Rand Paul

Dr. Anthony Fauci Attacked By Right Wing Media And Republican Politicians: Totally Reprehensible!

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been a true hero and treasure in this COVID 19 Pandemic, in his role as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, after having been ignored and rebuked much of the time by former President Donald Trump.

If Trump had followed the advice of Fauci in 2020, we would not today have reached the horrifying figure of 600,000 dead from COVID 19!

Trump was responsible for the greatest loss of life in one year in American history, and yet Republicans, many of them anti vaccinators and anti maskers, have the gall to attack Fauci, and call for his resignation.

Right Wing Media, including Fox News Channel, and Tucker Carlson, and others, have joined in the demand for resignation of Fauci!

Just look at who is calling for this—Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Rand Paul, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and many others, all who are well known to be anti science and anti truth!

15 Republican Senators Who Have A Reputation Of Being In An Alternative Universe

The following 15 Republican Senators have developed a reputation of being in an alternative universe, leaving the impression that they are simply horrible human beings, actually uncaring about the people they serve!

Their meanspirited nature and lack of common decency is shocking!

Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Rick Scott of Florida
Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Rand Paul of Kentucky
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
John Kennedy of Louisiana
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Ted Cruz of Texas
John Cornyn of Texas
Mike Lee of Utah
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin

This does not excuse the bulk of the rest of the Republicans in the US Senate, but these 15 are particularly egregious in their behavior!

Twelve of these 15 Senators are from the traditional South, or from the border South states of Kentucky, Missouri, or Oklahoma.

Only three are from elsewhere, meaning Iowa, Wisconsin and Utah.

So the tradition of the South and Border South, whether Democratic in the past, or Republican since the 1960s transition, to be narrow minded and uncaring about the lives of their constituents, continues today!

The Republican Party Potential Field (25) Seeking Presidential Nomination In 2024!

When one looks ahead to the next round of Presidential contenders in the Republican Party for 2024, one sees clearly that it is a “Group Of Horrors” that awaits the nation, if the party does not reform itself and reject the extreme right wing extremists who are planning to seek the Presidency in 2024.

There is a long list of potential contenders, and it will be a question of how one separates responsible conservatives from the monsters that wish to make even Donald Trump look less extreme by comparison! Imagine that!

The most extreme Right potential nominees as now perceived include the eight following in no special order:

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Rick Scott of Florida
Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota

Those less far Right but still unacceptable to any rational person include the five following in no special order:

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator Mike Lee Of Utah
Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana
Former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

And then there are those who are conservatives in the more traditional mold, including the nine following in no special order:

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich
Senator Rob Portman of Ohio
Former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China and Russia Jon Huntsman
Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

And finally, there are the true long shot whackos, including:

Donald Trump, Jr.
Tucker Carlson of Fox News Channel

And of course, Donald Trump could end up running, and putting the Republican Party in total disarray!

Mike Pence Historical Reputation At Stake As He Leaves Vice Presidency Next Month

Vice President Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President, has been a total disaster in that office, and has added to the horrendous record of recent Republican Vice Presidents, as compared to recent Democratic Vice Presidents.

Just going back a half century, and one can see how different the historical reputation is of the two party’s Vice Presidents.

There are two Republican Vice Presidents since 1969—Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush—who later went on to become President, and despite controversies, stand out as reasonably decent Vice Presidents. Nelson Rockefeller, under Gerald Ford, also comes across as having had a decent record and historical reputation worth defending.

But then we have Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon, who was forced out of the Vice Presidency by corruption, and it remains terrifying that he came so close to becoming President.

We have Dan Quayle, who was a not very bright man, and very scary as potential President when George H.W. Bush had some health crises.

And we have Dick Cheney, often considered more a President in the first term of George W. Bush, who was terrifying in his “Darth Vader” type evil, and committed war crimes and abuse of power while Vice President, demonstrating the potential for harm done by a very bright man, who was transformed by September 11 in a dangerous way.

Now compare this to the Democratic Vice Presidents since 1969. We have Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, recognized by scholars as the most active, engaged and exceptional Vice President in American history, and still living 40 years after his time in office, and reaching the age of 93 on January 5.

We have Al Gore, who served Bill Clinton in a very reputable fashion, and influenced Clinton on environmental and other matters. And he had the dignity after a contested Presidential election in 2000, to concede in a manner that showed respect for the Constitution and rule of law.

And we have Joe Biden, who is seen as either equivalent of importance to Barack Obama or just second to Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, and now will be the 46th President of the United States in less than a month! Certainly, Biden’s Vice Presidency prepared him for the challenges he will face on January 20, 2021!

All three of these Democratic Vice Presidents in the past half century stand out as successes, and all three also ran for President, and they add to the dignity and significance of the office of Vice President.

The Republican Vice Presidents, at least Agnew, Quayle, and Cheney were, by comparison, true disasters!

Now, Mike Pence, who has demonstrated a complete lack of guts to challenge Donald Trump on anything he says or does, has an historic role he faces on January 6, to go through the ceremonial duty as President of the US Senate, to conduct a formal counting of the electoral votes before a joint session of Congress.

Every one of the Vice Presidents in office at the end of the term from Hubert Humphrey in 1969, through Nelson Rockefeller in 1977, through Walter Mondale in 1981, through George H. W. Bush in 1989, through Dan Quayle in 1993, through Al Gore, in 2001, through Dick Cheney in 2009, and through Joe Biden in 2017, have followed procedure and refused to allow challenges or controversies during that solemn ceremony.

But the odds are good that Mike Pence will allow such characters as Congressmen Mo Brooks of Alabama, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Jim Jordan of Ohio; and Senators Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin to delay the counting of the vote as they try to deny Joe Biden his rightful win in the Electoral College and in the popular vote nationally!

If Mike Pence does that, he will be condemned in history on the level of such disgraced Vice Presidents as Aaron Burr and Spiro Agnew!

Trump Moves Toward Insanity In Last Month, And Has Supporters Ready To Destroy The Transition

Donald Trump is moving toward insanity as the days tick down until he leave office on January 20, 2021.

He is lashing out at everyone imaginable in stormy, screaming matches in the Oval Office, including against White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House Counsel Patrick Cipollone, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and even Vice President Mike Pence.

Those encouraging his insane, reckless behavior include a rag tag group of characters, including newly elected to the House of Representatives QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, and wacko Congressmen, including Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, along with Senator Elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, and Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The plan is to create a crisis on January 6, when Vice President Pence must have a joint session of Congress to open up 51 envelopes, and finish the process of the formal election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President, two weeks before the inauguration.

Ordinarily, it is a simple ceremony, but those listed above plan to challenge the final results, and a lot of attention and pressure is being brought against Pence in his last official, constitutional duty to do the electoral vote ceremony in a dignified manner.

It is not as if Vice Presidents have had to announce the defeat either of their own candidacy for President (Richard Nixon in 1961, Hubert Humphrey in 1969, Al Gore in 2001) or the defeat of their ticket for reelection (Walter Mondale in 1981, Dan Quayle in 1993), or the defeat of their party ticket not including them (Nelson Rockefeller in 1977, Dick Cheney in 2009, Joe Biden in 2017).

The Hall Of Shame: Rudy Giuliani, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy Lead The Pack!

The Republican Party has become a total embarrassment and disgrace, which will scar the memory of great Republicans of past generations.

Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the massive 7 million popular vote win of Joe Biden, as Donald Trump continues to act in an unpatriotic, uncooperative manner, including showing grace in defeat, inviting Joe and Jill Biden to the White House, and cooperating with the transition team on so many important matters, including the COVID 19 Pandemic and the National Security of the United States.

The Hall of Shame includes many, but leading the pack are the following:

Rudy Giuliani, once the much celebrated Mayor of New York City, who has made a fool and mockery of himself in his endless quest to destroy the victory of Joe Biden, and it is clear that Giuliani is seriously demented, mentally ill, and needs to retire from public life, although he also faces the danger of prosecution, that even a Presidential pardon may not totally exonerate him from a potential prison term.

Ted Cruz, who has humiliated by Donald Trump regarding his wife and father, and yet has become a total sycophant, and was willing to argue a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court until the Supreme Court yesterday rejected in one sentence any challenge to the results of the Presidential Election of 2020. This blogger and author has always found Cruz to be the most despicable possible would be President, and thought in 2016 that Cruz on paper was more dangerous than Donald Trump, and the recent escapades of Cruz just add to the total disgust felt about this disgrace!

Rand Paul, who also alarmed this blogger when he ran for President in 2016, advocating the preposterous libertarianism of his father, former Congressman Ron Paul, who is now retired, but has a horrid history of antisemitism and racism in his past, and his son, if anything, much worse, in his delusions. This includes his denunciation and regular attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the true hero of the present Covid 19 Pandemic. This monster plans again, like Cruz, to seek the Presidency in 2024, and both of them are a cancer on the future of the Republican Party!

Mitch McConnell, who hopefully will NOT be Senate Majority Leader after the Georgia Special Senate Elections Runoff on January 5, as he has been the most destructive Senate Majority Leader in memory, going back to making clear his desire to make Barack Obama a one term President. He also denied Obama the right to the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016; refused to have dignity and prevented a Supreme Court replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg with only weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020; and lacks respect for his former colleague, Joe Biden, in refusing even now to acknowledge that Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, from California, who has been a horrid leader of his party, making former Republican leaders Paul Ryan and John Boehner, look good by comparison, when both were obstructionists, and in the case of Ryan, like McCarthy, total sycophants to the evil of Donald Trump!

Alternate Reality, Improper Use Of Government Sites, And Violation Of Hatch Act: Highlights Of Second Night Of Republican National Convention

The second night of the Republican National Convention was a time of alternate reality;

acting as if the CoronaVirus Pandemic is over when it is not (as expressed by Larry Kudlow);

having First Lady Melania Trump condemn hate and division on social media, while her husband has done so non stop on Twitter for his entire Presidency;

having Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General, use the Ukraine scandal that led to the impeachment of Donald Trump as a gimmick to attack Joe Biden and his family with conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden, when the Trump children have been involved in corrupt activities all along;

and libertarian Rand Paul forgetting his condemnation of Donald Trump in 2016, and suddenly seeing Trump as someone to admire in 2020.

We also saw Donald Trump holding a citizenship ceremony for five immigrants at the White House, an improper use of a government building to try to convince Americans that he is open minded on immigration, while his record is the most horrific in American history, bar none!

He is trying to make the nation forget his separation of children from their parents at the border, and putting them in cages, which will harm them psychologically for the rest of their lives, and with some never reunited with their parents!

We also saw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem giving a speech to attract evangelical Christians and Jews, violating the Hatch Act, which bans government officials from making political speeches in foreign nations for purposes of political manipulation.

There is no such thing as a utterance or action of Donald Trump and his minions that will not lower the standard of decency, that will not undermine respect for the Constitution and the rule of law!

It is all designed just to win enough support to have a second term, where the President will be unleashed to wreak yet further havoc on America. The thought that it might occur is enough to cause one to wonder how the nation will ever revive from the establishment of a Fascist authoritarian government!

Donald Trump is a threat to American values and history, and we have to hope that the American people will repudiate this threat, as otherwise, the destruction of the America that has survived 231 years under the Constitution, and 244 years since the Declaration of Independence, is in dire peril!

The Battle For The Republican Future After Trump

The Republican Party seems likely to collapse in the Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2020, suffering their worst defeat since 1964.

Just as the party collapsed in 1912, and again in 1964, now in 2020, four years late–that is, 56 years, not 52 years—a major regeneration of the party in Congress and the competition for the Presidency seems likely.

It looks right now as if the Democrats will win a lot more than the three to four seats needed to win the majority in the Senate, and that the Republicans will lose another minimum ten seats in the House of Representatives, after losing 42 seats in the 2018 midterm Congressional elections.

And the issue arises, who in the party has a likelihood of competing for President in 2024, with of course, always the possibility someone not yet elected or noticed will enter the fray if successful in this upcoming election.

Youth seems likely to triumph, and there are people in the Senate who can be seen as rivals for the future nomination for President, as well as some not in the Senate.

In the Senate, we have some “old timers”, meaning those who have already run for President, including Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida. All of them are quite horrific as thoughts as future Presidents, particularly the first two, but really, all three.

Then, we have three others, who clearly, plan to run for President—Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska—and all but Sasse are seen as equally totally horrific.

We also have Nikki Haley, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor, and for awhile, thought to be “somewhat appealing”, but no more, after her recent total loyalty to Donald Trump, and the halo she once had is gone.

We also have the horror of the possibility of Donald Trump Jr. or Ivanka Trump considering a run!

And we have the disgrace of Florida Senator Rick Scott, who should have been in federal prison for Medicare-Medicaid fraud from years ago, and instead went on to two terms as Florida Governor, and now Florida Senator, winning all three races by about one percent, and all three races very suspect as to vote total manipulation. Just looking at him is enough to make one vomit!

And if one looks to have regular vomiting, think of the disgrace of Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson, a true Know Nothing moron, with no ethical or moral compass at all!

Then, there is also Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who both have handled the CoronaVirus Pandemic responsibly, and are perceived as moderates.

And another Governor, who has handled the crisis horribly, Ron DeSantis of Florida, will probably be angling as well for the Presidency, and makes a Floridian like myself disgusted as to the three state wide office holders in the third largest state, being as obnoxious as Rubio, Scott, and DeSantis!

Of course, if Trump is reelected, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might also enter the race, but it is assumed for this article that Trump will lose!

As an “outsider”, a progressive such as myself, if asked, who could one imagine “accepting” as a future President, and with this progressive hiding his eyes behind a total mask, it would have to be Ben Sasse, Larry Hogan, or Charlie Baker, as the rest of the group totally sickens me.

Likely, one of these sixteen will be the Republican nominee for President in 2024, and the odds will be against Sasse, Hogan or Baker, realistically!

Likely Republican Field For Presidential Race Of 2024 Very Large

The Presidential Election of 2020 is upon us in 100 days, but, believe it or not, there are hints already of who might run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, whether or not Donald Trump wins reelection.

Likely, there might be someone not talked about yet, who emerges as a serious contender, who has served, or will serve, in the US Senate or a state Governorship.

So what is being discussed here is highly speculative, but let me make it clear: The field is wide open.

So here goes, a list of 17 potential contenders:

if Donald Trump loses election, he would be eligible to run again in 2024, and try to match Grover Cleveland in being President, losing, and then contending again.

Additionally, his son, Donald Jr., seems to have Presidential ambitions, although the level of his competence and intellect is highly doubtful.

Also, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is also rumored to be thinking of running, but only if Donald Jr, steps aside, but everyone knows that the President favors his daughter over his other children.

Once we get past the Trump family, here is a list of 14 other potential contenders in no special order:

Vice President or former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana

Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida

Senator Rick Scott of Florida

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida

Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland

Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of Kansas

And we can finish with, believe it or not, Fox News Talk Show Host Tucker Carlson!

Kentucky Has The Two Worst Senators Of Any State!

These days, there are so many Republican Senators who are totally disgraceful, despicable, horrendous, lacking in empathy, humanity, and common decency!

But although many are in this category, it is clear that the worst combination of any state goes to Kentucky, a very poor state, with many poor people, and more who are white than minority, and two Senators who do not give a damn about their own constituents!

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul share the prize for the most monstrous combination, and it is hoped that McConnell might be defeated in November, at age 77 and 36 years in the Senate!

And if that happens, it would be time to prosecute McConnell for his corrupt actions, and that of his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as there has been a conflict of interest that McConnell’s wife has been allowed to serve in the Trump Cabinet!

It is outrageous that McConnell is unwilling to offer support for state aid to such states as New York, California, and Illinois, when those states supply a lot of financial aid to Kentucky annually!

And Rand Paul has been a total nightmare, as his libertarianism bent harms his population! Paul even questions the science and medical knowledge of Dr. Anthony Fauci!

It is impossible to explain why Kentuckians do not get the message and vote them out of office, as they clearly do not give a damn about the people of their state!