Lindsey Graham Of South Carolina

Ron DeSantis Comes Out As Neville Chamberlain, Divides Republicans On Foreign Policy Toward Vladimir Putin

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who clearly will be announcing for President in the near future, has come out clearly against aid to Ukraine, seeing the Russia-Ukraine War as not an issue of national security for the United States.

In that regard, he is acting like Donald Trump!

In so doing, DeSantis and Trump are coming out as Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister who made a deal with Adolf Hitler to give up half of Czechoslovakia in 1938 (the Munich Conference), thinking it would satisfy Hitler’s territorial demands, which was instead appeasement of a dictator.

The issue of Ukraine has divided the Republican members of the US Senate, including:

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Mitt Romney of Utah
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
John Cornyn of Texas
John Thune of South Dakota
Marco Rubio of Florida
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
Roger Wicker of Mississippi
John Kennedy of Louisiana

And there are others in the Senate who have not spoken publicly who would take the same stand, being critical of both DeSantis and Trump on Ukraine.

There are also a few House Republicans, the so called “moderates”, who would join the Senate Republicans who are in opposition.

So a major battle for the soul of the party is in process!

With The Entrance Of Nikki Haley, The GOP Presidential Race Begins!

Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is about to enter the Republican Presidential race, being the first announced candidate challenging former President Donald Trump.

Haley had said in the past that she would not run if Trump ran, but lately, she has made it clear that she is running against her former “boss”, who has said Haley is an example of an ‘overly ambitious” individual, clearly an example of misogyny.

Being “overly ambitious” has not been used against male contenders for the Presidency, and is just another example of Trump’s utilization of personal attacks on an obscene level.

If Haley was a white man, she would have a reasonable chance in the upcoming Presidential race, but being a woman of color with parents born in India, is not a plus in the Republican Party.

And Haley runs, knowing that South Carolina’s governor Henry McMaster, and Senator Lindsey Graham have already endorsed Donald Trump.

And the other South Carolina Senator, Tim Scott, who is African American, and originally was appointed by Haley when she was Governor ten years ago to fill a Senate vacancy, is also actively planning a Presidential race on his own.

This will certainly be an interesting early race in the battle for the Republican Presidential nomination!

South Carolina Could Be Battleground For Republican Presidential Nomination In 2024!

Donald Trump made a first Presidential campaign swing in South Carolina last weekend, supported by Republican Governor Henry McMaster and Senator Lindsey Graham.

But there are two South Carolinians who are considering running for the Republican Presidential nomination, and could make South Carolina a battleground in the Presidential race.

Former Governor Nikki Haley, who was UN Ambassador under Trump, seems ready to announce her candidacy as the first challenger to Donald Trump.

And African American Senator Tim Scott is also testing the waters. He is only the fourth Republican African American Senator, and the only one out of a total of eleven African American senators to have also served in the House of Representatives.

So this could be a very interesting scenario for the Spring of 2024.

Interestingly, Haley appointed Scott to a US Senate vacancy in 2013, but now they may be rivals for the nomination.

If either Haley, whose parents are from India, or Scott were to be the Republican nominee for President, it would be the first example of a woman, an Asian-American, or African American on the Republican side of the Presidential race.

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

If Herschel Walker Was To Win In Georgia, The Senate Would Be Degraded!

Herschel Walker has proven to be totally mentally damaged, probably by his football career decades ago, and probably leading a dissolute life including drugs.

Walker is an embarrassment as a Senate candidate in Georgia, and were he to win, the US Senate would be degraded dramatically.

He does not even work hard at his campaign, so he is asking Georgians to elect him because he was a football star in the 1980s, totally preposterous.

Donald Trump has lost on other endorsements of candidates, and Walker needs to lose and be forgotten, while Senator Raphael Warnock is a distinguished Senator and pastor, high quality, and the competition is between night and day.

We have enough disgraceful Republicans in the Senate, but at least, they have signs of intelligence and knowledge and ability, while Walker is a joke of a candidate!

If he needs Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz to vouch for Herschel Walker, while he mumbles unintelligible utterances, we have reached a true low point, and the dignity of the US Senate would be degraded ever further, if by some fluke, he wins over Raphael Warnock!

Will Women Decide The Abortion Controversy In The Midterm Elections Of 2022?

A major question facing the future of women in American society is whether they will vote in sufficient numbers to decide the balance of power in the upcoming Midterm Elections of 2022.

Women, as with any defined group, of course are divided, but the number of women registering to vote has skyrocketed, and one would think that would favor action on preserving abortion rights taken away by the US Supreme Court in late June.

A key factor in the fight for Congress is to prevent the concept of a national abortion ban, as promoted by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and supported by many other Republicans.

This potential national abortion ban can only come about if the Republicans win substantial control of both houses of Congress, so the fight for the US Senate is of massive importance, for this and many other reasons.

On the state level, the battle for election of Governors who will veto any action by state legislatures on abortion is also crucial.

As it is, the percentage of women voting has been higher than men in every Presidential and midterm election cycle since 1984.

No wonder some right wing extremists would wish for the 19th Amendment, women’s right to vote, being added to the Constitution in 1920, to be repealed!

Republican Party Clearly On “Suicide Mission” On Abortion, Entitlements, And Donald Trump!

With eight weeks until the Midterm Elections of 2022, it now seems clear that the Republican Party is on a “suicide mission”, and will likely, hopefully, suffer massive losses and be repudiated by voters.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is now promoting a national abortion ban, at a time when massive numbers of new voters, the vast majority females, are registering to vote to save their basic right to control their own bodies and their futures.

Also, the proposal of Senator Rick Scott of Florida to move toward a five year window for Social Security and Medicare, with the aim of ending these programs from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, is extremely alarming, after nealy 90 and 60 years duration of these social programs that millions of Americans depend on!

And the refusal of almost all Republicans to hold Donald Trump accountable for his taking of national security documents to Mar A Lago, and covering it up continuously, makes the Republican Party look as a lawless party, against basic accountability for his promotion of the downfall of American democracy and the rule of law!

If the Republican Party somehow overcomes these massive deficits, it will be clear that the majority of voting Americans have lost their minds, and are willing to go down the road of Fascist Authoritarianism!

The Republican Party has become a party outside the mainstream of American politics and history, and must be smashed to have a chance to revive as a normal, mainstream political party, the aim of former Republicans who have formed the Lincoln Project to overcome the tragedy the party has become!

Joe Biden Promotes Law And Order And Democracy, While Donald Trump Promotes Q’Anon Conspiracy Theories And Violence!

Yesterday, in Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden promoted law and order and democracy, defending the FBI and law enforcement in general, against the “MAGA” Republicans who, led by Donald Trump in his rant yesterday on his social media platform, advocated crazy Q-Anon conspiracy theories, inciting violence and bloodshed!

Biden called for making stricter gun laws to prevent the kind of mass bloodshed that has become a major crisis in America, and came out for promoting abortion rights, rather than the “MAGA” Republican move to outlaw all abortions, no matter what the circumstances, being pushed by the Far Right extremists!

Joe Biden represents stability and common sense, while Donald Trump clearly is panicking as the investigation of his taking national security documents to Mar A Lago, and refusing to return them expeditiously, indicates that he has been engaging in illegal, criminal activities, which is likely to lead to his indictment.

For South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to assert that any indictment of Trump will lead to bloodshed and violence and riots, is reprehensible, and must not stop the move to hold Donald Trump accountable for his multiple crimes and illegalities in the Presidency!

Trump seems to be, more than ever, acting in a manner that indicates panic and hysteria, and mental illness seems evident.

This man is a menace to America and the world, and must be prevented from ever again coming close to the Oval Office!

Marjorie Taylor Greene And Other Extremist Republicans Use Pedophilia Accusation Against Critics

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and other extremist Republicans in Congress are using a Pedophilia accusation against critics, within and outside the party.

This is part of the QAnon Conspiracy theory, which includes claiming Hillary Clinton was engaged in such activity in a pizza parlor in Washington DC years ago.

Now Greene is saying that those three Republican Senators who voted for confirmation of Ketanjai Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court—Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Sudan Collins–are pedophiles.

And Republican Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee–including Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley—implied that Jackson was out to protect child pornographers.

This outrageous behavior and utterances are not being responded to adequately by mamy other Republicans, as the party veers ever further to the far Right, and conspiracy theories, that undermine any possibility of progress and ability to cross the aisle and do the work of the American people!

Highly Qualified Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Republican Senate Critics Look Ridiculous!

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing going on today in Washington DC is a mockery of the process, as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is making her Republican critics look ridiculous.

Particularly outrageous are Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

These Senators had no issue with the qualifications of Amy Coney Barrett, whose qualifications and intellect were far less than those of Jackson.

Clearly, racism is rearing its ugly head, as the concept of an African American woman becoming the first ever on the Supreme Court, after 108 white men have been on the Court, and four white women, and two African American males, and one Hispanic woman.