“Profiles In Courage”

Lisa Murkowski And Don Bacon Disappoint Those Who Thought They Had Basic Principles!

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When one looks at the cave in of Congressional Republicans on the “Big And Beautiful” Bill that just passed Congress, wiping out a lot of “The Great Society” of Lyndon B. Johnson from six decades ago, what particularly disturbs is that only three Senators and two House members voted against the legislation.

Had one more US Senator and two more House members voted against, the legislation would have failed, and would have had to go back for further consideration and modification, hopefully making it less onerous.

It is amazing how members of both houses of Congress, that were opposed to adding to the deficit, and those who made clear their concern about the Medicaid Cuts, still went ahead and voted for the Senate bill, which was more extreme than the House bill.

So called “principled” Republicans demonstrated that they were NOT “Profiles in Courage”, and two come to mind.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon both seemed to be people of principle, who would stand up for the needs of their constituents and the nation at large.

But both failed to do so, and now makes this author and blogger look at both as no longer believable, and really, no better than the multitude of Congressional Republicans surrounding them!

Absolute Fury Felt Over Trump GOP Budget Bill, And The Harm It Will Cause For Millions Of Americans!

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This author and blogger has lived a long life, but the feeling, presently, of absolute fury over the Trump “Big And Beautiful” bill, that will harm millions of Americans who will lose Medicaid, and SNAP (Food Stamps), is something very hard to live with!

The federal government under Donald Trump is rapidly putting the nation back a century on basic needs, such as health care and nutrition, along with many other reversals of significant government policies under a multitude of American Presidents of both political parties!

This is unconscionable, and harmful to the well being of most Americans, whether indirectly or directly!

The idea that so called “moderate” Republicans have expressed dismay at the harm this legislation will visit on the lives of the disabled, the poor, the elderly, and children, and which will cause the shutdown of hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities in much of the nation, has not led to their voting no on the bill. After complaining, they follow in unison to support Trump’s demands, absolutely infuriating!

Why are so many Republicans so afraid of defying Trump? Why are they so focused only on keeping their seats in Congress, when none of them depend on the membership in the House of Representatives or US Senate for their survival?

It is well known that most members of Congress are very well situated financially, and while they might wish to keep their seat in Congress, they do not have desperate need to do so!

Why cannot we have “Profiles in Courage” that will leave these politicians with a heroic reputation in history, instead of one of being a “lackey” to an unprincipled and totally immoral and unethical President, who does not give a damn about any of these politicians beyond “using” them for his aggrandizement?

The American democratic system of government is in dire danger, and needs men and women of principle and convictions, but at such a difficult moment, the nation faces a true domestic disaster in the making, that could have been avoided if only a few sacrificed their personal futures for a better present situation!

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski: A Profile In Courage, Principle, And Decency!

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The Republican Party in the 1970s had members of Congress who spoke up against the abuses of power under President Richard Nixon, most notably the Watergate Scandal.

Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater (Mr. Conservative); Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott (Minority Leader); and Arizona House Minority Leader John Rhodes all showed true statesmanship, by going to the White House and telling Nixon that he would not survive an impeachment trial.

Sadly, fifty years later, Republicans in Congress, with a very few exceptions, refused to take action against the abuses of Donald Trump in his first term.

And now, in his second term, and being much more abusive and law breaking in just two months in office, almost all Republicans in Congress are overlooking what is going on, as they are terrified that Elon Musk will “primary” them for their next election, if they dare to speak up on principle against Trump.

At a difficult time like this, there is at least one major exception to this cowardice, and that is Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been in office since 2002, and won reelection as an Independent in 2010 against Republican and Democratic Senate opponents. She voted to impeach Trump in his second trial in 2021. She has managed to be truly courageous, principled, decent, and honorable, and speaks her mind, and has been criticized by Trump and Musk, but she carries on with no fear.

Mirkowski has great respect from Alaska voters, and at a difficult time such as now, she is a rare case of someone who will speak her mind, and criticize and oppose Trump, unafraid to condemn his abuses of power.

So Lisa Murkowski is a true “Profile in Courage”, and if another book, such as the one published by Senator John F. Kennedy in 1956 on courageous Senators is ever published in the future, Murkowski should head Chapter One!

Gutless Wonders, And NOT Profiles In Courage: Republican Senators Who Allow Themselves To Be Controlled!

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A very disturbing development is the reality that several Republican Senators, who have expressed concern and doubts about various Donald Trump Cabinet Appointments and other nominees who require Senate approval, have shown they are NOT “Profiles in Courage”, but instead “Gutless Wonders”!

The threat of Elon Musk promoting opponents in upcoming Senate primaries has led to these Senators bowing to pressure, and making themselves look unprincipled, and without any morals, ethics, or scruples.

The need for these Senators, all of whom have great financial assets and earlier careers where they did well financially, to cave in to pressure is astounding.

Even if they lost their seats in the Senate, or chose not to run for reelection, they would not be in any kind of financial straits that would pressure them to be cowards, but they are precisely that!

I am referring to those Senators I had written about that might be barriers to Trump’s nominees, including:

Joni Ernst of Iowa
Thom Tillis of North Carolina
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Susan Collins of Maine
James Lankford of Oklahoma
John Curtis of Utah

Additionally, a newer Republican Senator, Todd Young of Indiana, after having doubts about Tulsi Gabbard, bent to the pressure from Vice President JD Vance to back her for Director Of National Intelligence!

With upcoming confirmation votes next week, it looks quite hopeless that any nominee will be stopped by four Republican votes against such nominee.

Subject to change, it seems as if only Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky might vote NO, beyond Pete Hegseth, and who can be sure that even those two Senators will be consistent.

This is all very exasperating and disillusioning, as we are on the road to the worst ever Presidential Cabinet of advisers in American History, people in many cases outrageously horrible to be in their positions and guaranteed to conduct themselves in illegal, unethical, and immoral ways!

The Ten Greatest Political Heroes Of 2022!

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The year 2022 has been a very tumultuous year politically, but there are great political heroes that should be noted, applauded, and given recognition.

The following ten individuals are the greatest political heroes of 2022, in no special order:

Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming

Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland

Congressman Adam Schiff of California

The above four were the key figures on the January 6 Commission investigating the US Capitol Insurrection, with Cheney and Kinzinger sacrificing their congressional careers in the name of truth, democracy, and defense of the Constitution. They are true profiles in courage!

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California—who was the greatest Speaker of the House in the modern era.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York–who was a skilled leader dealing with the concept of an evenly divided Senate, and accomplishing great progress and reforms.

Attorney General Merrick Garland–who has demonstrated great and measured leadership of the Justice Department in the aftermath of the attack on democracy by Donald Trump.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain–the best modern Chief of Staff, helping President Joe Biden in accomplishment of his agenda.

President Joe Biden–a much underrated President who has accomplished more in his first two years in office than any President since Lyndon B. Johnson.

Finally, Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden

Fauci is the one person most committed to proper dealing with the worst health crisis in a century, the COVID 19 Pandemic, and he is celebrating his 82nd birthday today, as he retires after serving 7 Presidents from Ronald Reagan in 1984 to Joe Biden in 2022! Fauci has reaffirmed the significance of science over religion, mythology, and fake science!

Major Week Ahead: Trump Facing January 6 Committee Prosecution Recommendations

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After 18 months of an exhaustive investigation by the House of Representatives January 6 Committee, this week, finally, the committee is wrapping up its work with expected recommendations for prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

The charges that will be recommended to the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland include:

Promotion of Insurrrection against the US Government

Obstruction of Justice, interfering with the counting of the Electoral Vote by Vice President Mike Pence and the two houses of Congress on January 6, 2021

Conspiracy to defraud the US Government

More than 1,000 people were interviewed and depositions taken.

It is a tribute to the committee how much effort they have put into investigation of this crisis, and it is essential that Trump be prosecuted, and prevented from running for President in the future!

And special tribute is appropriate to the two Republican members of the January 6 Committee, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both who will not be serving in the upcoming 118th Congress. Both sacrificed their careers to do the right thing, stand up for justice and truth and loyalty to the US Constitution!

Both are Profiles in Courage who will shine in the future as part of American history!

Adam Kinzinger Second Republican Added To January 6 House Committee Investigation By Nancy Pelosi

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The House Select Committee on the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection has been greatly improved by the announcement of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger has agreed to join the investigation.

Kinzinger, like the other House Republican on the committee, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, is a solid conservative who does not support most Democratic Party ideas and values, but they are both, ultimately, patriots who understand that what happened on January 6, 2021 was an attack on the Constitution, American democracy, and the rule of law.

Both Kinzinger and Cheney are strong critics of Donald Trump, and make clear that he has hijacked the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and is a threat to the survival of the Republican Party and the conservative ideology, but both are willing to do what is necessary for the betterment of the nation.

Both have, and will continued to experience, bitter and vicious attacks, and will face tough primaries in the Midterm Congressional elections of 2022, and may lose their seats and even membership on committees as a result.

But they are putting the nation ahead of their own personal interests, and one can wish that they will add a great deal to the investigation of January 6, and help to hold those complicit in that attack on the US Capitol, to the full extent of the law.

Since there would be little chance of the Illinois district of Kinzinger going to the Democrats, and likekly, zero chance of the state of Wyoming At Large Congressional district going Democratic, we can all wish that both Kinzinger and Cheney are successful in retaining their seats in the House of Representatives in November 2022.

Even if that does not happen, they will be well remembered in history as “Profiles in Courage”!

The Moment Has Come For Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse: Put Up Or Shut Up, And Be Never Believed Again!

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There are four Republican Senators who are drawing all the attention on the issue of Brett Kavanaugh:

Jeff Flake of Arizona

Susan Collins of Maine

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Ben Sasse of Nebraska

It is these four who will decide if Kavanaugh ends up on the Supreme Court, and besmirches the reputation of the Court.

Kavanaugh on the Court will never be accepted as legitimate by half the nation, particularly after he lost his temper and became partisan, worrying Court watchers that he would not recuse himself on cases involving left wing issues and Democrats, including anyone or anything that might show up in the Court regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Kavanaugh lacks the judicial temperament, and self destructed in that rampage a week ago, and it is like an egg that has been broken, and it cannot be put back together again, even if he were to apologize.

It would paralyze the Court, or cause great controversy on many Supreme Court cases that will be divisive enough without his outburst.

So it is up to these four Senators to do what is right, even if it affects the long term career of Collins, Murkowski, and Sasse, with Flake retiring from the Senate.

The first and the third face election in 2020, and Murkowski in 2022.

Sasse may also plan to run for President, and it would be good if he demonstrated independence from Trump.

The two women want abortion to survive, but to believe Kavanaugh will not work to destroy Roe V. Wade, is to be naive.

So it is now that true “Profiles in Courage” are needed, as written about by John F. Kennedy in 1956.

It Is Time For Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, And Red State Democrats To Put Nation Ahead Of Their Own Senate Seats

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It is perfectly understood that all people who work like to keep their jobs and earn their income.

But there is no member of the US Senate that is “desperate” and “needy” to keep their jobs.

What is needed now is, as John F. Kennedy wrote, “Profiles in Courage”.

Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, so called “moderate” Republicans, need to stand up and say, “NO WAY”, would they support Brett Kavanaugh to fill the available seat on the Supreme Court, since he clearly has a record of being anti abortion, and both women Senators claim they are pro choice, so they must refuse to support him.

It is clear that Brett Kavanaugh has committed perjury a number of times in earlier hearings before the Senate while under oath, and he should not be promoted to the Supreme Court, with his record of pursuing Bill Clinton with Ken Starr 20 years ago; his advocacy of torture in the Iraq War; his promotion of an anti gay marriage amendment under George W. Bush; and his unwillingness to say he would recuse himself from any case involving Trump and the scandals that have erupted in the past two years.

But even if Collins and Murkowksi were to back off on Kavanaugh, the requirement also is for Red State Democrats, who are running for reelection, to vote against Kavanaugh in unison, even if it leads to their defeat, which seems unlikely in the present political climate.

So that means West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, Montana Senator Jon Tester, and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill MUST save the nation from a Right Wing extremist Supreme Court, even if they lose their seats, putting the nation ahead of their own ambitions.