Day: March 30, 2009

Senator John McCain was on Meet the Press on Sunday, and host David Gregory asked him about Sarah Palin’s possible candidacy for President in 2012.

McCain would not state that he would back his Vice Presidential running mate, stating that it all depended on who else was in the race.  He said he had admiration, love and respect for Palin, but that there were many qualified candidates including Jon  Huntsman,  Bobby Jindal, and Tim Pawlenty, and that he would have to wait and see.

This was obviously not a ringing endorsement!  It makes one tremble at the thought that had McCain won the Presidency and not finished his term, that Sarah would have been President.  I think it is clear that McCain has had second thoughts about the capabilities of his running mate! 

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is now revealed to have bad mouthed Barack Obama in the transition period from November to Inauguration Day, telling the Israelis that Obama was pro Palestinian, and that Obama was a "loser" in a general sense.

This kind of conduct, plus his strong criticism of Obama so soon into the new President’s term, is unheard of in the history of the Presidency, other than Andrew Jackson badmouthing John Quincy Adams after the contested Presidential election of 1824.

If former Vice President Al Gore had done the same thing to President Bush so shortly after the inauguration in 2001, he would have been strongly criticized.  Instead Gore kept his thoughts to himself for a long period of time, showing dignity and grace, but that apparently is beyond Cheney.

Cheney should be roundly condemned for his unwillingness to give Obama a breathing space before attacking.  In this regard, former President Bush has indeed shown better judgment in making clear his decision to give Obama a chance before he comments on his administration.  For once, Bush has not followed the lead of his Vice President, who seemed often to dominate decision making in the Bush White House.  This situation only adds to the horrible public image that Dick Cheney has, except among right wing talk radio and very conservative think tanks.

Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry has already established a record for longevity in his position, but it has not been a distinguished governorship.

Perry is now rejecting the Obama economic stimulus bill provisions calling for an increased benefit for unemployed Texans,  on the basis that it is interfering with the state’s right to limit those benefits, so as to prevent a crisis in state funding in the future.

Perry is following the lead of other GOP Southern governors including Bobby Jindal of Louisiana,  and also Alaska Governor Sarah Palin,  in creating barriers for aid to the unemployed.  At a time of the greatest unemployment numbers in many decades, and the rapid increases that have occurred in the past few months, it is unconscionable that Perry shows no concern for the lives and welfare of so many Texans.

The unemployed and disadvantaged are being played with for some kind of sick political gain, at a time when the whole nation should be working together to alleviate the suffering of those unfortunate enough to lose their jobs, many of them hard working Americans, who through no fault of their own, have now been thrown into poverty, and discover that their states’s governors have a hard hearted attitude toward their plight.  What a disgrace!

The Minnesota Senate race controversy between former Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken is about to be settled by a three judge panel after a full trial of all the evidence on contested votes, and it is expected that Al Franken will finally win the seat.

But now Senator John Cornyn, Texas Republican who heads the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, threatens "World War III" if the Democratic majority tries to seat Franken, and the indications are an appeal could be made to the US Supreme Court, which could drag out the race for months, and theoretically, years, denying Minnesotans their right to two voting senators.

This kind of situation has never happened before, and so far, 145 days have passed since the November election, the longest drawn out election  contest in US Senate history.  This situation is intolerable and it is time for Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty, a possible presidential candidate in 2012, to do the right thing and certify Franken as the winner if the three judge panel rules Franken has triumphed by 225 votes.

The likelihood of this scenario, however, is doubtful, and it it an outrage against democracy, and it only adds to the image that the GOP is willing to do anything to prevent Al Franken from rightfully taking the Senate seat that he has earned, albeit by the small margin of 225 votes.  The situation will not help the historical reputation of Norm Coleman, or for that matter, John Cornyn!