Lisa Murkowski

Sad Ending On DREAM Act: “The American Dream” Denied To Young Illegal Immigrants Who Wish To Contribute To The Only Nation They Know! :(

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A very sad development yesterday in the US Senate was the denial of an opportunity for young illegal immigrants who were brought to this country as babies or very young children, and never have done anything illegal, but are being denied the right to move toward citizenship by pursuing college or entering the military.

These children are not lawbreakers, even if their parents are, and they have no memory of their former homeland. They have been discriminated against, and just wished to pursue the “American dream” that we hear so much about, but the Republicans in the Senate, except for three courageous souls, refused to allow such an opportunity.

The only three Republicans who voted in favor of cloture to end the filibuster by their party on the proposed DREAM Act were Richard Lugar of Indiana, Robert Bennett of Utah, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

However, since the vote, with four Senators not present, was 55-41, we must also look at the five Democrats who voted against the DREAM Act–Kay Hagen of North Carolina, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Jon Tester and Max Baucus of Montana. These five Senators did not show reasonable justification for their votes, and should rightfully be condemned for their vote.

With this defeat, and with the reality of GOP control of the House of Representatives for the next two years, and fewer Democrats in the Senate as well, it is unlikely that the DREAM Act or anything similar to it will have any fortune in the next few years.

But the battle for immigration reform, including giving opportunities to children who have done no wrong except being born to the “wrong” parents, will continue, and with the growing Latino population in this country, eventually human rights and civil rights will come to these deserving children of illegal immigrants!

An Historic Day In The US Senate: Repeal Of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Finally Accomplished! :)

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A seventeen year injustice toward military personnel has finally ended today with the vote of the US Senate just completed at 330 pm this afternoon.

The adoption of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on the subject of sexual orientation in 1993 was discriminatory from its inception, and has led to approximately 13,000 top notch, talented military personnel being dismissed.

After a long struggle initiated with the full backing of President Obama, finally the United States military meets the same standards as most European countries, Canada and Israel.

This is a major civil rights victory, and continues the difficult struggle for gay rights that has been going on for a long time.

On the vote to end the filibuster, six Republicans courageously joined 57 Democrats, so that the vote was 63-33. Those Republicans were Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, George Voinovich of Ohio, and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

It is interesting that Voinovich, a retiring Senator, and Kirk, a newly sworn in Senator, both voted in a way not expected.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut must be commended for leading the fight to accomplish this repeal, although he failed to budge his good friend and colleague, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who stubbornly refused to reconsider his hard line attitude on the subject, despite earlier having stated that if the military leaders and the Defense Secretary advocated lifting the ban on gays in the military, that he would go along with them. So this is not one of John McCain’s better moments in the Senate. One can compare it to his predecessor in his seat, Barry Goldwater, who stated that you don’t have to be straight to know how to shoot straight!

The final vote has just occurred and is 65-31, including some Republicans who voted “no” on ending the filibuster, but have now voted for the legislation–Richard Burr of North Carolina and  John Ensign of Nevada.  So this makes a total of eight Republicans who backed the final passage.

This is a pleasant surprise, and makes for eight Republicans joining all Democrats who voted “aye”.

Overall, this is a great day for the United States and its military! 🙂

The Potential Candidacy Of Sarah Palin: Ignorance And Mediocrity Personified! :(

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has told Barbara Walters that she is seriously considering a Presidential run! 🙁

Sarah Palin is seriously delusional to believe she has the talents, abilities, knowledge, and insights required to be a President in the 21st century! 🙁

It might have been alright to have mediocrity in the White House in the 19th century, and even the early 20th century, but since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the years of the Great Depression, and the constantly complex world we live in since World War II and the Cold War, it is no longer conceivable to have a President who is not only mediocre, but ignorant!

Sarah Palin does not have a clue as to the complexities of the modern world! She knows absolutely nothing about foreign affairs or domestic affairs! She is a very ordinary, mediocre, ignorant American, which is fine, as everyone cannot be intelligent, educated, and knowledgeable!

It is perfectly alright to be an average American or average human being, but the Presidency demands much more than that!

Would we want just anyone to be a surgeon, an attorney, a college professor, an engineer, an accountant, or a dentist? The answer is NO, as we want the best in these professions!

Well, being President of the United States also requires that we get the best, at least someone who is educated, intelligent, and knows or has the interest in knowing what candidates for the Presidency need to be aware of–public affairs, economics, foreign policy–and has compassion for the less fortunate among us, not only those who have power and wealth, often by ill gotten methods!

It is not just the so called “liberal elite” who think that Sarah Palin’s potential candidacy for President is a mockery!

It includes Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who pointed out that Palin has no great interest in governing, as she quit the Governorship of Alaska after only a little more than half her term, and also lacks intellectual curiosity!

It also includes former Bush adviser Karl Rove, who said hosting a Learning Channel reality series does not make people think that Sarah is qualified for President!

Former First Lady Barbara Bush told Larry King this weekend that Sarah Palin is a beautiful lady who likes living in Alaska, and should stay there! 🙂

Sarah’s potential opponents have remained silent in public, but it is clear that they are appalled at her thought of running, as they know she will be a difficult candidate to handle, being backed by the ignorant masses that love the Tea Party movement! They see her as a danger to the Republican Party future, and as a total disaster were she to run against Barack Obama! But they also recognize it will be hard to campaign against her in the primaries and caucuses, and that she could win the Iowa caucuses and South Carolina primary in 2012, and therefore have “momentum”, making her hard to stop!

There is no doubt that Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, and all other potential nominees see her as a “nightmare”, but realize she is an imposing presence that they will have to, somehow, deal with if she decides to run!

The point is that all of the potential candidates, no matter how objectionable they might be to many observers, all have credentials, experience and intelligence to be potential Presidents of the United States!

Sarah Palin does NOT have these credentials, and she would do a lot of good for the country if she were to realize that she is hallucinating, as she is NOT qualified to be President of the United States. and her triumph would be a serious blow to American prestige and security in the world, and a sign that the American nation has been “dumbed down” to the most common denominator–the ignorant masses who pride themselves on NOT knowing public affairs, and have no clue as to what is good for this nation’s future! 🙁

Lisa Murkowski Victory Over Joe Miller A Blow To Sarah Palin And Tea Party Movement!

Ronald 2 Comments

The miraculous write in victory of Senator Lisa Murkowski over Republican nominee Joe Miller in Alaska is a serious blow to the Tea Party Movement and to Sarah Palin, and that is a good thing!

Murkowski was too lax in seeking another term as Senator, and lost the GOP nomination to Joe Miller, but then decided not to give up, and to mount a write in campaign against a candidate who came across as radical and objectionable in his behavior and his views on issues!

Murkowski, while generally considered a conservative, is a mainstream conservative, with only Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown being more moderate than she is.

So in the GOP caucus, she is actually the fourth most moderate or liberal in her views, far preferable to Joe Miller, who would have been close to being further right wing than almost anyone in the Republican party, except maybe South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, and Oklahoma Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe!

Murkowski has made clear her opposition to the Tea Party Movement, and her support of earmarks, despite the GOP announcement that they would oppose any earmarks over the next two years.

Any victory for a more moderate conservative candidate in the Republican party is good for the future of the party, and anything which lessens the appeal of Sarah Palin, as she hints she will seek the Presidency, is also good, as she would be a disaster for the Republican party, were she to win the nomination!

As Senator Murkowski said, Sarah Palin does not enjoy governing and making decisions, and she is also not intellectually curious enough to be qualified for the Presidency!

Lisa Murkowski is very wise and perceptive, and it is good for the Senate that she retains her seat, and Joe Miller goes back into obscurity!

The Importance Of The Alaska Senate Race: A Chance To Repudiate Sarah Palin!

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Who would have thought that the Alaska Senate race would become such a center of attention?

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, best described as a moderate conservative, was too lax in campaigning in the primary against Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, and lost her party’s nomination by a very small margin of votes.

Joe Miller has turned out to be a true disaster, with his outrageous views on many issues; the controversy over private security roughing up a journalist and briefly handcuffing him at a Miller public event; and Miller admitting to illegal actions at his workplace, leading to his suspension and admission to having lied!

This man is one of the worst of all of the Tea Party activists running as Republicans in this fall’s election, and while he was first in polls for a long time, he has now dropped to third place behind Murkowski, who seems to be about to achieve victory as a write in candidate, and Democrat Scott McAdams, mayor of Sitka, Alaska!

If either McAdams, who has been gaining support–or Murkowski as a write in candidate–was to defeat Miller, it would be a major victory against the Tea Party movement!

But it would also be a major blow in prestige to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is actively considering running for President in 2012, and has backed Miller!

Palin said yesterday that Murkowski was a “liberal”, which is totally ridiculous, but shows just how far right Palin is, and how it is essential to deflate her ego and image, as a way to weaken her Presidential bid!

So either a victory for Murkowski, or for McAdams, would be a major contribution to the dignity of the US Senate, and would send a message to Sarah Palin that she should realize that the American people, based on public opinion polls, do not see her as qualified for the Presidency, and that she would effectively destroy the Republican party if she were to run–whether she became the actual nominee of the party or failed to do so!

Again, it must be said that Senator John McCain did tremendous damage to this country by selecting Palin as his running mate in 2008! We are not ready to elect a candidate as dense and stupid and clueless as Sarah Palin is!

So as the author said in a posting awhile back, Sarah, face the facts, that you are NOT qualified to be President, and just milk the ignorant part of the population with your public appearances, your books, and your cable show, and make money, but DO NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT, and embarrass yourself and the American people and undermine the potential future of this country! 🙁

Conventional Wisdom On Incumbents Being In Trouble May Be Wrong!

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It has been said that this is the year that incumbents will lose seats in Congress on a large scale, but at least in the primaries, it turns out that only SEVEN incumbents have lost, which means more than 98 percent of all incumbents have won renomination!

Of course, Election Day in November could see a massive wave of incumbents losing to their challengers, but at least so far, that is NOT the trend!

Three Senators–Robert Bennett of Utah, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska,–have lost renomination, but Murkowski is running a write in campaign and is seen as running evenly with the person who defeated her in the primary–Joe Miller–, and has a good chance of being only the second person to win a Senate seat by write in votes, after Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1954!

Four Congressmen have lost–Parker Griffith of Alabama, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan! This is about average in any congressional election year, occurring every even year. And this round, the losers are three Democrats and four Republicans!

So standard thoughts may just be such, and not be the action of the electorate in November! Again, we shall see, very soon!

Independent Candidacies A Long Shot This Election Year, As Always!

Ronald 2 Comments

This year, there are at least four and possibly five Independent candidacies that might affect election results!

The most likely to succeed is Independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida, who broke with the GOP and is running against Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek!

A second strong possibility is Independent Lincoln Chafee, former Republican Senator from Rhode Island, running for Governor!

Additionally, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is running a write in campaign for her seat after losing the primary to Tea Party backed Joe Miller!

Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware is considering a similar write in campaign against the person who defeated him in the GOP primary, Christine O’Donnell!

Finally, former GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo is mounting an independent bid for Governor in Colorado!

The most recent prominent Independents in office have been Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut!

Further back, Jesse Ventura was Independent Governor of Minnesota; Senator Lowell Weicker was Independent Governor of Connecticut; and Angus King was Independent Governor of Maine!

These cases of Independents running for, and some winning, office are fascinating, but the odds this year, as always, are daunting!

IF both Charlie Crist and Lincoln Chafee win, it will be considered a major coup for the movement toward independent candidacies, but it is also very possible NO Independent will win, as the two party system is well entrenched!

Fighting For The “Soul” Of The Republican Party: Internal Struggles in Florida, Delaware And Alaska!

Ronald 1 Comment

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!

The Tea Party, Sarah Palin, And The Delaware GOP Senatorial Primary: Suicidal Tendencies Grow! :(

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Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Movement seem out to prevent any moderate Republicans from being elected to the US Senate, thus giving the Republicans a more extremist image, which is likely to lead to defeat, but even if it does not, marginalizes the long term future of the party! 🙁

Alaska’s Senate primary saw moderate Lisa Murkowski defeated by Joe Miller, an extremist Tea Party favorite, which at least makes that state a more competitive one for Democrats! Sarah Palin used her influence to help defeat the Murkowski family again, as she had when she defeated the father who was Governor in 2006!

Now Delaware, a state sure to elect a moderate Republican with a 20 year record in the US House, Mike Castle, suddenly has the possibility, due to Sarah Palin and the Tea Party extremists, of electing a completely unqualified woman, Christine O’Donnell, who happens to be attractive as her only virtue, as the Senate nominee next Tuesday, September 14!

The odds of O’Donnell defeating Democrat Chris Coons are seen as unlikely, but the desire to move the GOP to the far right seems to outweigh the reality that the GOP cannot survive intact as an extremist right wing party long term! 🙁

We already have right wingers named Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Joe Miller, Ken Buck and Mike Lee, who make a bad image for the party, and hopefully most will be defeated, an advantage to the Democrats!

But if they win, and Christine O’Donnell wins, the Republican party is killing its long term future, as to govern the country we require a mainstream centrist set of parties, and the GOP is fast losing any possibility of being perceived as such!

The Contradiction Of Joe Miller: The “Anti Ted Stevens” For Alaska!

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Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska served longer in the upper chamber than any Republican Senator in history, and when he died last month in a plane accident, he was deeply mourned by most Alaskans as the man who had done more for Alaska than any other political figure in its half century history as a state!

Alaska was the beneficiary of more federal largesse (money and public works projects) than any other state, and Alaska then and now desperately needed such funding, as it is a state which even today has very few roads and bridges and other public projects, making travel and access through much of the state extremely difficult!

Juneau, the capital in southeast Alaska, cannot be reached by land, for instance, and much of the state is isolated and poor! So Stevens was good for Alaska, but so were Senator Frank Murkowski and his daughter, Senator Lisa Murkowski, who recently lost a close renomination contest to Joe Miller!

Of course, Sarah Palin was a critic of all of these political figures, but never did anything to deal with the realities of backwardness and poverty in much of Alaska in her BRIEF time in public office! She, however, has been very effective in improving her own economic conditions, while advocating the nomination of Joe Miller, a person who shares her vision of a “new” Alaska without federal intervention! 🙁

Joe Miller portrays himself as the opponent of federal largesse, of “earmarks”, and therefore is the “anti Ted Stevens”! He was able to defeat Lisa Murkowski by a razor thin margin on this basis!

It is amazing how in one month, Alaskans can mourn “Uncle Ted”, who brought his state so many benefits by doing what all members of Congress are expected to do, make life better for their constituents; and then have the dominant party in the state reject that approach and nominate a Tea Party favorite, who defies the history of the American political system!

If Alaska does indeed proceed to elect Joe Miller over Democratic opponent Scott McAdams, will they have “buyer’s remorse”, when they realize they are putting into a position of power an individual who has no interest in benefiting the state, modernizing it, bringing it into the future, but would rather quote the Founding Fathers in a narrow, restrictive manner, evoking the states rights argument of the Civil War Era of the 19th century in the 21st century?

Joe Miller, like most conservatives and Republicans, distorts the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, failing to understand that the document they created was purposely left vague and broad, as they could not possibly predict the long term future, and so left it open to modern interpretation by Congress and the courts!

The Founding Fathers did not intend a “strait jacket” Constitution, but if Joe Miller in office follows it in that manner, Alaska will suffer, and remain a backward state without a modern public works system and large levels of poverty! Somehow, the feeling arises that Joe Miller would end up contradicting himself once in office, and therefore would have to be seen as a hypocrite who exploited the general discontent that exists, with rhetoric that is false and manipulative! 🙁