On September 11, when the President should have been in New York, Pennsylvania, or Washington, D.C., honoring the victims of 9/11 and the many First Responders who, when the planes crashed, ran into and not away from danger, he was a continent away.

We have lost nearly as many First Responders who died from diseases resulting from the toxic environment they encountered when trying to save lives as those killed by the initial crashes and explosions—nearly 5,000 deaths due to three terrorist attacks. Instead, Joe Biden broke tradition and went to Alaska to address some troops with a speech highlighted by an ill-timed joke and an easily debunked lie.

By the end of the day, the anger over the President’s handling of the day boiled over. The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, notified Congress of an agreement between the Administration and the terrorist state of Iran. Under the terms of the deal, Iran and the United States would swap five prisoners, and we would unfreeze $6 Billion of Iranian money that America had seized. The money will be placed into banks under the control of Qatar. The timing of this deal is inappropriate and insulting to the American people.

According to John Kirby, Iran can only use the funds for humanitarian purposes, and Iran will have to satisfy specific requirements to the Qatar government to access the funds. This is where naive comes into play. The Iranian government has already declared the money is theirs, and they will use and spend it on what they want. Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and the Administration know the truth. Still, they do not want to admit they bought the release of five Americans and put a monetary value on every American head. On one of the most solemn days on our calendar, this Administration weakened our national security by buying the freedom of five unjustly incarcerated Americans by one of our most dangerous geopolitical foes. Is it great to have these Americans back home on American soil? Of course, but the timing and details of the deal could not be worse. John Kirby can stand in front of a mediocre group of White House reporters until he is blue in the face, and he will not be able to put a positive spin on this story.

When Kirby was asked about the safety of Americans traveling abroad, he referred them to the State Department website, where foreign countries are coded for their danger level. Iran is designated as a “D” level threat for Dangerous. Unfortunately, with the actions of Joe Biden, stepping outside our Borders (the ones we used to have) is now a danger for every American as we now have a $1 Billion price tag on our heads.

I say the Administration is naive, but I think it is worse than that. I think that Biden is complicit with every enemy nation you can name. Russia, China, Korea, and Iran are all getting favorable treatment from Biden at a time when he should be ratcheting up the pressure. Just like the tax dollars going to Ukraine, keep an eye on that $6 Billion, and you will undoubtedly see a check drawn against it and deposited into one of Biden’s twenty LLC accounts. This man and his family has to go down, and I hope, maybe blind faith, that this impeachment inquiry is the first step in the process

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Pivotal in remaining a strong and credible party, you need to have the trust of your constituents. Without that trust within the bounds of the law, both the individual and the collective will be stifled, resulting in an enterprise unworthy of the name.

The Republican Party needs to rejuvenate its support base and overall credibility. Republican Party is on life support as it is today. It is no longer a mystery; the Republican Party has lost touch with its constituents and the American people. They don’t connect and don’t care. For example, the US Senate is not serving the intended role of protecting the individual states’ autonomy and authority. Senators view themselves as part of the national government, not as a defender of the state’s interest and sovereignty.

What do you think can be done? First and foremost, we must have term limits. Vital to the effort’s success is abandoning old suspicions, parochial thinking, and scheming for special privileges for any individual or group. Goodwill and work for the common good are required of all. This new beginning is a paradigm shift from the destructive ways of the past. There is much to be gained by all when justice and equity are not exclusive to the few. Justice in all its forms, as is the case with freedom, must be the guiding principle of our Republican Party. They don’t fight; they cave in.

This Party can’t even agree on a single bill to pass. A lack of unity and leadership has weakened this Party. Despite many promises to the American people, Obamacare is still alive and well. “For American voters expecting their Republican-dominated House and Senate and the White House to honor their years of repeal promises and repeal Obamacare. In a move that’s no surprise to anyone, the late John McCain voted against the embarrassingly named ‘Skinny Repeal,’ voted against his Party (or is it his Party?), and voted to keep Obamacare going.

Many people can no longer differentiate between the Democrats and the Republicans. Not to mention, this Party ultimately betrayed the American people during the Obama administration. They just watched and did nothing.

According to Rasmussen Reports, Republican voters are far more likely than Democrats to say their party bosses are out of touch with the voter base. Seventy-three percent of Republicans think their party leaders are out of step with the rank-and-file, the survey shows.

Republican Party has become one of the rich, for the rich, and has lost touch with people. The Party has lost its ability to govern despite having the majority in the House and Senate numerous times and Republican President. They have their agenda.

Time is of the essence; either do your job for which you were elected or resign so that we can have new blood injected into that Party. You can no longer function.

The post The Republican Party Is on Life Support appeared first on Granite Grok.

September is living up to its reputation as the peak month for Hurricanes. Storms are pouring off the west coast of Africa in rapid succession, Lee being the latest Hurricane, followed by TD 15, which is projected to be CAT3 when it reaches the Sargasso Sea in a few days.

Here is Tropical Depression 15, isolated from the radar map above. It currently has sustained winds of  35 mph, according to NOAA.

The track looks similar to Lee but a bit further out. Lee ran straight toward Georgia, then the dogleg right, and drifted east. Maine might have avoided the heavy rain if it had more time to sail further east.

This tropical depression (15) is pointed right at Washington DC, which, if I recall the commenters from a previous Hurricane Lee post, is where some readers thought the storm needed to land. I’m sure a few of them are saying, “Stay on target,” but what are the odds it does what Lee did with a slightly more north and easterly swing? Good to excellent. Between when I started this post and this morning, the projection did that exact thing.

There’s not much chance of it getting anywhere near us, but to NOAA’s credit, this year’s forecast will be much closer than the 2022 projections, which were just lousy. But how close will it have to wait until November?

Until then, it’s very active, and we’ll try to keep track of these things as they pile up in the Northern Atlantic and hope most of them are like Margot, who is still twirling about the middle of the ocean as a Tropical storm.

The post As Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Lee Finishes Its “Drive-By,” Who’s Next? appeared first on Granite Grok.