Ron Johnson Of Wisconsin

The Ten Best And Ten Worst US Senators In The 118th Congress

Creating a list of the ten best and ten worst US Senators in the 118th Congress is based on their viewpoints and utterances over their careers.

Of course, it is subjective in nature, but based on careful consideration and analysis.

The rankings below are not in numbered order, but simply the Senators considered by the author to be the best and the worst in the upper chamber of Congress.

TEN BEST US SENATORS

Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Chris Murphy (Connecticut)
Jon Ossoff (Georgia)
Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)
Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
Cory Booker (New Jersey)
Sherrod Brown (Ohio)
Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
Ron Wyden (Oregon)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island)

TEN WORST US SENATORS

Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
Tom Cotton (Arkansas)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Josh Hawley (Missouri)
JD Vance (Ohio)
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Mike Lee (Utah)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)

If one was asked which five Senators were the “best” and the “worst”, this author and blogger would say the following:

BEST—Chris Murphy, Jon Osoff, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Sheldon Whitehouse

WORST—Tommy Tuberville, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson

Republican Isolationism Rears Its Ugly Head As It Did Before World War II!

The nation is back in the 1930s, when primarily Republican Party isolationism ignored the threat of Nazi Germany, and many embraced Adolf Hitler.

Back then, we had Charles Lindbergh, Roman Catholic Priest Charles Coughlin, auto magnate Henry Ford, Ohio Senator Robert Taft, and innumerable others resist the idea that Nazism and Fascism were a threat to American democracy and national security, even after Germany started World War II and conquered France and started the air assault on Great Britain.

Today, we have Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Fox News Channel commentators, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Ohio Senator J D Vance, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, and most other Republicans in Congress who resist the idea that Vladimir Putin and Russia’s war against Ukraine is a threat to American democracy and national security!

Just as Franklin D. Roosevelt had to battle against these isolationist forces back then, now Joe Biden must do so in 2024, as Donald Trump and his ilk represent a dire threat to the future of the nation!

Republican House And Senate Leadership In Disarray As Congressional Elections Of 2024 Occur In Nine Months!

The Republican Party in Congress is in disarray, bitterly split whereby they cannot accomplish their goals in the House of Representatives or in the US Senate.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is an abject failure, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing a massive attack on his leadership by critics, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Rick Scott, Utah Senator Mike Lee, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville.

The Republicans are not in good shape as they face Congressional elections coming up in nine months!

Outrageous Racism By Eleven Republican Senators On Joint Chiefs Of Staff Nominee!

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has, single handedly, blocked promotions and confirmations of 300 military personnel for seven months, due to his opposition to the allowance for military families to travel to states that permit abortions.

Tuberville has undermined national security, and embarrassed us before our international allies, as well as our enemies.

Finally, however, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been able to force a vote on the top three people coming up for promotion and elevation in rank to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But, interestingly, the new Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, Jr had 11 Republican Senators vote against him, while two other appointees, Randy A. George and Eric M. Smith, were confirmed with 96-1 and 96-0 votes respectively.

So the question is why was the vote 83-11 for Brown? And the answer clearly is that Brown is African American, the second person of that race to be Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, following General Colin Powell, while George and Smith are both white!

What an outrage, and who are these eleven despicable and racist Senators? 🙁

Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
Ted Cruz of Texas
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
Marco Rubio of Florida
Mike Lee of Utah
Roger Marshall of Kansas
Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
Eric Schmitt of Missouri
Mike Braun of Indiana
JD Vance of Ohio

All but Mike Lee voted yes on George and all eleven voted for George.

So the only conclusion is PURE RACISM, including by Cuban American Republican Senators Cruz and Rubio!

All eleven of these Republican Senators need to be called out, and exposed and condemned, and every attempt at kicking them out of the Senate when they come up for reelection is essential, as their behavior is totally reprehensible! 🙁

The Anti Science And Anti Medicine Conservative And Republican Attacks!

The Conservative and Republican attack is not only on the truth and facts of American history, but even more dangerous is their attack on Science and Medicine, including the COVID 19 Pandemic!

Fox News Channel hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Tucker Carlson peddled false information regarding the COVID 19 Pandemic and a general attack on Science and Medicine.

Also promoting false information were Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as well as Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also refused to take the pandemic seriously, costing more loss of life in Florida than anywhere else.

And DeSantis also attacked former White House Presidential Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci, who was the head of the National Institute of Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, and trusted by Presidents of both parties from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden.

DeSantis rhetoric included calling Fauci “a little elf”, who should be grabbed and chucked across the Potomac, despicable insult and horrid language toward a medical doctor who devoted his life to dealing with the AIDS crisis and other epidemics for four decades!

Also, another critic has been Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who Fauci called appropriately, “a very disturbed individual!”

Civil War Emerging In The Republican Party, And Democrats Can Watch And Enjoy!

Joe Biden hit a grandslam homerun this week in his State of the Union address.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was unable to enforce the idea that his MAGA Republican caucus behave properly, as they boored, jeered, and yelled “Liar” at President Biden, when he stated that Republicans were promoting a “sunset” on Social Security and Medicare, which is totally true.

McCarthy seemed totally hapless and he knows that if he makes too much of an issue of bad behavior, he could be pushed out of the Speakership, already angering members of his party for saying that the US Capitol police offer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021 was doing his job, a rare moment where McCarthy did the right thing.

And the Republican Senate caucus is bitterly divided, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell repudiating what Senators Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have been promoting–the end of Social Security and Medicare.

Scott and Lee have been demoted from a committee due to their battling to replace McConnell, who gained two thirds of the Republicans remaining loyal to him in the leadership struggle for the Senate minority leadership.

This is a situation in both houses of Congress where the Democrats can watch, enjoy and eat popcorn, lol! 🙂

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

The 118th Congress Election Deniers: 19 Senators And 154 House Members!

Shocking beyond belief: 19 US Senators and 154 House of Representatives members in the upcoming 118th Congress (2023-2025) are Election Deniers, in regards to the Presidential Election of 2020!

154 Congressmen and women, out of 222 Republicans, so 67 percent of the House Republican caucus!

19 Senators, men and women, out of 49 Republicans, so 40 percent of the Senate Republican caucus!

Among the Senators are:

Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Bill Hagerty (Tennessee)
Josh Hawley (Missouri)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
John Kennedy (Louisiana)
James Lankford (Oklahoma)
Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)

and five newly elected Senators:

Ted Budd (North Carolina)
Katie Britt (Alabama)
Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma)
Eric Schmitt (Missouri)
J D Vance (Ohio)

So the states of Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Alabama have both of their US Senators as Election Deniers!

What a total disgrace!

Potential For Four New African American Senators

There have been 11 African American Senators in the 234 years of US Senate history.

Presently, there are three—Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina; and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

Prominent earlier African American Senators included Democrats Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama of Illinois; Democrat Kamala Harris of California; and Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.

Now, there is the possibility of four additional African American Senators, if fortune works out.

They include: Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin; Cheri Beasley in North Carolina; Charles Booker in Kentucky; and Val Demings of Florida.

Barnes is competing against Ron Johnson in Wisconsin; Beasley againast Ted Budd in North Carolina; Booker against Rand Paul in Kentucky; and Demings against Marco Rubio in Florida.

All of these races are tight in polls, except Booker against Paul in Kentucky, where Booker is at a major disadvantage.

Also, Warnock is in a tight race against Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia, with both being African Americans.

Republican Attacks On Social Security And Medicare Arise Again: They Never Give Up!

Social Security has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1935 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Medicare has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1965 as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives since its passage under Barack Obama in 2010!

Most recently, George W. Bush promoted privatization of Social Security, which failed to occur in 2004-2005, luckily so, as the Great Recession of 2008 would have destroyed those who invested in the stock market, rather than having the guarantee of Social Security.

Also, Mitt Romney proposed privatization of Medicare during his Presidential campaign in 2012.

Now, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are the biggest backers of phasing out Social Security over five years! Also, Arizona Senatorial candidate Blake Masters has backed this idea!

If the Republicans were to win both houses of Congress and the Presidency by 2024, a great tragedy would occur!

As it is, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson face reelection this November, and every effort possible should be mounted to defeat these two horrendous US Senators! And Blake Masters needs to be defeated in his quest to be elected to the Senate!