Donald Trump And The “Big Lie”

CNN And Chris Cuomo Vs. Fox News Channel And Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity!

Cable News is in crisis, although one would not think so at Fox News Channel, while fully realistic of that fact at CNN.

Both cable news media corporations, as well as MSNBC, are far from perfect, but at least the culture around CNN is to take action when anchors at those channels become involved in “scandals” of one sort or another.

So CNN has fired Chris Cuomo, the highest ranked anchor, and brother of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August in the midst of a sex scandal, due to his brother Chris intervening to help his brother in unseemly ways.

On the other hand, Fox News Channel has consistently over the years refused to discipline or fire its top anchors in the evenings, despite their open nativism, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, and homophobia, all of which should be grounds for termination!

So Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity spew forth constant lies, propaganda, and support Donald Trump and the January 6 Insurrection and the “Big Lie”!

There is nothing too low and disgraceful expressed by these three anchors to incite hatred and division that is not ignored by their company’s leaders, and including bitter attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci and the actions of the US government trying to deal with the fallout of the COVID 19 Pandemic!

No decent human being would act the way these three talk shows hosts behave, and yet millions upon millions of Americans believe Fox News Channel and its anchors are God personified, and their tactics could lead to the outbreak of bloodshed and violence yet again in America in the short term and long term future!

So yes, criticize CNN, but be thankful that they have displayed a level of ethics and accountablity, that one has never seen from Fox News Channel!

Kevin McCarthy Caught In A Bind Between “Crazies” And “Normal” Members Of Republican Caucus

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has put himself into an impossible situation, as he works to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2023, IF the Republicans win control of the 118th Congress!

He is caught in a bind between the “Crazies” in the House Republican Caucus, including Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Madison Cawthorn, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, and others; and the more rational, mainline conservatives, who are unnamed, but unhappy with Kevin McCarthy refusing to hold the “crazies” accountable for their utterances and actions!

For the Republican leader to refuse to condemn Paul Gosar for his anime video attacking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden; or the horrific and hateful statements of Greene, Boebert, Cawthorn and others, is a likely death knell to McCarthy’s opportunity to be Speaker!

McCarthy clearly has no ethics, morals, or scruples, as he continues to kowtow to Donald Trump, and participates in the “Big Lie” being continued a year after the Presidential Election of 2020, that Trump won the Presidency over Joe Biden!

But there are indications already that McCarthy is not Trump’s favorite, because initially, after the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, he was critical of Donald Trump, bedore he went to Mar a Lago and switched his views on that event which he had lived through!

Fareed Zakaria CNN Special From May 2021 Updated: “A Radical Rebellion: The Transformation Of The GOP”

The Welfare State–Secularism—changing racial situation.

Fareed Zakaria on a CNN Special today, updated from May 2021, entitled “A Radical Rebellion: The Transformation of the GOP”, presented an analysis of the disaster that the Republican Party has become:

in an era of conservatism attacking the concept of the Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal and the Lyndon B. Johnson Great Society;

allowing Right Wing evangelical Christianity and theocracy to take over the party in the name of God;

and working against the reality that the white majority face a future in America of minority racial groups together being a majority of the population in about 2040-2045.

He covers from the John Birch Society in the 1950s;
to William F. Buckley, Jr and the National Review;
to Barry Goldwater and the conservative takeover in 1964, leading to massive victory of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society;
to Richard Nixon and the “Southern Strategy”in 1968;
to Jerry Falwell and the “Christian Coalition” and the “Moral Majority” in the late 1970s and early 1980s;
to Ronald Reagan and the “Reagan Coalition” in the 1980s;
to Pat Buchanan’s challenge of George H W Bush in 1992;
to Newt Gingrich and the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 and after;
to the promotion of right wing propaganda and lies by Fox News Channel starting in 1996;
to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the 2000s;
to the Tea Party Movement rise under Barack Obama’s Presidency;
to the rise of Donald Trump in 2015-2016;
to the “Big Lie” about the Presidential Election of 2020;
to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection;
to the present extremism in the Congressional and State Republican parties in 2021;
to the constant threat to women’s rights, including abortion;
to the right wing rejection of Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney as not conservative enough;
and the growing racism, nativism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and homophobia that have become alarming realities for the future of American politics!

Republican Party: From Joseph McCarthy In The 1950s To Kevin McCarthy In 2021!

The Republican Party has fallen from the time of such leaders as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and innumerable decent Republican Senators and Governors over the years!

But there has always been an ugly side to the Republican Party since World War II, characterized by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the 1950s and now the disgraceful leadership of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California!

The first McCarthy set out to destroy the lives of Americans by labeling them “Reds” or “Pinkos”, and now the modern McCarthy, NOT a family member or relative, has set out to destroy any decency in the Republican Party by backing a criminal attempt of Donald Trump to come back to the Presidency, “by hook or by crook”, with emphasis on the latter, and by promoting the “Big Lie”!

Kevin McCarthy is willing to destroy any honest, decent Republican in his quest to be two heartbeats away from the Presidency, even though he personally condemned Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol!

Joseph McCarthy was a horror and a villain in the 1950s, and now another McCarthy is a villain in the 2020s!

It is essential that Kevin McCarthy be required to testify in the House January 6 Committee investigation, and that his immoral, unethical behavior be called out, and that he should pay the price for undermining American democracy!

America survived the first McCarthy after nearly a five year nightmare, and America needs to survive the era of the modern demagogue, Kevin McCarthy!

The Evil Hypocrisy Of So Called “Devout” Evangelical People, Who Accept Donald Trump As Speaking For God!

It is absolutely outrageous that many so called “devout” evangelical people accept Donald Trump as speaking for God!

Donald Trump is the complete opposite of what is considered basic teachings of Jesus, including compassion, empathy, tolerance, and promoting the best behavior by people.

Trump is supported by racists, nativists, misogynists, homophobes, Islamophobes, and antisemites, and has lied and deceived his entire life, including more than 30,000 times during his Presidency!

Trump is far from being a devout Christian as imaginable, as he only worships his own ego!

Trump provoked the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, and continues to promote the “Big Lie”, that he won the 2020 Presidential Election!

Trump was impeached twice, and lost the popular vote both in 2016, when Russian collusion helped to put him into office, and in 2020, and both times by massive margins–2.85 million in 2016 and 7 million in 2020!

Trump’s whole purpose is to regain power and establish an authoritarian Fascist government!

For any “religious” person to see Donald Trump as speaking for God demonstrates how evil and hypocritical such individuals are, and the concept that America should become a theocracy defies the teachings of the Founding Fathers, who promoted separation of church and state!

Republicans In Leadership And Many In Congress Continue To Perpetuate the “Big Lie” About 2020!

It is shocking and dismaying that nine months after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, we still have Republicans continuing to perpetuate the “Big Lie”, that Donald Trump won the election, and it was “stolen”!

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden is President this past weekend on a news interview show, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has disgraced himself in backing Donald Trump, with both Scalise and McCarthy and a multitude of other Republicans afraid to alienate Trump.

The Republican Party is full blown Fascism in its intent and strategy, and they make it clear that they will not cooperate in the investigation of the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, except for two House members, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who have shown guts and courage to go ahead and join the investigatory House Committee on January 6, undermining their own hold on their seats in Congress.

The Lunacy Reigning In The Republican Party In Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Alaska

The Republican Party in many states is going total lunacy, as they work at praising Donald Trump and continuing to promote the “Big Lie” about the Presidential Election of 2020.

In Texas, the move is on to create the greatest restrictions on voting rights, which might force legislative Democrats to leave the state in order to prevent action.

Also, total whacko Allen West, the former head of the Texas Republican Party, after earlier being a nightmare in Florida politics, including one term in Congress a decade ago, is now challenging right wing governor Greg Abbott for the gubernatorial nomination in 2022, as if Abbott is not far enough to the Right!

Additionally, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held a gathering this weekend, including Donald Trump ranting and raving about the election being stolen.

In Oklahoma, Senator James Lankford, a solid conservative but not extreme in rhetoric, has been condemned by the state Republican party chair, and is now facing a primary to kick him out, totally off the wall!

And in Ohio, with Senator Rob Portman, a mainstream conservative retiring next year, the battle is on between extremist right winger Josh Mandel, who swears total loyalty to Donald Trump, and now the entry into the race of author and activist JD Vance, who had been very critical of Trump in 2016, but now swears loyalty to Trump, and says all Republicans must “suck up” to Trump, demonstrating that he is a total coward and phony with no basic principles except to advance his desire to be a United States senator!

Finally, in Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski was rejected by a vote of the state Republican Party, who endorsed her challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, but Murkowski overcame a similar situation in 2010, and ran as a write in, overcoming a Tea Party candidate, so do not count Murkowkski out.

A 50-50 Democratic Controlled Senate Could Any Time Switch To Control By Republicans!

With the reality in 2021 of a 50-50 US Senate, the ability of the Democratic majority to get the Joe Biden agenda adopted becomes a constant headache, and the inability to adjust the filibuster to allow votes on some issues without a 60 member majority support is infuriating.

And behind the scenes, there are concerns over the distinct possibility that were a Democratic Senator to die or become incapacitated and be unable to vote, such event would literally switch control of the Senate back to the Republicans, and Mitch McConnell.

The Senate has 5 members over 80, and 25 members in their 70s, an all time high such number, and the average age of all Senators is 63, also the highest in the history of the Senate.

18 of these 30 members over 70 and into their 80s are Democrats, so in many respects, the clock is ticking, and it is essential for quick action on a multitude of issues before a possible tragedy occurs.

Also, history tells us that the party NOT in the White House tends to gain seats in the midterm elections that follow, and that portends a disaster for the Democrats, with an evenly divided Senate and only a 6 vote margin in the House of Representatives.

Of course, the tumult around Donald Trump and the “Big Lie” might help the Democrats to gain seats, and history is not a guarantee for the party out of power in both houses of Congress.

But this is certainly a time of concern, including the possible future retirement, although clearly not imminent, of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer!

The Unpredictability Of Supreme Court Justices Continues!

The Supreme Court has proved once again that, despite which President chooses them, and their political ideology, that being on the Court has an effect, and causes surprises.

All three of Donald Trump’s appointments (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett) have surprised on some cases, so while all are conservative in nature, one sees unusual alliances on some decisions, including being on the same side at times with Democratic appointments (Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan) to the Court.

So no President can ever be certain that his appointments will vote the way he might wish, as Trump has seen that his nominees have not sided with him, including on the claim that the Presidential Election of 2020 was “stolen”!

So it is really a case of unpredictability on the future of the present Court, although clearly, it is still the most conservative Court since the 1930s! Even Chief Justice John Roberts, however, is sometimes surprising in his views on cases!

One point is perfectly clear, however, that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are the most right wing members of the Court!

White Supremacy March In Philadelphia On July 4: Alarming And A Warning!

In the midst of the celebrations of Independence Day Number 245 since 1776, Philadelphia, the city where the Constitutional Convention took place in 1787, witnessed a White Supremacy-White Nationalist March of a few hundred young white men.

This reminded us of the tragedy of the Charlottesville, Virginia march of young white supremacists in the summer of 2017, where a woman was killed, that was praised by President Donald Trump as having “good people on both sides”!

This Philadelphia march is alarming and a warning of the possibility of race war this summer and into the future, and the fear exists that Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” could incite civil war in the near future, particularly with the false claim by QAnon conspiracy theorists that Donald Trump will be reinstalled in the Presidency on Friday, August 13!