George W. Bush

Gerald Ford’s Pardon Of Richard Nixon, 36 Years Ago Today!

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On this day 36 years ago, probably the most controversial Presidential pardon in US history occurred, when President Gerald Ford, in office just one month, announced a full and unconditional pardon of former President Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal!

The Ford pardon caused an uproar nationally, was bitterly condemned by Senator Ted Kennedy and most other Democrats, and is seen as having undermined Ford’s later bid for a full term as President in the 1976 election, leading to the victory of Jimmy Carter by a two point popular vote margin, with the belief that Ford lost at least five percent of the vote due to the controversial pardon!

It was disturbing to many that others involved in the Watergate scandal did not receive pardons and served time in prison, while the former President seemingly escaped punishment!

However, 25 years later, Senator Kennedy arranged for a special award from the John F. Kennedy Library for former President Ford, and Kennedy declared that upon reflection, what Ford did back in 1974 was the right thing to do under the circumstances!

It still remains an area of debate today however, but it must be said that President Ford’s reputation improved in the nearly 30 years that he lived beyond his Presidency, and he is seen now, a few years after his death, as having served the country in an honorable way, and was indeed a “Profile In Courage!”

Richard Nixon’s reputation has been revived somewhat due to his insightful domestic policies, but the Watergate Scandal and questionable success in foreign policy (once thought to be his great strength) have contributed a great deal to the reality that Nixon still is seen as primarily negative in his impact on American history!

The unbelievable reality though is that after the many failures of George W. Bush, and his abuses of power much greater in many ways than Nixon, all of a sudden Richard Nixon looks a lot less evil than he has been seen in the past! 🙁

What a sad commentary on the decline of faith and belief in the American Presidency! 🙁

The Supreme Court And Democracy: Clear And Present Danger! :(

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The conservative Supreme Court has done an excellent job in the past decade of undermining democracy and a fair playing field, as shown by two specific situations among others!

First, in the year 2000, in Bush V. Gore, the Republican dominated Supreme Court intervened where they had no business interfering, by deciding to settle the contested Presidential Election of 2000 by stopping the vote recount in Florida, and awarding the electoral votes of that state to George W. Bush over Al Gore, despite the fact that Gore had a national popular vote lead of 540,000! For a Court that claimed to believe in limited federal power and strict interpretation of the Constitution, they claimed the right to decide a presidential election, an arrogant and revolutionary grab of power, which by precedent now, could be utilized again in the future if a presidential election is close! 🙁

Then in January of this year, in the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court decided to overcome nearly a century of laws that prevented corporate intervention in national election campaigns, as destroying a level playing field in politics! They decided that special interest groups should have no limit on campaign spending to manipulate elections in their favor!

Both cases helped to promote the Republican cause, instead of the Court acting as a neutral arbiter! And now the news comes that an estimated $400 million will be spent by corporate groups to affect the midterm Congressional elections, as corporations work to prevent regulation and taxation, and bring about a Republican Congress favorable to them! 🙁

If this manipulation of politics, that the Supreme Court has been engaged in promoting, is not somehow overcome by legislation, the likelihood is that Congress, and also the Presidency, may become a permanent GOP majority that will continue to promote the rich and the powerful, and set out to destroy the reform legislation and regulatory laws put into place under Democratic administrations and Congresses since the 1930s!

This country could revert to the Gilded Age and 1920s mentality, and negate the Progressive Era, New Deal, Great Society, and the Obama reforms of the past year and a half! 🙁

This country could potentially become a nation that destroys Social Security, Medicare, and programs that benefit average Americans! As ordinary Americans come to realize that the rich elite are exploiting them and undermining much that has been done to promote equality and opportunity and fairness, the danger of bloodshed and violence and civil war based on economics increases, and destroys the American dream that has sustained us as America has become a better place for all of us! 🙁

Presidential Vacations: Hypocrisy To The Extreme By Republicans! :(

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The Republican Party is criticizing President Obama for going on vacation while the country faces high unemployment!

Meanwhile, the Congress is on vacation, and many Republicans, as well as Democrats continue to go on “junkets” at taxpayer expense, but apparently they and everyone else, but not the President, are entitled to time away from the office! 🙁

One must remember that a President is NEVER truly “away from the office”! The job goes with the President everywhere he is, but the change of venue is a healthy thing for him, as well as anyone!

For the Republicans to claim that Obama does not “deserve” time away is outrageous, as Obama has spent less time in his first 19 months in office “away” than George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan! Bush had 14 so called “vacations” in his first 19 months, a total of 115 days, while Obama has had 9 “vacations” and a total of 48 days!

The stress of the job of President shows through, as evidenced by the obvious aging of every President, with even Obama at a youthful 49 graying very evidently in the past 19 months! To deny time away when the job follows you everywhere you go anyway, is just petty hypocrisy! 🙁

Joe Biden’s Prediction For The Midterm Elections: Control Of Congress Assured!

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Vice President Joe Biden gave a “pep talk” to the Democratic National Committee yesterday, predicting that the party would retain control of both houses of Congress in the November 2 midterm elections!

Smartly, he did not give any numbers as to the party balance, and did not state that the party would retain the same number of seats, as that would be foolhardy, when one looks at the history of midterm elections!

But he pointed out that the Republican party has offered no real alternatives other than “repeal and repeat”, and that the American people, going through the roughest time since the Great Depression, would come to their senses after Labor Day, and realize that slow progress has been made, and it makes no sense to go back to the failed policies of the George W. Bush years, which led to this economic disaster!

The Tea Party activists running on the GOP line will weaken the party, Biden predicted, and with all of the propaganda going around that the Democrats are going to lose many seats, it is a fact, well known and reported, that the Republican National Committee is running low on campaign funds, while the Democrats are in much better financial shape!

So the media reports that are widespread, making it seem as if the Democrats are in retreat, may not be the case, as the author feels! But, of course, it is essential that all who believe that a return of the Republicans to control of Congress would be devastating, to get out there and work for the party and vote!

Time For George W. Bush And Other Principled Republicans To Speak Out On Mosque Controversy!

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The Washington Post today has come out with an editorial calling upon former President George W. Bush to speak out against the demagoguery going on within his party, with many Republicans remaining silent as Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and others make the “Ground Zero Mosque” a political football, and in the process, are promoting anti Islamic hatred, a tremendous danger to the nation and its future!

One can criticize and find fault with Bush on a multitude of issues during his eight years as President, but one cannot fault him for always trying to make clear that our war was against Al Qaeda, not the Islamic world, a belief that President Barack Obama has continued to promote!

Bush should condemn those who use the mosque issue as a way to divide America, and promote fear and hate! If he was to do so, it would improve his image, and maybe get timid Republicans such as Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Richard Lugar, and others to come out in support of his stand!

So far, only New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and commentator Pat Buchanan, indeed a strange duo, have had the courage to speak out against the hysterical tide!

We have so many important issues to deal with, and we should not be fighting and splitting over the building of a house of worship! American ideals and principles require the end of this outrageous fear mongering being promoted by its original creator, the loony blogger Pamela Geller, in league with talk radio hosts and Fox News Channel, and endorsed by potential Presidential candidates Gingrich and Palin, who should be roundly condemned for their divisive tactics! 🙁

The Eventual Retirement of Defense Secretary Robert Gates: Chuck Hagel As The Best Successor!

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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has done an excellent job under President George W. Bush in the last two years of his term, and under President Barack Obama in the first two years of his administration!

The author has, numerous times, hailed Gates’ performance, including moving toward the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, and cutting defense costs and wasteful spending, now estimated to be long term about $330 Billion! He has been willing to fight the entrenched interests in the Pentagon and try to bring defense spending under control!

But Gates had made it clear when he agreed to stay on in the Defense Department under Obama that he wanted to leave after a couple of years, and that time is fast approaching!

Gates has been a good political cover for Obama, as a Republican loyal to him and making his defense policy easier to promote, even with attacks by most Republicans on everything else the President stands for!

The question will be who can fill the shoes of Gates at an extremely crucial moment in our history, and with the political campaign for 2012 about to begin formally after the Midterm Elections of 2010 occur on November 2!

As the author has long believed and stated back in the beginning of the creation of this blog two years ago, it seems to me that the best choice to replace Gates is the distinguished former Republican Senator, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Vietnam veteran, but also a critic of the war in Iraq!

Being a Republican, and clearly an expert on defense and with lots of credibility on the subject, Hagel would be easier to have confirmed by a Senate likely to be stronger Republican next year at the least, and possibly a majority Republican, if the midterm elections turn out to be a Democratic disaster!

Hagel would fill the job admirably, would be a voice of conscience who would tell the President what he needed to know, and would be a good communicator with the media! He is a man of principle and strong patriotism, who would work well with others in promoting the safety and security of the nation, and overcome the partisan bickering and infighting in Congress!

So when Gates announces his retirement sometime next year, Barack Obama should nominate Chuck Hagel as his credible successor! 🙂

To Newt Gingrich, Jon Kyl, Judd Gregg, Sharron Angle Et Al: Unemployment Compensation Is NOT Welfare! :(

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In the midst of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, the Republican party is demonstrating how it has no concern or compassion for the millions of Americans who have lost their employment, some for two years or more already!

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, and Senate candidate Sharron Angle of Nevada, among others, have all described people on unemployment compensation as people on “welfare”, who are lazy, shiftless, and to be condemned as unwilling to take any job offer which comes along! 🙁

Unemployment compensation is not enough that anyone can live in luxury and contentment! It is only a portion of a worker’s former income! Many people have no opportunity to find a job, no matter how hard they try! But if they find a job that pays just a fraction of their former pay, then they cannot spend time finding a job that allows them to pay their mortgage or rent, and put food on the table, and plan for their children’s education and their own retirement!

These GOP politicians live off the public tax rolls, and mostly come into office wealthy, so what do they know about the struggles of everyday citizens? They have no concern, except to divide the nation and exploit for their own benefit!

The middle class has been decimated due to GOP policies while they controlled Congress from 1995-2007 and under the administration of George W. Bush from 2001-2009! How anyone with any intelligence could vote to back candidates who consider unemployment compensation as “welfare”, when everyone pays into the system throughout their work lives, is beyond comprehension! 🙁

Two Economists Agree: Obama Prevented A Depression!

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In the heated political climate that now exists in Washington, DC, the truth often is lost, and propaganda wins out, but in late July, a report by two economists proved something very significant: that the actions of President Obama in the past year really made a difference, and prevented a depression and deflation!

According to these two esteemed economists, one connected to Princeton University and the Federal Reserve, and the other to Moody’s, the gross domestic product would be 6.5 percent lower; there would be 8.5 million fewer jobs on top of the 8 million loss that has occurred; and the economy would be experiencing deflation, something unheard of since the times of Herbert Hoover!

The TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) begun by George W. Bush and continued by Barack Obama, and the economic stimulus program promoted by Obama made a REAL difference, and it is time that this be understood and accepted, and also applauded!

But in the midst of the election campaign for Congress and the governorships this fall, truth is likely to be a victim, as impatient people want immediate resolution of the economic crisis! What they fail to understand is that IF the Republican party had been in power and refused to do everything that Obama proposed, we would be in far worse shape!

The Republicans have not come up with any alternative, but if they win control of Congress, the American people will discover that there are no magic potions, and they will soon realize that they have made a mistake in switching party control to the GOP! 🙁

Pettiness To The Extreme: Michelle Obama Vacation In Spain! :(

Ronald 3 Comments

It seems impossible for Barack Obama to do anything that will not come under attack, no matter how petty it is!

The fact that First Lady Michelle Obama decided to have some personal vacation time with daughter Sasha, 9 years old, in Spain, and with a few friends and their children, is coming under attack!

The New York Daily News, a true “rag”, compared what Michelle Obama is doing to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France during the French Revolution, who supposedly said about the masses: “Let them eat cake!”. Marie Antoinette was later executed, along with her husband, King Louis XVI!

What a preposterous, ridiculous comparison! 🙁 Michelle Obama is paying her own way, as are her friends! The only expense for the government is Air Force Two and the secret service detail, but that is unavoidable anywhere the First Lady and children go !

The Daily News has exaggerated the facts and details of the trip, and supposedly, because many people are unemployed, the First Lady is not entitled to a vacation!

Well, then why is Congress taking time off, and why do any Americans take off time in the summer break? This is totally ridiculous, and NO ONE needs to apologize going on vacation, because others are unemployed and cannot go on vacation!

We have reached the point of being preposterous to the extreme, and this is not the first time a First Lady has taken vacations away from the President!

And considering the burdens the President has, more than any since Franklin D. Roosevelt, he need not apologize for any time off he takes, since it would never match the time taken by George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan!

The answer is that there should be no response to such outrageous, petty attacks, and let the critics stew in their poisonous venom! 🙁

Extreme Anti Abortion Views Of Libertarian Tea Party Republican Candidates For US Senate!

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The Republican Party has had an anti abortion plank in its national platform since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980!

But Presidents Reagan, Bush I and Bush II all made clear their beliefs in exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother!

Recently, the GOP position on exceptions on abortion has become more hard line, particularly so among libertarian Tea Party backed Republican candidates, most notably for the United States Senate!

Kentucky Senate nominee Rand Paul; Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle; and Utah Senate choice Mike Lee have all made clear their belief that a woman should be required to go full term on a pregnancy, even if caused by rape or incest–that as Sharron Angle terms it, two wrongs don’t make a right! 🙁

This is shocking for libertarian Tea Party types who would argue against big intrusive government in our lives, but yet are prepared to have government intervene on a personal matter of a woman’s body and health, and force her to follow through on a traumatic pregnancy caused by rape or incest!

This shows the hypocrisy of the Tea Party Movement and of libertarians who rail against big government, but insist that government has the right to force women to go through nine months of trauma after a shocking sexual assault!

This is a denial of personal freedom, but conveniently, the only freedoms Republican libertarians believe in is freedom of corporations to exploit the American people, and freedom of hypocrisy by these despicable candidates for public office! 🙁