Month: September 2023

To Kevin McCarthy And MAGA Republicans: NO Cut In Aid To Ukraine! :(

Ronald 6 Comments

As I write this, it seems as if we are on the road to a costly and unnecessary government shutdown on Sunday, provoked by extremist right wing MAGA Republicans, and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy unwilling to resist them, and instead to make a deal with Democrats and mainstream Republicans in the House of Representatives.

McCarthy and the MAGA Republicans now want a cut in aid to Ukraine, but some House Republicans and many Senate Republicans agree with Joe Biden and the Democrats that it is essential to continue to provide aid to that nation in its struggle against Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation.

The MAGA Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, and former President Donald Trump are promoting a dangerous isolationist attitude on world affairs, much like occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.

Practing appeasement to a dictator, as with Hitler in the 1930s, and Putin now, does not lead to peace, as it emboldens such evil people, and just as World War II was the result eight decades ago, so would be the result if Ukraine is conquered, as Putin will move on to NATO nations, including Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, if the US and NATO stop assisting the valiant battle of Ukraine.

So the answer to MAGA Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, and Donald Trump is NO CUT in aid to Ukraine, and the Republicans will suffer at the ballot box in November 2024!

It is tragic that there will be so much harm visited on vulnerable Americans, but in the end, Joe Biden, his party, and reasonable Senate and House Republicans must stand strong and refuse to give in!

Senator Dianne Feinstein: A Massively Significant Figure For Three Decades!

Ronald 2 Comments

California and the nation have lost a massively significant figure in US Senate History, in the three decades contribution of Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

One of only three Jewish women to have served in the US Senate, and the longest serving woman Senator in American history, Feinstein was a very significant force on many issues, including gun control, national security, civil liberties, the environment, and many other issues, and knew how to work across the aisle with Republicans.

She was also the longest serving California Senator, sadly going into rapid decline in the past year, which made many observers think she should resign, but she refused to do so.

She became only the fifth Senator to reach the age of 90 in office, joining Strom Thurmond (100), Theodore Green (93), Robert Byrd (92) and Carl Hayden (91), and Chuck Grassley has just reached the age of 90 this month, as the sixth Senator to reach 90 in office.

She was Chair of the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee at different times, and had been Mayor of San Francisco after the assassination of Mayor George Moscone in 1978, making gun regulation her most lasting commitment, and promoting the Assault Weapons Ban passed in 1994, but allowed to expire in 2004!

When the history of the Senate in the late 20th century and early 21st century is written, she will shine as a major star for her impact on American history!

Pitiful Second Republican Presidential Debate

Ronald 6 Comments

Watching last night’s second Republican Presidential debate on the Fox Business Channel was a pure exercise in futility, as it clearly was a pitiful scene of candidates talking over each other and ignoring the moderators.

Chris Christie called Donald Trump “Donald Duck”, for refusing to participate, one of the rare funny moments.

Watching Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis was difficult, as both continued to come across as arrogant, nasty, unpleasant personalities, and both oriented toward Fascism, with DeSantis claiming he would do so much on “Day One”! 🙁

Tim Scott was really weak and ineffective, and Mike Pence’s highlight moment was stating he has slept with the same woman, his wife, for 38 years, a cringy moment from a candidate who is truly someone who showed no courage or principle under Donald Trump, except after former Vice President Dan Quayle, of all people, told Pence that all he had to do was count the electoral votes on January 6, 2021! 🙁

Doug Burgum was more aggressive, but has zero chance of moving forward, while Nikki Haley stood out mostly for showing more intelligence and personality than any of the men, but to believe she will be the Republican Presidential nominee requires a sense of delusion!

Clearly, the Republican Party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan is dead!

Donald Trump Rhetoric Increases: Danger To Public Safety!

Ronald 1 Comment

Donald Trump’s rhetoric has ratched up dramatically, increasingly a danger to public safety.

He has promised revenge if he is restored to the Oval Office, and he has called for the execution of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and has said he wants to go after NBC and MSNBC and destroy their ability to report the truth and the facts.

His call for death and destruction of a free news media, on top of threats and denunciation of the judges, prosecutors, potential witnesses, and potential jurors in the four upcoming trials he faces, has created a great danger of bloodshed and violence.

The answer is to incarcerate him before and during trial, and prevent him from being on the ballot for President in any state, by use of the 14th Amendment Section 3, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and or the intervention of state Secretaries of State who control who is eligible to be on the ballot in state and local elections!

Senator Bob Menendez MUST Resign: A Danger To American Foreign Policy!

Ronald Leave a comment

New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez must resign from the Senate, as he is a clear and present danger to American foreign policy!

He has been Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and being engaged in alleged deals with Egypt is very worrisome at the least!

This has nothing to do with party politics, just simply for national security and safety!

Menendez has already once before been indicted, although the case did not lead to conviction, but he is the first US Senator to have been indicted twice in his career!

He will not be able to be reelected, and it is time for him to pursue his defense, and end his political career, for the sake of the Democratic Party!

Polls One Year Ahead Of National Elections Prove Nothing!

Ronald 4 Comments

National polling a year or more ahead of a national election is pointless, as much too often, it proves to be totally out of line with reality.

Also, elections are not decided nationally, but state by state, so therefore, the hysteria over the close polls on the Presidency showing a tight race should not cause people to panic.

At this point in many past election cycles, we were told Barack Obama was in bad shape in 2011; that Hillary Clinton was the guaranteed nominee in 2007; that Rudy Giuliani was the favored Republican candidate in 2007; that Howard Dean was favored in 2003; and on and on and on!

A year and more is an eternity, and the Democrats and Joe Biden still would be the favorite moving forward!

Time For Bipartisanship To Keep Federal Government Operating

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican controlled House of Representatives is proving its inability to operate the federal government, and holding Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy hostage.

With only a five seat edge (222 Republican and 213 Democrats), the time has come for the small band of moderate, mainstream conservative Republicans to “cross the aisle” and work with Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and take action this week to keep the government operating, and avoid the financial crisis and the mass damage that would do.

The extremist small band group of Republicans must be neutralized, and Republican members of the bipartisan “Problem Solvers Caucus” have the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to stability and cooperation.

Officially, the Problem Solvers Caucus consists of 63 members of the 118th Congress, including 32 Democrats and 31 Republicans.

Among the Republicans seen as most engaged in promoting cooperation are :

Don Bacon of Nebraska
Anthony D’Esposito of New York
Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Andrew Garbarino of New York
Dusty Johnson of South Dakota
Thomas Kean Jr of New Jersey
Young Kim of California
Nick Lalota of New York
Mike Lawler of New York
Nancy Mace of South Carolina
Marc Molinaro of New York
David Valadao of California

If 6-10 of these or other Republicans work with the 213 Democrats, the government will avoid shutdown, and the mood is developing to have such cooperation, so let’s hope such a situation transpires.

Kevin McCarthy, as horrible as he is, would be likely to stay on as Speaker, but the Republican control of the House of Representatives, as fragile as it is, is likely to evaporate in 2024.

The New York members of the Republican group, including those mentioned above, are representing Biden won districts, and they are working to survive and keep their seats, which will be a tall order. The present Congress includes 18 Republicans who won districts Biden won in 2020, so a major challenge for those Republicans.

Democrats Performing Splendidly In Off Year Special Elections: Great Sign For 2024!

Ronald 2 Comments

The year 2023 has seen 30 special elections to congressional and state legislative seats, and Democrats have performed splendidly, much better than would be normally expected, in 24 of the 30 elections.

This is a good sign for the future for 2024, as even with races that Democrats lost in usually Republican districts, Democrats overperformed dramatically.

The elections have occurred in Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Maine, Tennessee, and New York.

It gives Democrats a sense of optimism, but much hard work remains to fulfill what for the moment is a positive trend.

Outrageous Racism By Eleven Republican Senators On Joint Chiefs Of Staff Nominee!

Ronald 1 Comment

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has, single handedly, blocked promotions and confirmations of 300 military personnel for seven months, due to his opposition to the allowance for military families to travel to states that permit abortions.

Tuberville has undermined national security, and embarrassed us before our international allies, as well as our enemies.

Finally, however, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been able to force a vote on the top three people coming up for promotion and elevation in rank to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But, interestingly, the new Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, Jr had 11 Republican Senators vote against him, while two other appointees, Randy A. George and Eric M. Smith, were confirmed with 96-1 and 96-0 votes respectively.

So the question is why was the vote 83-11 for Brown? And the answer clearly is that Brown is African American, the second person of that race to be Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, following General Colin Powell, while George and Smith are both white!

What an outrage, and who are these eleven despicable and racist Senators? 🙁

Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
Ted Cruz of Texas
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Marco Rubio of Florida
Mike Lee of Utah
Roger Marshall of Kansas
Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
Eric Schmitt of Missouri
Mike Braun of Indiana
JD Vance of Ohio

All but Mike Lee voted yes on George and all eleven voted for George.

So the only conclusion is PURE RACISM, including by Cuban American Republican Senators Cruz and Rubio!

All eleven of these Republican Senators need to be called out, and exposed and condemned, and every attempt at kicking them out of the Senate when they come up for reelection is essential, as their behavior is totally reprehensible! 🙁

Speaker Of The House Kevin McCarthy Clearly A Total Disgrace!

Ronald 1 Comment

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has no guts, principles, or courage! 🙁

He was elected only after many multiple ballots, and is trapped by the extreme right wing of his House majority, most specifically the “Freedom Caucus”, including Matt Gaetz of Florida, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Chip Roy of Texas and others.

McCarthy is about to allow the government to be shut down at the end of the month, which will harm the American economy!

He also insulted Ukranaian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by not allowing him to speak before a joint session of Congress, forcing the speech to be in the old Senate chamber in the US Capitol, where a majority of Senate Republicans continue to support aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The House Republicans and MAGA Republicans supporters of Donald Trump, along with the disgraced former President, do not wish to aid Ukraine, and show evidence of being pro Russian, which would astound Republicans of the past, including Joseph McCarthy (no relationship), Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and a host of others.

Kevin McCarthy’s catering to right wing demagogues and Russian supporters will condemn him in history as the worst Speaker in modern times, and that is not an easy assertion, as past Republican Speakers included the disgraced Dennis Hastert and the despicable demagogue Newt Gingrich!

To think that Kevin McCarthy is two heartbeats away from the Presidency is a danger sign, and Democrats MUST retake the House of Representatives in 2024 to restore the dignity of the House, that was so well represented by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi!