I want to commend TNH for the reporting on the crucial presidential election and the “Astonishing Victory” of President-Elect Trump. All the listed reasons as reported were indeed astonishing, but on further review the historical pattern of the incumbent Vice President failing to gain the majority support to become President is almost improbable. Case in point: The last incumbent VP to be voted into office was the elder Bush vs. Dukakis in 1988 – good luck to see if Vance has a chance in 2028.
George Bush was the VP for very popular President Reagan who brought down the wall – to end The Cold War of many years when Gorbachev was the leader during the dissolution of the USSR.
VP Harris had two strikes against her when she took on the campaign – way too late in the summer of 2024 – no VP on both sides of the aisle has won the presidency since 1988! The cycle runs a similar pattern every four years and the margins are often very slim, seen this year in the contests in the seven swing states. They seem to flip every four years. Another critical mistake, in my opinion was that Harris chose her running mate Tim Waltz from a ‘blue’ state, Minnesota. There is nothing wrong with Waltz except she needed a moderate from a swing state to balance the ticket, like-Sen. Kelley from Arizona or Gov. Shapiro from Pennsylvania or former United States Representative Charly Crist from Florida.
One other point which is of consequence, is that perhaps, the American public voted against itself? This has transpired in the past, as it did in the election of 1972, when Pres. Nixon/VP Agnew defeated McGovern/Shriver by a landslide. Nixon won 48 states, a huge mandate! Regrettably, the American public was fooled in their support of the President Elect and VP since both turned out to be crooks! Within a year, Agnew resigned for taking bribes as Governor of Maryland and the following year in August of 1974, Nixon resigned for his coverup in the Watergate Scandal. Secretary of State Kissinger took over foreign policy and dismantled Hellenic Power and its sphere of influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, and today 50 years later we have a mess due to the invasion of Cyprus by USA arms!
Also, I want to commend TNH on the coverage and reporting by Christopher Tripoulas and Andy Dabilis on the failure and denial of Germany’s responsibility to pay World War II reparations to the Greek Nation. This predicament is a huge tragic injustice, obscuring the atrocities that Germany committed during WWII. My town Domvraina Thivon, Boeotia was destroyed on August 29, 1943, on my parents’ wedding day. I was born six years later in the rubble and horrific conditions from this devastating war. The village of Distomo, not too far away, was decimated, about a year later, on June 10, 1944. Today, we are the ‘Last of The Mohicans’, the last generation. It is the most appropriate time to proceed without hesitation. The national directive should be that if the Germans do not pay for the damages due, Greek Parliament must declare that tariffs be imposed ASAP on German products and services: Mercedes, BMW, VW, Opel, Lufthansa etc. Please, my fellow Hellenes and Philhellenes, this is an urgent, honorable cause and a duty for our Hellenic National Mission to rebuild our infrastructure that needs to be upgraded and strengthened, and brought up to speed for the next generation – to fortify the economy.
Thank you TNH, keep up the good work!
Bill (Vassilis) G. Tourikis resides in Anacortes, WA.