This morning, Vice President Joe Biden voted in Delaware, and was asked if this is the last time he will be on an election ballot.
Biden made it clear that in no way was this the last time!
So the Presidential Campaign of 2016 has begun, even before we count the ballots of the Presidential Election of 2012!
Such is politics in America, a never ending game that never escapes us, just like sports, always there, always entertaining!
This disastrous Hurricane Sandy has demonstrated already the difference in leadership of President Barack Obama and his Republican Presidential opponent, Mitt Romney.
Obama has conducted himself fabulously, and has been praised by Republican Governor Chris Christie for his leadership in the crisis. He has demonstrated a steady, calm, cool hand, as he always has in every tough moment of his Presidency, including the operation to eliminate Osama Bin Laden.
Meanwhile, we are reminded that Mitt Romney has advocated getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and farming its operations back to the state and local governments, and even promoting privatizing its activities. He constantly said this during the Republican primary campaign, as he rushed to please the far right wing of his Republican Party.
Now he is caught in a bind, and has avoided direct comment about the situation caused by Hurricane Sandy.
But he has also, this quickly, shown partisanship, instead of bipartisanship, by calling and consulting with Republican Governors Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Bob Mc’Donnell of Virginia, but NOT calling and consulting with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, and Delaware Governor Jack Markell, all Democrats.
This is evidence, and not good, that shows that Mitt Romney would NOT be a good crisis President, and would play political games, similar to what George W. Bush did with Hurricane Katrina, and the Democratic Mayor and Democratic Governor of Louisiana, and thus giving a bad image to FEMA, which had been effective before Bush, and is again under Obama!
FEMA can be effective IF we have the right crisis President, and the proper people put into the agency to operate it efficiently. And if there is a need to fund more money for FEMA, by raising taxes, so be it, as we cannot afford to leave the management of a natural or man made disaster to 50 state governors alone, and certainly NOT to private companies, whose only purpose is to maximize profits at the expense of their employees and the general public!
The Republican Party is infamous for running wing nuts for the Senate, and as a result, lost the chance for control of the US Senate in 2010.
They ran such characters as Christine O’Donnell in Delaware; Ken Buck in Colorado; Sharron Angle in Nevada; and Joe Miller in Alaska.
The first three were so whacky that the Democrats held on to the seats, and kept control of the Senate, with Harry Reid of Nevada remaining Senate Majority Leader. Lisa Murkowski won a miraculous victory in Alaska over Tea Party favored Joe Miller, keeping that seat sane and sensible, while Republican.
At the same time, Rand Paul and Mike Lee won in Kentucky and Utah, respectively, and Marco Rubio was also backed by the Tea Party, and now Paul and Rubio are likely leaders of the party in the near future, no matter how right wing they are!
Now we have in 2012 the following: Ted Cruz in Texas, backed by the Tea Party and likely to win a Senate seat; Debbie Fischer in Nebraska, who faces former Democratic Senator and Presidential seeker Bob Kerrey, who faces a tough battle; Richard Murdock, who defeated respectable conservative Richard Lugar in Indiana; and now, Todd Akin, challenging Senator Claire McCaskell in Missouri.
With the likelihood of Cruz, Fischer, and Murdock victories for the Tea Party and the right wing of the social conservatives, the only thing that may stop GOP control of the US Senate is the Todd Akin controversy, but in theory, Akin could win that race too, and with only three or four seats gain needed to win control of the Senate for the Republicans, the future makeup of the Senate is disturbing!
It should be pointed out that the Texas and Indiana seats coming up for election are already GOP seats, so only Nebraska and maybe Missouri would be gains for the Tea Party element as things stand now! But going from Kay Bailey Hutchison and Richard Lugar to Ted Cruz and Richard Murdock is a major step backward toward further deadlock, confrontation, and paralysis in a Senate already with a terrible reputation
The death of Russell Peterson, a major figure in the environmental movement after having worked with the DuPont Chemical Corporation as a research scientist for 26 years, deserves attention.
Peterson died a few days ago at age 94, and anyone concerned about the environment must applaud his transformation from a research scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry who worked for the one of the most prominent corporations which helped to undermine the environment in the process of doing business, the DuPont Chemical Corporation, to a environmental leader who fought DuPont and the Shell Oil Company, among others, who resisted any intervention by government on their business and industrial practices.
A one term Governor of Delaware as a Republican, Peterson promoted protection of the state’s coastline from industrial development, including a Shell Oil Company refinery, and utilized a lapel button which declared “To Hell With Shell”!
This activity led to Peterson’s appointment by President Richard Nixon as chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, which he kept under President Gerald Ford. Peterson worked to protect the ozone layer of the atmosphere, and the phaseout of freon, a DuPont product.
Peterson promoted the publication of environmental impact statements and drew our attention to the environment like few other people had been able to do.
Peterson became head of the National Audubon Society from 1979-1985 and fought the environmental decline under President Ronald Reagan. He reacted to Reagan’s statement that his society was trying to make the White House a “bird’s nest” by stating that the White House under Reagan was already a “cuckoo’s nest”!
Peterson fought not just for protection of wildlife, but also for population control measures, consideration of energy issues, dealing with the dangers of toxic chemicals, and promotion of films on the environment and adaptation of an environmental curriculum for elementary school students. He also became involved in the protection of birds, and concern about the biological threat presented by nuclear war.
Imagine this: here was a man who developed Dacron polyester fiber and nylon carpet yarn while working for DuPont, and yet he became a reform Governor, possibly the best Governor in Delaware history, and grew to appreciate that industry must be regulated in the public interest to save our environment.
So with his death, one of the greatest public figures on environmental issues has left us with a great legacy to pursue!
We now have more people out of work than at any time in American history, over 15 million, with many millions out of work for more than six months.
Unemployment compensation was created during the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt to help unemployed people stay afloat during what is the greatest crisis in a person’s life, other than divorce or death in the family!
We all are paying for this entitlement through our taxes, and it is NOT a handout or a welfare giveaway, as many Republicans and conservative talk show hosts claim! 🙁
To say that one wishes to take unemployment compensation and not look for work is an outrage, as everyone knows it is a TEMPORARY assistance, nothing more! 🙁
And yet, we have Republicans in Congress calling for the end of unemployment compensation as a right for those losing their jobs through no fault of their own! 🙁
As examples of this hardhearted attitude, we have Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and Senate candidate and loser Christine O’Donnell of Delaware! 🙁
Bachmann, already well known as one of the most controversial and divisive members of the House of Representatives, complained that the new tax bill will allow extension of unemployment compensation beyond the 99 week maximum for another 13 months. But the problem is that she is totally wrong, as the legislation does no such thing, but just simply allows the present unemployment compensation system to be funded for 13 more months! Bachmann is totally misinformed, as well as mean spirited, both characteristics nothing new for her! 🙁
But in a way, Christine O’Donnell, who lost the Senate race to Chris Coons in Delaware, is even worse in her reaction to the issue of unemployment compensation!
This woman, who proved her total incompetence to be a United States Senator during the campaign, complained about the tax bill because it allowed an extension of unemployment compensation to those out of work, wanting it to end completely! But this woman has NEVER held a regular work position, and has lived off running multiple campaigns for public office, inappropriately using campaign funds to pay her rent, to eat out at restaurants, go bowling, etc! 🙁
What a nerve that a woman who has no real work experience, has proved to be both extremely lazy and stupid, and has been corruptly living off campaign funds, should express a view that unemployed people should not have a safety net that has existed since the 1930s!  To top it off, she compared the “tragedy” of unemployment compensation to the death of Elizabeth Edwards and to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor! 🙁
Both these women just are further evidence of how out of touch with reality, and how lacking in concern, is the state of the Republican Party in 2010! 🙁
Christine O’Donnell, the GOP candidate for the Delaware Senate seat, debated her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons, yesterday, on a nationally televised debate on C Span and CNN!
What stood out about the debate was that O’Donnell was aggressive, interrupted Coons constantly, evaded the specific questions that were asked, came up with vague generalizations designed to promote “code words”, and showed her lack of knowledge of specific Supreme Court cases, a la Sarah Palin two years ago! 🙂
Coons made a point of saying that a lot of what O’Donnell was saying made no sense, had no relevance, and was just plain erroneous, but that the debate format made it impossible for him to refute much of what she said in a brief one or two minutes!
Coons acted like a gentleman, so that he could not be accused of “beating up” on a woman, similar to how Joe Biden handled Sarah Palin in the Vice Presidential debate two years ago!
The impression gained is that Coons showed more command of the subjects of the debate, but that O’Donnell might have gained a bit just by not doing a “Jan Brewer” type of total panic reaction, as occurred in the Arizona Governor debate a few weeks ago!
But polls indicate that Coons is far ahead of O’Donnell, and it seems doubtful that a majority of Delaware voters will be swayed to back a candidate seen by many as not qualified to serve in the Senate!
The most ridiculous candidate for national office this year, of so many outrageous candidates, is GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell of Delaware, who hopes to gain the seat held for 36 years by Vice President Joe Biden!
O’Donnell loved to express her views publicly on television years ago, particularly on shows hosted by the comedian Bill Maher, and she was often the comedy more than the host of the show!
She indicated that she had been engaged in witchcraft; railed against masturbation as working against the idea of virginity before marriage; and wondered how evolution could be correct since monkeys do not turn into human beings before our eyes!
She also, in several campaigns for public office, demonstrated that she was effective in utilizing campaign funds to pay her rent, food, and even bowling outings, all illegal activities with campaign money!
She also exaggerated her educational background, implying connections with Oxford University in Great Britain, as well as Claremont Graduate University in California, and Princeton University in New Jersey, and managed to claim a degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, although she only finally gained an actual degree a few months ago, after years of owing money to the university for work completed long ago!
Beyond all this, Christine O’Donnell comes across as not very bright, and it makes one wonder about the concept of citizen-legislators! Should not a person who wishes to serve in our legislative bodies, either national or state, meet the basic acid test of knowledge and intelligence? 🙁
Christine O’Donnell is way behind her opponent, Chris Coons, in the Senate race. Were she, somehow to win, it would not be a triumph for the masses of the people, but a sign of the problem this country faces: the rise of total mediocrity to high office! 🙁
It is good to see that some Republicans, considered moderates, are refusing to allow the Tea Party Movement reactionaries to seize control of their party without a fight!
First, we had Charlie Crist, who decided to run as an Independent for the US Senate in Florida, and has a good chance to defeat Marco Rubio, the GOP and Tea Party nominee for that seat!
Then, we had Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware, who has refused to endorse Christine O’Donnell for the Senate after she defeated him in the primary this week, because of her lies and distortions, along with her lack of qualifications!
Now, belatedly, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is attempting to do something only one Senator ever has achieved–win the election by write ins only! Only Strom Thurmond of South Carolina accomplished that in 1954 as a Democrat! Murkowski lost the Senate nomination by a very small margin to Joe Miller, who she and many describe as an extremist with loony views! She attributes her defeat to her earlier unwillingness to come out fighting against him!
Of course, this Murkowski attempt at a write in victory will be very difficult, but she is well known and liked throughout the state, and her father also was Senator and Governor of Alaska! This is also a personal battle between the Murkowski family and Sarah Palin! The likelihood is that this move by Murkowski will fail, but help Democrat Scott McAdams to win the Senate seat!
The odds are that these internal revolts in the GOP will help the Democrats to keep control of the Senate and lose fewer seats than often imagined in the polls!
And should Murkowski pull out a miracle victory, and Crist win and even organize with the Republicans who have repudiated him (which seems highly unlikely), we will still be better off with two “moderate” Republicans than with two right wing fanatics in the Senate!
The future of the Republican party as an opposition is to be what they were historically–a centrist party leaning to the right, just as the Democratic Party is a centrist party leaning to the left–the mainstream where most Americans are then and now!
The worst possible scenario would be if the “Tea Party Eight” all won Senate seats, as that would be a nightmare not just for the Democratic party and the nation, but also for Senator Mitch McConnell and other establishment Republican leaders in the upper chamber!
Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell is a new Tea Party favorite, but one who makes you wonder about the competence, integrity and motivations of this right wing Republican associated movement! 🙁
Questions have been raised about her competence, including the fact that she has lied about being a college graduate, which she only became this year after finishing one more course and paying much belated fees and bills due to Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey from the 1980s!
Also, O’Donnell has not held a paying job for years, and seems to have used campaign funds to pay her personal expenses, including rent and credit card bills! And she has alienated campaign staff who have not been paid for their services in past campaigns for the Senate! 🙁
O’Donnell also has in the past promoted a very narrow minded view of sexuality, including arguing against any sexual activity outside of marriage, including masturbation, and yet lives with a boyfriend, and seems unlikely now to be practicing celibacy, which she pushed as a religious issue in the 1990s!
She claims to be an expert on the Constitution, but has never written or expressed orally any specific knowledge of government issues, and just seems to be a professional office seeker, with three attempts for a Senate seat, but with no actual credentials! 🙁
This woman is extremely attractive, but comes across as not very bright or knowledgeable, in many ways a clone of Sarah Palin!
The Delaware Republican Party repudiated her before she defeated Congressman and former Governor Mike Castle in the primary by a small margin of votes, and Castle will not endorse her as he states that she has lied consistently, which indeed seems to be totally true, including claiming that she had won two counties in Delaware against Joe Biden in 2008, when she won none of the three counties in the small state! 🙁
Karl Rove, former adviser to George W. Bush, may be switching gears under pressure to back O’Donnell, after criticism of his strong stand against her competency, integrity and motivations, but the fact he has switched views does not take away from his earlier views, which seemed indeed legitimate!
Karl Rove may be objectionable in many ways, but he truly knows politics and candidates backwards and forwards, and his initially strong doubts about O’Donnell have to be seen for what they were! CHRISTINE O’DONNELL IS NOT QUALIFIED TO REPRESENT DELAWARE IN THE US SENATE! 🙁
The battle within the Republican Party in Delaware for the Senate nomination in tomorrow’s primary may very well be a sign of the future of the GOP nationally!
Moderate Congressman Mike Castle, an 18 year veteran of the House of Representatives and former Governor, is being opposed by Christine O’Donnell, who has twice lost Senate races against Vice President Joe Biden, and in the mind of GOP leaders in the state, has absolutely no qualifications for the Senate, other than her very good looks!
The Tea Party Movement, Sarah Palin, and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, angling to be Senate leader for his party in a challenge to Senator Mitch McConnell, all are backing O’Donnell!
The result is that there could be said to be “civil war” between moderate centrists and the right wing of the party, which is becoming more aggressive everywhere, representing a long range threat to the stability of the GOP across the nation!
This is a sad commentary on the GOP, facing a crisis of identity as the Tea Party Movement works to overtake and reshape the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and YES, even Ronald Reagan! 🙁