Mitt Romney Of Utah

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

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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!

Party Loyalty Should Be Secondary To Loyalty To Democracy!

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It is extremely infuriating to discover that almost all Republican office holders are unwilling to state that loyalty to the nation is more important than party loyalty!

Considering the criminal behavior of Donald Trump, and the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, it is beyond belief that many office holders continue to deny what happened, and even those who are so called “critics” of the former President are unwilling to state that if Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024, that they would refuse to support and vote for him.

This shocking attitude has recently been expressed by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. And former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan first said he would back Trump if he ends up the nominee in 2024, but then walked it back, stating he would not pledge to support Trump, but believed he would not be the party nominee. This is not encouraging, the need of Hogan to walk back what sounded like party loyalty was more important than loyalty to democracy!

At this point, it seems as if only the two Republicans who served on the House January 6 Committee, former members of Congress Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, are committed to opposing Trump completely.

It also seems that former Arkansas Governor and potential Presidential contender Asa Hutchinson might be in this camp, but still not for certain, and Republicans who hold office, and are not running for President, who would seemingly refuse to support Trump would be limited for now to Utah Senator Mitt Romney and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski!

This is all very wearying, the refusal of most Republicans to put country above party!

Potential Republican Presidential Nominees Who Would NOT Support Donald Trump!

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With the Presidential campaign of 2024 beginning, the question arises whether there are ANY potential Republican Presidential contenders who would refuse to endorse Donald Trump, were he to win the Republican Presidential nomination next year.

Many Republicans have made criticisms of Trump in some form, and a number plan to run and compete, but the issue is IF any of them lose the nomination to Trump, would they support and endorse him at the end of the process.

There is no certainty of any active Republicans willing to go so far as to refuse to support the party nominee if Trump is that nominee.

But on paper, the following, none certain to run, would likely NOT support him:

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

This author and blogger would have added sitting New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to the list, but it turns out that even with their likely candidacies for President, and their strong criticisms of Trump in recent times, that they have said that they WOULD support Trump, were he the nominee of his party!

This is stunning, as it takes Sununu and Hogan off a short list of Republican political figures who have the guts and courage to overlook party, and do what is good for the nation!

Trump recently stated that he wished to torch the Constitution, and what else needs to be known as to the threat to American democracy than that utterance!

And yet Sununu and even Hogan, as well as many other Republicans who opposed and criticized Trump in the past and present, are still letting party win out, and would support Trump if he was the nominee of the Republican Party!

Realize one thing about the short list given above, that all but Romney (who would be 77 and a half at election time in 2024, and is considering running for reelection to the Senate), are FORMER officeholders!

And despite Liz Cheney stating she would do everything possible to stop Trump, will she actually run against him or form an independent party candidacy?

And Kinzinger seems highly unlikely to mount a campaign either.

And Hutchinson is an unknown, and is unlikely to be a serious contender in any case.

So fundamentally, it seems likely that no significant Republican will stand in the way of Trump, ultimately, and many will even show that party loyalty matters more than principle!

So the Republican Party is hostage to a very dangerous, authoritarian Fascist threat in Donald Trump, but the leading alternative seems to be a person of similar authoritarian tendencies, who is much younger and smarter, and therefore, even MORE dangerous than Trump would be!

This is in reference to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis!

The Republican Party Needs A Conservative Leader Who Is Clearly Anti Trump!

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The Republican Party desperately needs a conservative leader who is clearly Anti Trump, as otherwise the historic party of 168 years (since 1854) will wither and die.

Donald Trump is a disaster for Republicans, as most of those candidates he endorses have lost, and the party has suffered losses in 2018, 2020, and now 2022!

So someone such as from the following list MUST become the future of the party:

Larry Hogan of Maryland
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Chris Sununu of New Hampshire
Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas
Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Tim Scott of South Carolina
Mitt Romney of Utah

Sadly, the odds of any of these individuals being serious contenders for the Presidency seems quite low!

Time For Anti Trump Conservatives And Republicans To Begin Campaign To Deny Donald Trump Future In The White House!

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With the defeat of Liz Cheney for her Wyoming Congressional seat, it is clearly time for anti Trump conservatives and Republicans to begin the campaign to deny Donald Trump the White House in 2024.

It is also time to deny ANY Republican leader, who has Presidential ambitions and continues to back Donald Trump, from becoming his replacement on the Republican ticket.

And if such cannot be accomplished, then someone in the anti Trump conservative and Republican camp MUST mount an Independent campaign for President in 2024, which would deny such a MAGA Republican nominee the ability to defeat the Democratic nominee for President.

At this juncture, potential candidates to announce for the Presidency to challenge the Trump conservatives and Republicans would include:

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Outgoing Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
Outgoing Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Outgoing Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger
Outgoing Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney

There may be others not thought of at the moment, but anyone of these would be a better choice than the multitude of those Republicans who accept Donald Trump and the “Big Lie”!

This does not mean that this author and blogger would vote for any of the above list, but IF one of them somehow became President, the nation would be safe from the imminent threat to American democracy and the rule of law!

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

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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!

The Nightmare Battle For The Republican Presidential Nomination In 2024

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What a nightmare the Republican Party faces in 2024, as trying to find a nominee who is decent, competent, and NOT tied to the disaster of Donald Trump is a long haul!

We begin with Donald Trump himself, who is rapidly losing support, but still has clout in the party, even though he is actually a cancer destroying the image and reputation of the party of Lincoln, TR,Ike, Reagan and George H. W. Bush!

Then we have former Vice President Mike Pence, whose only good deed was counting the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021 properly and correctly, but there is no way imaginable that he could win the Republican Presidential nomination, and his religiosity is a real turn off to moderate voters.

Then there is a slimmed down former Secretary of State and Central Intelligence Agency Head Mike Pompeo, but his admiration of Vladimir Putin insures he is not going anywhere!

Then we have former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who once had stature and respect, but has lost all of that reputation being so much a lackey to Donald Trump, and at the same time, changing her mind regularly on the former President

Then, we have Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, all of whom are competing with each other to be further Right Wing than the others, including warring on truth, history, racial justice, women’s rights, and gay rights, as well as attacking the concept of masks and vaccinations during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Florida is unique in that it has three Republicans all ambitious enough to think they should be President, including DeSantis, but also Senators Rick Scott (involved in Medicare Fraud), and Marco Rubio, who was a major critic of Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican competition for the Presidency, but has, like most Republican officeholders caved in and given up all principles in bowing to Trump throughout his Presidency, and refusing to strongly condemn the January 6, 2021 Insurrection!

The Senate is full of Presidential wannabes, besides Scott and Rubio, including Insurrectionist promoter Josh Hawley of Missouri, who put up his fist in support on January 6; Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Rand Paul of Kentucky; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

One can add to that list Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

There are also clear anti Trump Republicans, including Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger; Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney; Maryland Governor Larry Hogan; Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse; and Utah Senator Mitt Romney.

Battle For Republican Presidential Nomination In 2024 Affected By Ukraine Crisis

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The Russia-Ukraine Crisis, however it works out in the long run, will have a major effect on the battle for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024.

With Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and innumerable others praising Vladimir Putin, and showing no concern for the Ukraine democracy facing the challenge of Russian tyranny, it opens up a split which is much more than just the January 6, 2021 Insurrection perpetrated by Donald Trump, and the sycophany of so many Republicans towards Trump ever since.

It gives oxygen to anti Trump “Still” Republicans who will consider running for the Presidency, including the following;

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

Republican National Committee Threatening To Refuse To Participate In Presidential Debates In 2024!

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The Republican National Committee is threatening to refuse to participate in Presidential debates in 2024, as they complain that the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates is one sided and favors Democrats, and that the moderators selected are biased.

Ronna McDaniel, who happens to be a niece of Senator Mitt Romney, is making these threats, which even her uncle thinks is outrageous!

It is clear the Republican party does not want to expose itself to any criticism of Donald Trump, or whatever lackey of Trump ends up as the GOP Presidential nominee.

This is another step in the Republican Party moving toward Fascist authoritarianism, as they seem to feel why should people be able to vote, therefore promoting voter suppression laws in Republican controlled states, and now the refusal to face the challenge of their opponents.

There should be a way to prevent such a threat, as it undermines American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law!

On Eve Of Voting Rights Vote In Senate, Why Cannot At Least Ten GOP Senators Vote Support?

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In 2006, the US Senate voted 98-0 for extension of the Voting Rights Act.

In 2022, it seems highly unlikely that even one Republican Senator will do so, therefore undermining American democracy.

The concept that there are not at least 10 Republican Senators who have the courage and the principle that voting rights matter, and are willing to go on record to that effect, is mind blowing.

Why cannot Susan Collins of Maine and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, both of whom voted to convict Donald Trump in the second impeachment trial, and are safely in office through 2026, vote to support voting rights?

Why cannot Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has been elected to the Senate as an Independent in a three way race in 2010, and is often an outlier in the party, including voting to convict Donald Trump, support voting rights, even though she faces election in 2022?

Why cannot Mitt Romney of Utah, who also voted to convict Donald Trump, and is seen as more centrist than anyone in the party in the Senate, other than Collins and Murkowski, have the ability to vote to support voting rights?

Why cannot Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who also voted to convict Donald Trump, and who has his seat until 2026, as Collins and Sasse also do, have the courage to support voting rights?

Why cannot Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Richard Burr of North Carolina, both who also voted to convict Donald Trump, and are leaving the Senate at the end of 2022, do the right thing and support voting rights?

Why cannot Roy Blunt of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Richard Shelby of Alabama, all retiring, do the right thing and support voting rights?

If all of the above did the right thing, we would have 10 Republican Senators joining with the 50 Democrats, and voting rights would be restored!