Right Wing Republicans

165th Anniversary Of Seneca Falls Equal Rights Convention: A Time For Women’s Rights Advocates To Plan Strategy For Future!

Ronald 5 Comments

165 years ago this week, specifically on July 19 and 20, the momentous event known as the Seneca Falls Convention took place in upstate New York.

300 men and women gathered, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and including the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass, demanding equal rights for women, including the right of suffrage, participating in voting.

That fight for suffrage took 72 years, until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, and the move for the Equal Rights Amendment proposal of 1972 fell short by three states, and was declared dead in 1982.

But now there is an urgency to fight for that proposed amendment, despite the odds against it being ratified in the political climate we live in now, if for no other reason than to declare that the strategy of the future is that women are not going to allow backtracking on basic rights that have now been the law for years, specifically the Roe V. Wade decision on Abortion Rights forty years ago, plus the push for equal pay, equal treatment in the military, fighting against acceptance of rape by many politicians of the Republican Party, and the Religious Right desire to send women back home, not working, cooking and being available for a man’s desires in the bedroom!

There may be women who are willing to accept the Republican view on women in 2013, but they are NOT a majority, and if Betty Ford, the First Lady with President Gerald Ford, were alive and well today, she would be leading the fight for women’s rights, as she did when she was in the White House!

Having visited the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids yesterday, it reminded the author of how far the GOP has moved from the Ford Presidency experience, and remember that turn to the right began when Ronald Reagan challenged President Ford for the Presidential nomination in 1976, helping to cause his defeat, and the ultimate takeover of the Republican Party by the Right Wing led by Reagan!

So women, and men who agree that they deserve equal treatment, need to organize and fight for women’s rights, even now, 165 years after Seneca Falls!

The 2016 Presidential Campaign Has Begun: The Massive Assault On Hillary Clinton

Ronald 6 Comments

For anyone who wonders when the Presidential Election campaign of 2016 will begin, it is now clear that it has begun this month, May 2013, with the Republican Party unwilling to change its image, policies or beliefs, and setting out to destroy the candidate who is favored by 65 percent of the American people, former First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!

Hillary Clinton is accustomed to massive assaults on her character, her ethics, her public record, as she became the most attacked First Lady in American History, with possibly the exception of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who like Hillary Clinton, represented a fundamental set of principles and values that terrified conservatives and Republicans in the 1930s, and again in the 1990s.

So Hillary Clinton, a very tough lady, must decide if she is willing to take the heat, venom, poison, and utter contempt that she will have visited on her over the next three and a half years. Her husband was vilified from DAY ONE, and yet managed to produce a record far superior to earlier or later Bush Presidencies.

Hillary Clinton, if she decides ultimately to run for the White House, will have to deal, also, with the reality that when and if she becomes President, she will not have a restful day, but that is par for the course, as it was for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama.

But as long as the American people continue to see her as the first woman President, who see her as a visionary who will fight the good fight against the Right Wing hate machine on Capitol Hill, on Talk Radio, and on Fox News Channel, as well as powerful pressure groups that work against the interests of the masses of the American people, she will triumph and make the Republicans like it, and if they do not, she will have the personality to condemn them openly, and not be as “nice” as Obama has been, to his own detriment!

Chris Christie Vs Rand Paul: The Knives Are Coming Out!

Ronald 1 Comment

It was inevitable that there would be “combat” between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and the knives are coming out early!

Christie has distinguished himself by his criticism of his own Republican Party in the House of Representatives, and specifically Speaker of the House John Boehner, for their dragging on relief funds for Hurricane Sandy.

He has also condemned the National Rifle Association for using an ad against President Barack Obama, in which his two daughters are mentioned. Christie said, correctly, that NEVER should children of public figures be used as part of an attack ad.

But of course, Rand Paul, a true whacko, loony, nutty Senator, who has never been a Governor, and is an eye doctor without official recognition by the traditional professional organization because he chose instead to form his own organization to give him legitimacy, went on the attack against Christie in an interview with right wing talk show host Laura Ingraham, denouncing Christie as looking only to appeal to Democrats and “liberal” Republicans, and having his hand out for federal largesse. And Paul was critical of Christie attacking the NRA.

Remember that Rand Paul, and his dad, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, are libertarians, who do not believe in federal disaster aid, hate government, and have a viewpoint that will never be accepted by the American people at large!

Neither Christie nor Rand Paul have any real chance of being the next President, but at least Christie has the ability to appeal to other than right wing Republicans, while Paul will not even be able to unite conservatives, since his isolationist foreign policy will turn off many right wing Republicans, and he also comes across as weird and whacky!

But this means the battle for the Presidential nomination of 2016 in the Republican Party is in full swing even before President Obama takes his second oath of office as President on Monday!

Rand Paul Revives “Nullification” From The Pre Civil War Years

Ronald 16 Comments

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, obviously planning to run for President in 2016, is throwing down the gauntlet to President Obama, stating that he believes that the President is acting as if he is a King or monarch, and saying that any executive orders that the President issues on guns will be “nullified” by Congress.

There are a number of problems about this assertion by Rand Paul.

By bringing up “nullification”, he is forgetting that the Civil War was fought over precisely that issue, the concept of states rights, that a state could nullify laws or actions of the federal government. And that viewpoint lost the war!

Also, what does Rand Paul think he is going to do, other than “grandstand” to win the support of the extreme right wing in the Republican Party? There is no way that he or the Congress could “nullify” Presidential actions, particularly with a divided Congress and a Democratic controlled Senate.

Of course, Paul or someone else could move to impeach the President, and that could actually happen on totally flimsy grounds in the Republican controlled House of Representatives. But the ability to remove the President is less than zero, as without more than 45 Republicans in the US Senate, and the impossibility of gaining 67 votes for conviction and removal, all that Paul is doing is roaring like a “paper tiger”, making a lot of noise, gaining a lot of publicity, none of it flattering, and only stirring up further polarization and conflict.

Rand Paul, as many realize, is a nightmare, who will plague the Republican race for President in 2016; will never become the nominee of the party; and were he to do so, he would take the party and its future down with him.

Face the facts: Rand Paul is nutty, whacky, loony, and his libertarian and isolationist views will never carry the day in a national election!

The Tension Is Rising On The Vice Presidential Debate: Can Joe Biden “Save” Barack Obama And Himself From Likely Historic Oblivion If They Lose Election?

Ronald 5 Comments

Vice President Joe Biden, who has faced many crises in his life, has always been a man of principle and courage, and he now faces the greatest challenge of his entire political career: resuscitate the Obama-Biden Presidential ticket from possible historic oblivion if they lose the election 27 days from now!

It is sad, but true, that when Presidents lose reelection, they end up in the historical wilderness—not appreciated, to a great extent forgotten, taking generations for any historical recognition.

Ask John Adams, William Howard Taft, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush–all of whom have not been treated well historically–because they came in between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; and Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, in the cases of Adams, Taft and Bush, and before Ronald Reagan in the case of Carter, with Reagan being mythologized in a unrealistic way! Only Adams has finally been recognized, due to the work of David McCullough, as a President worthy of respect and admiration!

It would be a tremendous shame to history if the contributions of Barack Obama were to be relegated to the dustbin of history, particularly if much of what he has accomplished was reversed by a right wing Republican Congress and a President, Mitt Romney, who has no principles or beliefs beyond simply being President!

Commitment To Others (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama) Vs. Commitment To One’s Own Wealth Acquisition (Mitt Romney)!

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Two former Democratic Presidents—Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton—have devoted their post Presidential lives to a commitment to help others, through the Carter Center and the Clinton Initiative.

They have both stood out for their efforts to promote peace, fight hunger and disease, improve the lives of others, rather than set out to add to their own wealth acquisition.

At the same time, Barack Obama seems likely to follow the same pursuits, because, after all, he devoted his early adult life to being a community organizer in the toughest neighborhoods of Chicago, dealing with poverty, hunger, and family problems of many Chicago residents. He has been ridiculed by the right wing of the Republican Party for doing so, but then the right wing of the GOP has also shown a lack of respect and deference toward both Carter and Clinton with their retirement years commitment to doing good for others!

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has devoted his entire adult life simply to the acquisition of wealth for the sake of wealth, not concerning himself with the closing down of businesses by Bain Capital, and the loss of jobs by many thousands of workers. He also likes to flaunt wealth, as with the car elevator at his one of many homes in California, and his refusal to release his tax returns, because it would reveal just how manipulative and deceitful he has been, a man who has no ethics or morals when it comes to the making of money!

Of course, it is said that Mitt Romney gives to “charity”, but that “charity” is almost completely to his Mormon Church, which requires a tithe of ten percent from its membership. So that is not all voluntary, and in any case, giving “charity” solely to one’s church is not true charity, in the sense that he has shown no interest, with his vast wealth, to support good causes, as has Carter and Clinton, both far less wealthy than Romney.

And it is predictable that if Romney loses the Presidency, he will devote his life to his church and to the constant acquisition of wealth, as this is the trend of his life, not devoting time and effort to good causes, as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have done, and assuredly, that Barack Obama will do in his post Presidency!

The Long Range Direction Of American Presidential Politics: Democratic Party Ascendancy!

Ronald 1 Comment

When one examines the move of the Republican Party toward the far Right, under the control of extremist elements, and only attracting white males in large numbers, whether wealthy or working class, a strange alliance to say the least, one realizes that the future direction of the nation, particularly on the Presidential level, is toward Democratic Party ascendancy in future Presidential elections.

Barack Obama is well on his way to a second term, as explained by the Electoral College math, and will win somewhere between 288 at the least, and 398 at the most, in electoral votes. He will win between 23 and 32 states, plus the District of Columbia.

With the Hispanic and Latino population growing by leaps and bounds, and continuing in that trend over the next decade, five states that conceivably could go to Obama in 2012, but probably won’t, will become more likely “blue” by 2016 and 2020—Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Arizona and Georgia.

But even those states that have a high unemployment rate now, which means they might go to Mitt Romney—Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada—will most likely go Democratic in the future, due to their growing Hispanic and Latino population.

The four states that have lower than average unemployment rates and are seen as likely to go to President Obama—New Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio, and Iowa—are also likely to go Democratic in future Presidential campaigns, with the higher Hispanic and Latino population there too!

So even if Obama cannot win the maximum of 32 states, future Democratic nominees for President have a good chance of winning that number of states, and therefore win overwhelmingly in the Electoral College!

And added to this is the state of Texas, which by 2020, if not 2016, could revert back to the Democratic Party because of the rapidly growing Hispanic and Latino population, making for a maximum potential of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, and a potential grand total of 436 electoral votes out of 538, leaving only 102 electoral votes for the Republicans from 17 states—South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Alaska!

Of course, the person who is the nominee, and the events at the time, will decide if the Democrats really can win all but 17 states, and all but 102 electoral votes,so nothing is guaranteed.

But if the Republican Party continues to alienate the Hispanic and Latino population, plus African Americans, women, young people who are socially liberal, senior citizens who are fearful of the GOP plans on Social Security and Medicare, environmentalists, labor supporters, gays and lesbians, and those against foreign interventions on a regular basis, then indeed the Democrats could become a majority in Presidential races, and have a greater chance of controlling Congress and many state legislatures in future decades!

Does Marco Rubio Represent The Hispanic-Latino Community, One Of Six Americans? NO!

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A lot of attention has been paid to Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the past 18 months since he was elected to the US Senate by the Sunshine State’s voters.

Rubio, just about to become 41 next month, is seen as the “shining star” of the Republican Party’s future, often called the “Cuban” Barack Obama!

Rubio is handsome, charismatic, dynamic, and has an attractive family, and he is loved by the right wing conservatives in the Republican Party. He promoteds the conservative cause in an effective fashion, and is remembered for his Florida state legislative career, including a stint as the House Speaker. He is someone who is likely to be a star figure in the party for decades to come, and he is seen as extremely ambitious, sometimes imagined as the first Hispanic President of the United States.

Rubio has been the center of attention for many months, as a front runner for the Vice Presidency, and many think Mitt Romney will select him. But before any such event happens, which is certainly possible, let us look at the unvarnished facts about Marco Rubio.

The idea that Hispanics and Latinos will rush to support Mitt Romney, if he selects Rubio for Vice President, is laughable!

Polls show that Barack Obama is favored in Florida, and that if Rubio is added to the Romney ticket, the lead for Obama grows wider!

Just because in a Senate race Rubio is able to win, does not mean he would help the Romney candidacy.

Rubio would outshine Romney on the campaign trail, and the question is does Romney really want that?

Also, Rubio would not be a good Number Two, as his ego and personality would make him a bad supporting team member.

The questions surrounding his ethics would get in the way, including expenditures while House Speaker in Florida, and the misleading campaign story that his parents escaped Fidel Castro, when they actually migrated from Cuba two years before Castro came to power.

Rubio’s hypocrisy regarding the DREAM Act stands out too, as he has always been opposed to the allowing of children of illegal immigrants to become citizens by military service or graduating college, but now wants a substitute DREAM Act, which allows those activities, but does not give citizenship automatically, an obvious campaign ploy!

Above all, though, is the issue whether Marco Rubio can represent the Hispanic-Latino community as a son of Cuban immigrants who came legally in the mid 1950s.

One needs to realize that only 14 percent of Hispanics and Latinos, in a recent poll, support Mitt Romney, and no matter what he does, that number will not probably rise even to John McCain’s 31 percent in 2008, and certainly not George W. Bush’s 44 percent in 2004. With the hard line on immigration reform supported by Romney and Rubio, why would any larger number support Romney because of Rubio?

And also the fact emerges that Cuban Americans number only about 1.8 million out of a Census figure of 50.5 million for Hispanics and Latinos, meaning only about 3.5 percent of this group are Cuban. What makes anyone think that Mexican-Americans, about 64 percent of this total, and Puerto Ricans, about 10 percent, and all of the other myriad groups of Hispanics and Latinos, are going to relate to someone who is only one out of about 30 members of the broad based group in this nation?

Romney would gain little from selecting Rubio, but Rubio would become the automatic front runner for 2016 if he ran with Romney, even on a losing ticket. Keep this in mind as Rubio acts as if he does not want the Vice Presidential nomination, but at the same time, is acting as if he does!

Republicans, Women And Hispanics: Antagonism Self Induced And Irretrievable!

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The Republican Party has been suicidal in this Presidential campaign, and likely nominee Mitt Romney, as well as Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, have all effectively killed off the chances of the party wooing large percentages of two key voting groups–women and Hispanics.

Joe Scarborough, former Florida Congressman and host of Morning Joe on MSNBC has warned the party of the self induced damage they are doing, but the party leadership and candidates have been tone deaf to it.

And now a new series of polls show Mitt Romney way down in percentage with both women and Hispanics, and with seven months to go, no one, realistically, can see how the former Massachusetts Governor is going to turn the tide in his favor.

Trying to appeal to the right wing has harmed Romney in the nation, while not convincing the right wing to like him.

In the South and Midwest, in more rural and evangelical Christian areas, Romney has been unable to win, or promote loyalty for his candidacy. It is still doubtful that large numbers of these voters will come out for Romney in the Fall campaign.

So the story goes that he must pick a very conservative running mate for the Vice Presidency to appeal to these right wingers, but if so, it will only guarantee that Romney will lose the middle, the center of the population–including women, Hispanics, and also the all important Independents.

Without women, Hispanics, and Independents, how is Romney going to win the all important “swing states” in the South, the Midwest, and the Mountain States, as well as New Hampshire?

The answer is that the election is effectively over, as Romney cannot appeal to the “swing states” adequately, and cannot count on strong right wing support either.

What it comes down to is that Romney, by being a person who one cannot trust as to his views and beliefs, has effectively alienated the middle, while not being trusted even now by the right wing of his party.

And if, by some miracle, Romney won, he would see his dark hair turn grey quickly, as he would have no natural constituency to support him!

The Democrats would fight to weaken him, and the Republicans would feel no loyalty, and would work to move him to the extreme right, making it impossible to get anything done!

If one thinks Barack Obama has had troubles getting things done, imagine a President Romney trying to get things done, whether with Democratic or Republican control of the Congress!

Illinois: NOT Prime Material For Republicans In 2012 Presidential Election

Ronald 1 Comment

Illinois is the state of President Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President. Today, Republicans vote in their Presidential primary, but the state will not go to whoever wins the state.

It is the state of mainstream moderates in the past, including Senator Charles Percy, Senator Everett Dirksen, House Minority Leader Bob Michel, and House Republican Conference Chairman John Anderson, who ran an Independent race for President against Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

None of the above would have a chance in the Illinois Republican Party of 2012, or the national Republican Party.

This is a tragedy, and it is copied in many other states throughout America.

When Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts can claim to be the second most bipartisan Republican Senator, after retiring Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, and only Senator Susan Collins of Maine can claim to be much the same, that is testimonial to just how right wing the GOP has become!

There is NO chance for Illinois to go Republican in 2012, or anytime soon! The spirit of compromise and bipartisanship does not exist, sadly!