Month: June 2014

Republican Governors With Presidential Ambitions Falling Like Flies In Political Scandals!

Ronald Leave a comment

So now it is THREE Republican Governors who have had Presidential ambitions, who are falling like flies in political scandals!

First, it was former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who now faces trial and the likelihood of prison for financial irregularities.

Then it was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is enmeshed in a number of scandals about his use of funds, and his payback to those who oppose him, including the blockage in Fort Lee, New Jersey of the George Washington Bridge.

And now it is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who had a recall campaign in 2012, and used outside groups to raise money, in unison with his own staff, an illegal action that could lead to criminal charges!

So three Governors with overriding ambition, and three arrogant, nasty, abusive Governors in their dealings with the news media, critics, and the general public, and all having a sense of entitlement!

But the more cocky and self serving they are, the more dramatic the fall!

Do not be surprised if all three Governors end up in prison, a place they richly deserve, and the likelihood of the states of New Jersey and Wisconsin is an overthrow of the Republicans in the Governorship, just as happened in Virginia with the election of Terry McAuliffe in November 2013!

Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Self Destructs His Presidential Campaign!

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has been hinting very strongly that he plans to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, if no one else does, or even if others do run.

Well, Brian, you can forget it after your wild, wooly comments to NATIONAL JOURNAL, which did an interview and detailed article on the former Montana Governor, who actually was quite effective in that position, and can have a charming personality.

But Schweitzer totally unraveled, trying to be funny, but really striking out.

He spoke of California Senator Dianne Feinstein as if she was a street walker when she seemed shocked about government spying, when she well knew such was going on, something one could, rightfully, criticize, but NOT in the way that Schweitzer did. Can you imagine if he were President and had to face Feinstein, a senior Democrat, in meetings at the White House?

But even worse, Schweitzer made the statement that Southern men are effeminate in their moves and gestures, and referred to Eric Cantor, the soon to leave House Majority Leader, stating that Schweitzer’s “Gaydar” made him sense the gayness of Southerners, although he said, apparently, Cantor is not gay.

What kind of comment is that to make about anyone, and to label a whole geographical section of men as being that? This is extremely looney behavior, and not funny at all! And imagine having to deal with Southern members of Congress after saying that!

A President must have diplomacy and tact, which Schweitzer, apparently, does not have at all!

Schweitzer might have made an interesting race, but now it is a joke in concept more than ever, even if he chooses to put himself out there!

The best chance, although highly remote, of a politician from “Big Sky Country” being President is now part of history for sure! Suggestion to Brian Schweitzer, disappear, as you have effectively lost any chance of serving in Washington DC for anything in the future, including an appointment to a Cabinet position by a President Hillary Clinton, or any other Democrat! You have blown any chance you had for national service with your big mouth! Be gone!

Hillary Clinton Glows And Shines On CNN And Fox News Channel!

Ronald 5 Comments

Former Secretary of State, New York Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton put on a fantastic performance in a Town Hall on CNN, and a confrontational Fox News interview centered mostly on the Benghazi tragedy in Libya on September 11, 2012, last night.

Clinton proved just how knowledgeable, intelligent, brilliant, and experienced she is in handling challenges, and yet came across as a warm, relaxed, cool, classy person at the same time!

She demonstrated, without question, her qualifications to be our first woman President, if that ends up occurring.

If any conservative or Republican really believes after this performance, that Hillary can be defeated if she is the Democratic nominee, they are truly delusional!

Who qualifies in the Republican Party to compete with Hillary? This author has said many times before that ONLY former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman can possibly stay on the same stage with Hillary without being “massacred”!

And only Vice President Joe Biden can truly compete on the same stage with Hillary within the Democratic Party, even though other Democrats have their appeal, but the stature of Hillary and Joe is so above anyone else, and only Huntsman can possibly compete with either of them!

Barack Obama And Executive Orders: The Truth, Rather Than Myths!

Ronald Leave a comment

Conservatives and the Republican Party constantly lie about Barack Obama’s use of executive orders, stating that he has issued more than 1,000 such orders!

Obama has made it clear that he will override Congressional inaction where he can, and he is absolutely correct in such assertions, but he is far from overusing the concept of executive order.

Somehow, when a Republican President uses executive orders aggressively, that is seen as alright, and even positive!

The fact is that any President will use executive orders to promote his agenda, and he has a constitutional right to do just that, and it has been done by all Presidents!

News in the past two days that Obama will use executive orders to promote LGBT employment rights, and to declare a large area of ocean off limits to mining and fishing, therefore protecting the environment, is in support of goals that Congress has been unwilling to take action on, after five years, so Obama is asserting his Presidential authority to do what should be done!

In reality, Obama has issued approximately 180 executive orders up to this point, while George W. Bush used 291 in eight years; Bill Clinton a total of 364 in eight years; and Ronald Reagan a total of 381 in eight years. At the same time, Gerald Ford used 169 executive orders in just two years and five months in office; Jimmy Carter a total of 320 in four years; George H. W. Bush a total of 166 in four years; Richard Nixon a total of 346 in five and a half years; Lyndon B. Johnson a total of 325 in five years; John F. Kennedy a total of 214 in three years; Dwight D. Eisenhower a total of 484 in eight years; Harry Truman the very high total of 907 in almost eight years; and Franklin D. Roosevelt the overwhelming total of 3,522 in twelve years!

But even Theodore Roosevelt used a total of 1,081 in seven and a half years in office; William Howard Taft a total of 724 in four years in office; Woodrow Wilson a total of 1,803 in eight years in office; Warren G. Harding a total of 522 in two years and five months in office; Calvin Coolidge the high number of 1,203 in five and a half years in office; and Herbert Hoover the high total of 968 in four years in office.

So both conservatives and progressives, Republicans and Democrats, have used executive order in large numbers, and Barack Obama is definitely on the low side of usage after five and a half years in office!

But do conservatives and Republicans care to speak the truth? The reader knows the answer to that question!

Six Cities For Democrats and Four For Republicans Competing For 2016 National Conventions!

Ronald 5 Comments

The bids are in for the two national conventions of the major political parties competing for the Presidency in 2016.

The Democrats have bids from Birmingham, Alabama; Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City (Brooklyn); and Phoenix, Arizona.

The Republicans have bids from Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas, Texas: Denver, Colorado; and Kansas City, Missouri.

It would be interesting if both parties chose Cleveland, as the parties have, occasionally, chosen the same city for their conventions, but somehow, this author does not see either party actually choosing Cleveland.

What makes the most sense is to choose a city in a state that is competitive, or significant enough to be considered possibly a win for the political party involved.

Going on that assumption, it makes no sense for Birmingham, Alabama to be chosen by the Democrats.

New York City (Brooklyn) would be a popular favorite, but New York is guaranteed to the Democrat Presidential nominee in 2016.

Philadelphia would be a good choice, in a state which could be competitive, although the Democrats are a heavy favorite to win the state, so it seems unlikely as the choice that will be made.

So that leaves Columbus, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona as the remaining choices, as both states are highly competitive, but with Ohio more likely to go Democratic, and being, in many ways, the key swing state.

So the prediction of this blogger is that Columbus will be the host for the Democratic National Convention, the capital city of the state, and a better choice, overall, than Cleveland would be.

As far as the Republicans are concerned, the best choice, in the opinion of the blogger, is Denver, Colorado, a true swing state, but Dallas would be the backup if the GOP wants to send the message just how important Texas is, as the danger of an eventual move toward becoming a “blue” state becomes more possible as the years go by.

So the emotional favorite for this author for the Democrats is his home of New York, which he left for Florida 25 years ago, but the likelihood that Columbus will be chosen, with a backup of Phoenix.

While the author has no emotional favorite for the Republicans, the likely emotional choice for them would be Dallas, but with the likelihood that Denver will be chosen, and doubtful for Kansas City and, particularly, for Cleveland!

We shall see how accurate the author is in his predictions of Columbus for the Democrats and Denver for the Republicans!

Missouri, The Bellwether State For A Century, No Longer That!

Ronald 2 Comments

Missouri, the state created under a compromise in 1820, became the bellwether state in Presidential elections from 1904 to 2004.

Missouri, always considered a Midwestern state, was one of the border states that did NOT join the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, despite having slavery.

Missouri, with the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield, trending Democratic as most cities did, however saw the rural parts of the state trending Republican as the years went by, and those three cities now represent less percentage of the population than they did in 1990.

So the evangelical Christian Right has become much more of the dominant influence in the rural areas, and Barack Obama could not win Missouri either in 2008 or 2012, and lost by a substantial margin in 2012.

It is now clear that Missouri is trending Republican more and more, and is much more like Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, than it is like its neighbors of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota!

Therefore, it is clear that Missouri is now a Southern, rather than Midwestern, state, and that the lack of population growth in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield, together less than 20 percent of the state population, will make it difficult for any Democrat to win the state in a Presidential election.

The only reason for Claire McCaskill holding her Senate seat and Jay Nixon being Governor is their ability to come across as a conservative Democrat, and to have GOP opponents who are not well liked by the Missouri population.

So the bellwether state of Missouri is no more!

Most Popular Presidents In Their Lifetimes Number Only Four Since 1900!

Ronald Leave a comment

The job of being President is a glorious one, but also one of heavy burdens and responsibilities, and being popular when President and throughout your lifetime is a rare occasion.

So when one looks at 20th and 21st Century Presidents, only a few remained widely popular, even in the midst of crisis, and also in the years after retirement.

The only Presidents to have widespread popularity while in office and in retirement are:

Theodore Roosevelt
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton

Interestingly, all of the above are Republicans, except for Democrat Bill Clinton, who has just been judged the most popular President in the past 25 years!

All of these Presidents above, with the possible exception of Eisenhower, possessed great charisma, and while Eisenhower was not a great public speaker, his military heroism and leadership in World War II made him much honored, loved, and respected, for the rest of his life!

Fathers Day And Dads’ Responsibilities To The Family Unit

Ronald Leave a comment

The role of dads in their children’s lives has dramatically changed in the past half century!

Today, more than one out of five families with children under five years of age with a working mother has his or her dad as the primary caregiver, many of whom also work.

In the last 25 years, the number of stay at home dads with a working mother has doubled.

In the past 30 years, the number of father only families have more than tripled, and almost all are working dads.

Seven percent of families with children are father only families.

Dads are doing nearly an hour more childcare and housework a day than fifty years ago.

62 percent help with housework; 65 percent read to their children; and 95 percent bathe and diaper their children.

Yet, 30 percent of both moms and dads do not have access to either paid or unpaid leave for the birth of a child, and suffer negative career outcomes, due to family responsibilities.

It is time for updating the attitude toward families, on the part of companies and employers, way behind other advanced industrial nations in Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand!

Did Veiled Anti Semitism Help To Defeat Eric Cantor In His Congressional District?

Ronald 2 Comments

Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, lost his party’s nomination to an opponent who constantly talked about his Christian faith, and credited his victory to God!

Cantor is the ONLY non Christian Republican officeholder in Congress, a proud Jew of the Conservative (moderate) brand of Judaism, and a very strong supporter of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He managed to win public office in Congress, and earlier in the state legislature, despite his being jewish in an area around Richmond, where the Jewish population is only one fourth of one percent!

Since only 65,000 people voted in the GOP primary, in an area with many rural voters, many of whom have never interacted with Jews, it makes one wonder if anti Semitism may have played a role in his defeat. The margin of victory, about 6,500 votes, makes that scenario a possibility!

This is not an assertion that Eric Cantor lost for this reason, as his arrogance and cockiness, and lack of contact with much of his district, spending an inordinate amount of time in nearby Washington, DC as second ranking Republican, certainly played a major role in his defeat. His stand on immigration reform may also have undermined him, plus the opposition of right wing talk show hosts Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin (himself Jewish).

But since there is a right wing Christian element of anti Semitism out there in the population, particularly in rural areas, even the thought or possibility of Cantor’s religious beliefs playing a role in his defeat, is very disturbing!

It is certainly of concern, in any case, that the Republican Party in Congress now is all white (except for appointed Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina), all Christian (much of it extreme right wing), and heavily male and Southern or Great Plains.

This is not representative of America now, or its long range future!

Eric Cantor Not Only Congressional Leader Defeated For Re-election

Ronald Leave a comment

The defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader in his Congressional primary in Virginia by David Brat, was stunning and shocking, but not the first time that a Congressional leader was defeated for renomination or reelection.

Other prominent cases include:

Senator Richard Lugar, former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, of Indiana in 2012 by Richard Mourdock

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota in 2004 by John Thune

House Speaker Tom Foley of Washington State in 1994 by George Nethercutt

Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois in 1994 by Michael Flanagan

Congressman Emanuel Celler, House Judiciary Committee Chairman of New York, in 1972 by Elizabeth Holtzman

Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas of Illinois in 1950 by Everett Dirksen

Senator Robert La Follette, Jr of Wisconsin in 1946 by Joseph McCarthy

Notice that ONLY Cantor, Lugar and La Follette, Jr. were Republican officeholders defeated, while the others listed were all Democrats.

So it is newsworthy and highly unusual for Congressional leaders and prominent members to lose reelection!