Joe Biden

The National Rifle Association Vs. The American People!

Ronald 17 Comments

The National Rifle Association and a percentage of its membership have declared war on American safety and security by their vicious campaign against any new gun regulations in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Massacre! But Barack Obama and Joe Biden have come up with a series of legislative ideas and executive orders that will challenge the NRA’s dominance on this issue!

The American people want action, and Pew Research Polls prove that as shown below:

85 percent want background checks for private and gun show sales.
80 percent want people with mental disorder to be prevented from purchasing guns.
67 percent want a federal data base to track gun sales.
58 percent want a ban on semi automatic weapons.
55 percent want a ban on assault style weapons.
54 percent want a ban on high capacity magazines.
53 percent want a ban on online sale of ammunition.

So the American people overwhelmingly support sensible gun control measures, and the NRA is fighting against this tide, and is using its power with Republicans to prevent any action.

But the Republican Party, if it continues this unwillingness to recognize the threat to all of us by lack of regulation, and instead backs wing nuts like Alex Jones, and continues to support the NRA, and lets Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and others like him to become the image of the party on this matter, they will suffer heavily at the polls in future elections!

The “New” Generation Of Democrats: Led By Andrew Cuomo Of New York And Martin O’Malley Of Maryland!

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As the next Presidential term begins in a few days, the focus has been on Vice President Joe Biden and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the two most likely front runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016.

While certainly that is possible, it is also conceivable that a “New Generation” of leadership may be emerging to contest their front runner status, and just might be the alternative to either Biden or Clinton.

Two Northeastern Governors have likely plans to announce for President, and both are working very hard to establish their credentials in similar fields of endeavor.

These two gentlemen are New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

Both have become leaders in promoting gay rights and gay marriage in their states, and both have taken leadership in the area of gun regulations in wake of the Sandy Hook Massacre in Connecticut.

Both are very bright, articulate leaders of the future, whether or not they enter the contest for the Presidency, and both have extensive executive experience in public office.

Both will certainly be heard from in the future, and will be discussed regularly over time on this blog! So stay tuned!

Rapidly Growing Polarization Threatens Safety Of President Obama And Vice President Biden!

Ronald 7 Comments

As the fury and anger of critics of President Obama and Vice President Biden on so many issues—the debt ceiling, gun control legislation, Cabinet nominees, gay rights, immigration reform, climate change, and foreign policy controversies (including a nuclear Iran, the Syrian Civil War, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea)— continues to escalate to dangerous emotional levels, the safety of both men is, more than ever, a subject of great concern not often directly talked about publicly.

The argument could be that both the President and Vice President have exceptional Secret Service security, and that we need not worry.

But as one realizes as we begin the 50th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination this coming November 22, no security detail can guarantee the safety of any President, Vice President, or anyone else.

There is always the “lone wolf” out there, ready to sacrifice himself to gain glory, to make a political point, to act out hatred of someone, knowing they will be part of the American history story forever, as much as John Wilkes Booth, Charles Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz and Lee Harvey Oswald—the assassins of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy, respectively!

And the rhetoric that has become “normal” these days is far greater than it was even when John F. Kennedy was traveling to Dallas, Texas, almost 50 years ago.

And we have talk show hosts on radio and Fox News Channel who thrive on building hate and animosity and conspiracy theories, and will stop at nothing in their hateful and divisive rhetoric!

And we have the power of pressure groups, and not just the National Rifle Association, but many others, who ratchet up the stress and tension by making it seem like the world will end, due to the federal government passing legislation or extending executive authority, as if we are Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union, or Communist China, when our history and our heritage have nothing to do with the history of those nations!

As we come up to the second inauguration of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, we all need to do a lot of praying that the polarization which exists will not lead to a greater tragedy which solves nothing, and just would show the depths of the threats we face from right wing wingnuts who want to set back the progress of America, and are delusional about the world they live in!

Impeachment Threat Against Barack Obama Grows, But Really A “Paper Tiger”!

Ronald 10 Comments

President Barack Obama is being inaugurated for a second term as President in a few days, but is already being threatened by reckless critics with the idea of impeachment, if he takes action on the economy, gun rights, the war in Afghanistan, immigration, or just about any other issue that causes fury among his critics, including the moronic “Birthers”, who still insist that Obama was born in Kenya, not America.

But the reality is that the threat of impeachment is a “paper tiger”, a totally useless exercise which will not, under any circumstances, lead to the removal of Obama from the Presidency.

The reasons for this conclusion include:

The fact that Obama has done nothing and will do nothing that is truly impeachable, meaning he will not “commit high crimes and misdemeanors in office”.

The fact that the critics know this, but may want to besmirch his reputation, using the same tactics against Bill Clinton in 1998-1999, a development which actually raised Clinton’s popularity and reputation and undermined the Republican Party image and standing.

The fact that removing Obama will not improve the situation politically, as Vice President Joe Biden would continue the same policies and initiatives of the President, and this would give him a leg up for the next Presidential election.

Finally, there is the interesting fact that Obama would have an unusual and ideal situation were he to be impeached, and face a Senate trial. This is that Obama would be the only President facing impeachment who would have a Senate with a majority of the membership being of his own party!

55 Senators are Democrats, and with the need to gain 67 votes to remove, it would require 40 percent of the Democrats and all of the Republicans to remove the President from office, and that will never happen!.

In comparison, Andrew Johnson, Democrat, had 42 Republicans in a 54 member Senate in 1868.

Richard Nixon, Republican, had 57 Democrats in a 100 member Senate in 1974.

Bill Clinton, Democrat, had 55 Republicans in a 100 member Senate in 1999.

So realize that impeachment is a political weapon that only demagogues will utilize, and while a majority of the House of Representatives can vote to impeach on flimsy grounds, and while such an action becomes part of the obituary of that President, there is no threat at all to Barack Obama asserting his powers and leading us for the next four years!

A First In A Presidency: The President, Vice President, Secretary Of State, And Secretary Of Defense All Former Senators!

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For the first time in the history of the Presidency, we have now the unique circumstance of having four former United States Senators about to be serving at the same time as President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense!

The fact that most Senators aspire to be in one of those four positions is belied by the fact of just how rare that is, and never have all four positions been held by former Senators whose next public position was to serve in one of those posts.

Barack Obama is the former Senator from Illinois. Joe Biden is the former Senator from Delaware. John Kerry soon will be the former Senator from Massachusetts. And Chuck Hagel, when confirmed, will have the distinction of having been a former Senator from Nebraska.

These four men are a distinguished team, with all having sought the Presidency, except Hagel, who had thoughts of it, but had no chance in a Republican party that he realized, as time went by, was no longer the party he had believed in, based on its past.

The Republican Party And Debt Default And Government Shutdown: Constant “Hostage Taking” Tactics!

Ronald 1 Comment

Now that the “Fiscal Cliff” battle is over, and Barack Obama has won the battle on raising taxes on high incomes, a compromise at $450,000, instead of his original plan of $250,000, already the Republican Party, which lost the battle with only one third of them supporting it, but with Democratic backing and agreement to conduct a vote by Speaker John Boehner allowing it to pass, are creating a new crisis with reckless, irresponsible Republicans ready to fight on the issue of the raising of the debt limit, which must occur by the end of February. A new “Hostage Taking” situation is being created once again!

Among those Republicans who are arguing for a debt default and government shutdown are:

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Senator John Cornyn of Texas
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Mike Lee of Utah
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, Majority Leader
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, House Budget Commitee Chairman
Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California, House Majority Whip

Among those arguing against it, but not in public office are:

Former Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Just about any sane Republican who held office in the past and is holding his or her head in their hands in grief at what their party has become!

Speaker John Boehner has said that we cannot renege on the debt, and he knows that the government shutdown in 1995 by the House Republicans under Newt Gingrich during the Bill Clinton Administration was a disaster, and helped Clinton win a second term, and public opinion polls backed Clinton during the debacle.

But Boehner, having lost support of a dozen House Republicans in the Speakership vote on Wednesday, is weakened, and has a massive headache with Tea Party radicals and others who should know better than to play games with the fiscal health of the American economy!

Boehner has already said he will not speak privately with Obama, and has already insulted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with foul language, which he has not apologized for.

This creates a very awkward situation as the deadline nears iin late February, and all it will do is boost the ratings of the Democrats and President Obama, and further degrade the Republican Party future. Obviously, their defeat in November has NOT changed the mindset of the GOP, and that spells tragedy for their political futures!

A thought that comes to mind is that Vice President Joe Biden might again have to be called upon to negotiate with Boehner and others, since Obama and Reid seem to have no possibility of private discussions with House leaders or Senate leaders. Biden may, again, save the day, for the umpteenth time!

The point is that the Republican Party is fighting a losing battle for public opinion, and if there are bad economic implications, they will be the ones to suffer for it in 2014 and 2016!

Vice President Joe Biden At His Most Charming And Genuine At Senate Swearing In Ceremonies!

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There is only one Joe Biden, our Vice President, who is the most genuine and sincere politician on the scene today!

Biden is criticized for his flubs and gaffes, but while no one is perfect, his flubs and gaffes are harmless, and at most, may invoke laughter and embarrassment over the Vice President’s sometimes, slightly inappropriate, comments!

Biden put on quite a show as he went through mock swearing in of Senators yesterday, on opening day of the new 113th Congress. He got to meet the Senators’s wives, children, grandchildren, mothers, cousins, etc, and he was absolutely charming, charismatic, and funny, drawing laughter and smiles from both Democratic and Republican Senators and their family members.

He was flattering to mothers of the Senators; attentive to young children of the Senators; able to relate to teenage and older children of the Senators; and left an overall good feeling to all who gathered for the ceremonies, and caused much laughter and chuckles for those observing the events live on C Span.

Biden is always entertaining, but at the same time, one realizes how brilliant a mind he has; how talented a speaker he is; how effective he is in getting things done for President Barack Obama; how much expertise he has on such a wide variety of subjects; and how he knows how to bridge gaps between differing sides and viewpoints.

He is a tremendous asset to Obama, and as the Atlantic Monthly Magazine and National Journal have declared, there is a case for stating that Barack Obama is the most active, involved, and influential Vice President in American history—more than Richard Nixon under Dwight D. Eisenhower; more than Nelson Rockefeller under Gerald Ford; more than Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter; more than George H. W. Bush under Ronald Reagan; more than Al Gore under Bill Clinton; and more than Dick Cheney under George W. Bush!

We could do far worse than Joe Biden to be the 45th President of the United States, by election in 2016! Imagine 44 years of service to his country being brought to the forefront as qualifications for the nation’s highest office!

Right Wing Lunatics Never Let Up On Aim To Destroy Barack Obama!

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The wing nut right wing never stops attacking Barack Obama!

They claim that Obama is a Muslim President, despite the fact that the President has been responsible for the killing of more Muslims than George W. Bush. Obama has utilized the drone program in Afghanistan effectively, and has been able to end the lives of many terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but it is never enough!

Glenn Beck, the lunatic, has now said that if any of his staff members mention Obama’s name in the next four years, they will be fired. He plans to avoid mentioning Obama at all, but if so, how will he continue to make his millions as a demagogue dividing America, since his whole living has been based on destroying Obama with his reckless rhetoric?

And there has been a plan by the far right to try to prevent the Electoral College from counting electoral votes, but that was done in early December in all of the state capitols, and the joint session of Congress today will see Vice President Joe Biden open up 51 envelopes and announce the results of the Electoral College. And even if one or two electors are disloyal, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be declared the winners of the election, since their margin of victory in electoral votes is 62 votes more than the 270 needed to win!

And World Net Daily, an extremist, conspiratorial news website, has suggested that Chief Justice John Roberts announce that he will refuse to swear in the President for another term on Inauguration Day. In actual fact, Roberts will, assuredly, do no such thing, as he worries about his own reputation and that of the Supreme Court, and is not about to destroy his own image and reputation, which has been promoted by his decisive vote in the ObamaCare case in June of 2012!

But even if by some fluke, Roberts went crazy, it is not a requirement that the Chief Justice must give the oath to the President. ANY judge or Justice can do so, and one can be certain that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg or Justice Stephen Breyer or even Justice Anthony Kennedy would take on the responsibility if Roberts was to go off the deep end and destroy his whole career by refusing to do so.

And, finally, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One by a woman federal district court judge, Sara Hughes, on November 22, 1963, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, so again, it does not even have to be a Supreme Court Justice who swears in the President.

It is clear the right wing lunatics will stop at nothing to attack and destroy Barack Obama, but while they make money off gullible and stupid people, it does not change the reality that Barack Obama is the choice of the American people, has accomplished a lot in his first term, and despite constant barriers, will achieve a lot in his second term, and go down as one of our better Presidents in American history!

Obscene, Crude Behavior By Republicans And Conservative Ideologues: No Common Decency!

Ronald 2 Comments

Republicans and conservative ideologues have no limits as to their obscene, crude behavior.

Witness the news that Speaker of the House John Boehner, passing by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, uttered “Go F—Yourself”, which startled Reid, and Boehner repeated it. This was done, all because of the frustration of Boehner with Reid and the Democrats over the difficult bargaining on the “Fiscal Cliff”. It is certainly believable that anyone can have such thoughts, and might even state so to his friends and colleagues about someone else, but to use such language directly eye to eye with the person being attacked by such invective, is totally unacceptable, totally crude and obscene, totally unbecoming of a Congressional leader or anyone else in the public eye! Boehner needs to apologize publicly to Reid, but is unlikely to do so, but this makes further communication and negotiation with political rivals all that much more difficult! As a public figure, Boehner needs to set an example of good and appropriate behavior!

Let us not forget that during the George W. Bush Administration, Vice President Dick Cheney said the same words that Boehner utiliized against Reid, against Senator Patrick Leahy in the Senate chamber, and never apologized, and in fact bragged and gloated about his misbehavior and lack of class!

But it is not just foul language as mentioned above, but also the attack on Hillary Clinton by Republicans and conservatives who think her concussion and hospitalization with a blood clot is a lie, designed to prevent her from having to testify about the Benghazi, Libya terrorist attack on September 11, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.

So fun has been made, and accusations have been uttered, that Hillary is not really sick, that it is all a cover up!

Among those saying this on camera are:

Former Florida Congressman Allen West
Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton
Conservative ideologue Laura Ingraham
Charles Krauthammer of Fox News Channel
Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel
Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel
Rush Limbaugh, radio talk show host

And this is just a short list of cynics, who have no common decency, no compassion, no humanity, and know very well that the Libya matter is all conjured up, not a real issue. But it is the view of the right wing wingnuts that they must attack Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden and other Democrats, simply because they are alive and breathing!

Nothing will stop the nasty, insulting, disgraceful behavior of Republicans and conservative ideologues in their mission to destroy America through character assassination of our political leaders, as long as they are Democrats!

The “Fiscal Cliff” Deal And Joe Biden’s Future

Ronald 3 Comments

The details of the “Fiscal Cliff” deal will be analyzed over the coming days and weeks, but one of the clear cut winners is Vice President Joe Biden.

It was Biden who was summoned by President Barack Obama to meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on details of a proposed deal, and it was Joe Biden who brought about the agreement that avoided damage to financial markets, which already are booming this morning as the author writes.

It just proved once again how important Joe Biden is to the Obama Administration. He is no lapdog who just sits in the background of events. He is in the forefront of everything that Obama has done, although not always having his advice pursued.

But when push comes to shove, Biden is crucial to Obama, and he has shown that his great legislative experience and engaging personality can have a massive effect on bringing about positive results.

Biden is a masterful legislator, and has used his friendships and ties to other senior Senators to bring about desired results, but also, his expertise on foreign policy is hard to match!

Biden, in a fashion different from Lyndon B. Johnson, is a “wheeler dealer” who knows how to get things done, a term often given to the 36th President when he was Senate Majority Leader in the 1950s, as well as when he was President and getting tremendous results on his Great Society programs.

Biden’s talent as a deal maker, who is able to work across the aisle, and has the respect of Republican leaders, even if they do not agree with him philosophically, is precisely the type of leadership that could be useful to follow President Obama in the White House.

So despite his age of 74 in 2016, it is not proper to dismiss Biden as possibly the next President of the United States, as we could do far worse!

And realize NO ONE who has ever run for the Presidency in all of our history has the record of 44 years of service in government that Biden has—36 as a Senator, one of the longest terms ever, and eight years as Vice President, in the midst of all of the issues at hand!

Joe Biden’s warm, engaging personality, which gives people confidence and a feeling of liking this “regular guy”, is also a tremendous asset, as how many others in politics can come across as he does? This man is no phony, and instead is totally real and genuine, which may be his greatest asset of all!