the attack on Israel, which would have never happened if I was president," reported The Washington Post.

With this statement, Trump is attempting to hoodwink voters into believing he can end the Palestinian crisis and the Ukrainian war. For many Americans and the world, especially the European Continent leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin is a dangerous dictator who has larger plans than simply annexing Ukraine, he plans to restore Russia to its Soviet Union status, which means the annexation of 12 other now free European nation-states.

Trump has praised Putin for his position on Ukraine, and on one or more occasions vocally supported the dictator for his politics. Putin went so far as to change the Russian constitution, removing term limits, to achieve his goal of reunification.

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Stop the Steal

For Trump, no greater memory overshadows his campaign than the mass of January 6 supporters chanting "Stop the Steal." Attempting to capitalize and drill down on that vein of political exclusion, he reiterated a variation once again stating the democrats cheated their way to the win and we are not going to let it happen again and with that lit the wick of divisive political rhetoric.

Of course, with the more than 60 lawsuits filed allegedly fraud against the Biden 2020 win, not one case, even with this right-leaning conservative Supreme Court, ever supported that conspiracy theory.

Project 2025/Agenda 47

Although not officially endorsed by the Republican GOP candidate Donald Trump, Project 2025, is a blueprint for a first 100-day document, detailing the immediate changes the Republicans would pressure the president to initiate. The blueprint, which can be seen here is a whole-of-government approach to terminate many, if not all, of the platforms, programs, and progress achieved over the last four years.

"Trump's Agenda 47 platform includes "a ten-point plan to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption" and pledges to achieve what he failed to do in his first term by moving up to 100,000 government positions out of the "Washington swamp,"' Politico.com reported.

Trump Names Ohio Junior Senator J.D. Vance as VP

Republican Presidential nominee Donald J. Trump has chosen Ohio Junior Senator, J.D. Vance, as his 2024 Vice-Presidential running mate, with the expectation that the junior senator will be able to convince the voters of Michigan and Pennsylvania to vote Republican.

Vance, who has served the people of Ohio since 2022, has quickly developed a polarized record on many issues plaguing American society.

One of the most critical for American voters is his position on Second Amendment rights, specifically gun rights. Vance accepted over $500,000 from the National Rifle Association, (NRA), in donations for his 2022 Senate campaign. He has dismissed gun violence as "fake problems." He opposes expanding background checks and red flag laws, even after his running mate was grazed in an assassination attempt.

"Vance has rejected calls for tougher gun laws and dismissed a Democrat-led effort to ban bump stocks, which allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets per minute, as "a huge distraction." In 2022, Vance said he favored abolishing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces federal gun laws," reported The Washington Post.

Former President Donald J. Trump Found Guilty on All Counts

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez Found Guilty

New Jersey Senator Robert "Bob" Menendez was convicted of 16 felony counts of taking bribes, accepting gifts, and acting as a foreign agent while helping to derail criminal investigations and secure lucrative contracts for representatives of the Egyptian government.

"The jury in Manhattan federal court found the once powerful New Jersey lawmaker guilty on all 16 felony counts. They include bribery, extortion, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt from 2018 to 2022," reported The Washington Post.

Menendez has vowed to appeal. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 29, 2024. Colleagues have called on the Senator to abandon his plans to seek re-election.

Coronavirus Totals

The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

For the seven days ending July 21, 2024, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization remained constant at 775,678,432. The total worldwide death toll increased by 1,430 to 7,053,902 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated July 7, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

Election 2024: It's All About The Next President

The 2024 Presidential election will be held in just over four months. The Republican National Convention ended in fanfare with the traditional drop of red balloons and over an exuberant crowd. The world has heard the political promises from the party standard bearers and been introduced to those individuals the party believes are the next generation of Republican leaders.

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However, even after the janitors have swept up the confetti what remains for the voters is a simple question: Should the inevitable occur, which Vice-president choice would you prefer to lead the nation?

The Inevitable, since the literal assassination attempt on Donald Trump, 78, and the figurative attempt on Biden, 81, the inevitable has become the pressing, and only, question that holds any significance in the 2024 Presidential Race.

The American people have been introduced to J.D. Vance, who touts his triumph over circumstances as his golden ticket and it has worked for him in our tell-all society. Granted, the odds of escaping the prison of poverty, and rampant drug addiction are rare, and require constant, dedicated effort, as the vulnerable are always the easy target, however, his triumphs aren't the issue.

Vance, 39, was elected in 2022 and has served the people of Ohio for two years. His record of service to the nation is extremely limited. Should the inevitable occur do the American people want someone with only two years of political service taking over the Oval Office?

The Oval Office is not an on-the-job training learning space. We've seen the results of electing untrained, without political service, leaders to the White House.

Don't be fooled, Vance espouses the Republican doctrine of trampling on the vulnerable to secure his place. His loyalties do not lie with the vulnerable citizens of Ohio, he is a career loyalist and will trample on anyone to conquer whatever demons are driving him.

Before Vance needed Donald Trump to help him win his 2022 election campaign, he followed the rising tide of criticism and was highly critical of the ex-president, "Publicly, he called the Republican presidential candidate an "idiot" and said he was "reprehensible." Privately, he compared him to Adolf Hitler," Reuters reported. When he realized he couldn't win the Senate without him, he flipped and was suddenly effusing with praise for the former president; That is the person voters of America would be electing one who will promise, with all sincerity, to champion your fight only to flip when the time arrives.

It is also important to remember when COVID-19 closed the world down, which party carried the American people through the hard times?

Many believe they know J.D. Vance from the success of his book "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis" which remained on the New York Times Bestseller list for two years. The adapted screenplay was crafted with high points of truth and cinematic value-added.

Much of the original book was lambasted by New York University Economist William Easterly, born in West Virginia and raised in Ohio, as a "Sloppy analysis of collections of people -- coastal elites, flyover America, Muslims, immigrants, people without college degrees, you name it," reported Bloomberg.com.

The inevitable, death and taxes, link us all; And the question of who will lead the nation should the inevitable occur is the single, most important, issue in the 2024 Presidential election.

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Lou Dobbs Dies

Lou Dobbs, a veteran journalist, correspondent, and anchor died this week and ardent supporter of Donald Trump. He was 78.

"His death was confirmed on Thursday on Mr. Dobbs's website and social media accounts after Mr. Trump announced it on the Truth Social platform. No cause of death was given, and where or when he died was not immediately clear. Mr. Dobbs had been absent from "The Great America Show," his podcast on the iHeartRadio network, for several weeks," The New York Times reported.

For more information on President Joe Biden: Whitehouse.gov.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and the International Federation of Journalists.