Ted Cruz

A Moment Of Reckoning For The Tea Party Movement: McCain, Graham, Boehner Back Obama On Syria!

Ronald 15 Comments

While the Syrian Civil War rages on, it is now clear that a moment long overdue is coming in the Republican Party–whether the anti government Tea Party Movement is finally going to get what it deserves—a total repudiation by the mainstream conservatives in the party over whether America takes a stand against the outlaw Syrian government and its war crime of chemical warfare against civilians!

Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have come out for the Obama stand, and are ready to fight for a resolution backing the President’s use of force against Syria.

So the gauntlet is thrown down for Tea Party members in the House, numbering about 75, and the Tea Party Senators, including Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Mike Lee, and others, as we see whether they will stop the partisanship and anti government lunacy, and back Barack Obama for once!

As predicted, a “civil war” is likely in the GOP, and if the Tea Party Movement triumphs, it will doom the Republican Party after 159 years! This is a battle for survival of sanity, responsibility, and mainstream conservatism as an alternative to the Democratic Party!

Obama Brilliant: Call For Congressional Vote Will Gain Public Support And Rent Asunder The Republican Party Big Time!

Ronald 24 Comments

President Barack Obama, in the midst of what may be his biggest foreign policy crisis, the planned bombing of Syria over the use of chemical weapons on innocent civilians, has displayed wisdom, coolness, and good judgment in calling for a Congressional discussion and vote, even though he has the authority as Commander in Chief to take action in the name of international law and common decency, morality, and ethics!

The Congress should be called back by Speaker of the House John Boehner immediately to meet on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, six days early, as this is a crisis which requires debate and vote as soon as possible!

But even if it goes another week, until debate begins, this move by Obama insures that no one can say he took reckless action in a hasty manner!

Of course, the Congress COULD decide NOT to back military action, but that is extremely unlikely, as the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and there are Republicans, a lot of them, who will back Obama, including John McCain and Lindsey Graham in the leadership, but others as well, even if some Democrats refuse to do so!

And in the US House, most Democrats will back the Commander in Chief, and not all that many Republicans, certainly not a majority, are necessary to back Obama!

But what will occur out of this controversy is that the Republican Party, already engaged in its own “civil war” between the so called “establishment” and the Tea Party lunatics, will now see the party rent asunder, cracking into pieces, which will affect the 2016 nomination battle, and the long term future of both groups within the party, with a good chance the GOP, as we know it, will NOT survive!

It will be fun to see the McCain-Graham and other mainstream conservatives fighting against libertarian Rand Paul, and likely Ted Cruz and others of the Tea Party group, and will force Marco Rubio to show if he has “cajones”!

The rhetoric will fly fast and thick, and will show up the Tea Party as dangerous, reckless, lunatic, delusional, and other colorful adjectives, and Rand Paul will see his isolationism, his naivete, his stupidity, his delusional nature, demonstrated for all to see!

And the nation and Barack Obama will come out looking intelligent, knowledgeable, courageous, principled, and we will thank ourselves for the fact that Barack Obama is our Commander in Chief in tough times, as was the case with Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton before him!

Senator Lindsey Graham Faces Whacko Tea Party Opponents In Republican Senate Primary In South Carolina!

Ronald 35 Comments

Anyone who follows American politics KNOWS that South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is a solid conservative.

Graham tends to be critical of President Obama on most issues; was one of the leaders of the fight to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998, while a member of the House of Representatives; and is always a strong supporter of defense and foreign interventions, as is his good friend, John McCain.

But that is precisely the problem he faces now in the upcoming battle for the Senate nomination of his party for a third term election in 2014. That is, he SOMETIMES agrees with the President; is TOO GOOD a friend of John McCain, seen by many conservatives as not conservative enough; and infuriates those who are isolationist and non interventionist in the libertarian movement led by Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

So therefore, Graham is labeled not acceptable to the Tea Party whackos who want to defeat him and put someone more right wing than he is in the Senate! Graham also has the gall to support immigration reform, and support the President on civil liberties policies..

So we have South Carolina State Senator Lee Bright taking on Graham, and this Tea Party activist has gone off the deep end, and demonstrated total insanity in his assertions that Graham is a “Community organizer” for the Muslim Brotherhood!

Think of how crazy and looney that assertion by Bright is, and it is clear that Bright is far from “bright”!

First, Graham Is NOT a community organizer, while Barack Obama was, but somehow these right wing nuts think anyone who helps poor people in urban neighborhoods is, somehow, not legitimate. Apparently, only if someone is involved in the corporate world and makes tons of profit and steps all over workers and consumers, is a person worth anything!

This is a very sick, twisted way of looking at fellow human beings, wishing to do nothing to help those less fortunate, and yet, one can be sure that Bright think of himself as a “good Christian”, which he most certainly is not, as if he examines the life of Jesus Christ, what does he think Jesus was?—A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER!

And to say that Lindsey Graham is working for the Muslim Brotherhood, when Graham is one of the most outspoken critics of that Middle Eastern group, makes Lee Bright certifiable to be committed for a mental examination as to his sanity! It is a totally preposterous idea, but just as much to say that Barack Obama is a Muslim or a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, when Obama has been responsible for the death of more Islamic terrorists and, sadly, some innocent bystanders, than George W. Bush did in his eight years in the White House!

As one observes the total lunatic nature of the Tea Party Movement, one realizes that there is a serious mental illness prevalent among people who claim to follow Christianity, but have no clue as to the teachings of their Lord and Savior!

The only blessing for Graham is that Bright is only one of three primary opponents, all nuts and looney, and that should help him to gain the nomination for a third term, by the division of votes among his opponents!

Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, Chester Alan Arthur And “Birtherism”

Ronald Leave a comment

President Barack Obama has been constantly accused of being born in Kenya, and the “Birther” myth will not die, despite the fact that his birth certificate shows he was born in the state of Hawaii.

Now Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who seeks to run for President, is being questioned as to his right to run for President, since he was born in Canada of an American born mother from Delaware.

But actually, the first “birther” dispute, much hidden, but occurring in the 1880s, was over the right of Chester Alan Arthur to become our Vice President under James A. Garfield, and then to succeed him in the Presidency, after Garfield was assassinated in 1881.

It turns out that at the tim, there was publication of a political diatribe, accusing Arthur of being born in Canada, 45 miles away from Fairfield, Vermont, where it is claimed he was born, and even the birth year is debated, officially 1830, but thought to be actually 1829!

The fact is that Arthur went on to be President for three and a half years, and signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, courageously vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act (although passed over his veto by Congress), and initiated the Steel Navy. He turned out to be not a great President, but certainly not a terrible President.

Barack Obama has been President, and has accomplished a lot, particularly considering constant opposition to the extreme, by the Republican Party.

And Ted Cruz, as horrible a candidate as he is in the minds of progressives and liberals, will not be stopped by “birther” myths, but only by the resounding repudiation by the American voters if he is the GOP nominee for President in 2016!

50th Anniversary Of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech And The March On Washington!

Ronald Leave a comment

It is hard to believe that this weekend, and specifically next Wednesday, four days from now, marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington by a crowd estimated at a quarter of a million people, calling for racial equality and justice.

It was a peaceful march, with a crowd of people of all races, an historic moment on the way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It was a time of the greatness of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King Jr, and his brilliant “I Have A Dream” speech, one of the few greatest speeches ever given by any American in our entire history!

It was a time of hope and optimism, before the tragedy of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr himself, as well as the tragic war in Vietnam, which took 58,000 lives!

It was a time of optimism and a sense of progress, and now, sadly, the same battles fought over race and voting rights haunts us, as the Supreme Court majority, created by Republican Presidents who represent a desire to move backwards on the subject of race, seem to believe that denial of voting rights and the issue of race no longer is of importance in America, when it continues to be a divisive matter that prevents the full development of justice and equality in this nation!

This is a sad time when the Republican Party, which in large measure supported the civil rights legislation of the mid 1960s, now has adopted the old Southern Democratic racist policies that the national Democratic Party repudiated fifty years ago, and the GOP seems unembarrassed that they have become the “poster boy” for racial prejudice and nativism!

So while we celebrate the anniversary, we are still having to fight the battles won, and then lost, due to the party that once boasted of Lincoln, TR, and Ike, and now boasts of despicable leaders who have no shame, including Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, et al, and their ilk!

The Case For A New Generation Of Democrats For The Presidential Election Of 2016!

Ronald 7 Comments

As the Presidential race begins, and it has started already, like it or not, it is clear that Hillary Clinton, who will be 69 in 2016, and Joe Biden, who will be 74 in 2016, are the frontrunners, and that Hillary is using up most of the oxygen in the room, way ahead of Biden in polls, with other potential Democratic candidates in single digits.

But despite the confidence and optimism about Hillary and even Joe as a backup, there is a growing case for the argument that the Democratic Party should bypass both Hillary and Joe, no matter how much one may love or admire either of them, and go for a new generation of Democrats, as was done in 1960 with John F. Kennedy, in 1976 with Jimmy Carter, in 1992 with Bill Clinton, and 2008 with Barack Obama!

All of these successful Democratic Presidential winners were young–43, 52, 46, and 47 respectively at the time of the inauguration. All were younger than their GOP opponents, although Richard Nixon was only four years older, but represented a continuation of Dwight D. Eisenhower, our oldest President at the time when he retired in 1961!

But Jimmy Carter was eleven years younger than Gerald Ford; Bill Clinton 22 years younger than George H. W. Bush; and Barack Obama 25 years younger than John McCain!

The fact is ONLY three Presidents were inaugurated at age 65 or older—William Henry Harrison at age 68 and dying a month later; James Buchanan at age 65 but only 50 days short of age 66, and rated by many historians the worst President in American history; and Ronald Reagan, inaugurated at just weeks before his 70th and 74th birthday, and judged by many to have deteriorated mentally, with early Alzheimers in his second term of office!

And we have seen Bob Dole defeated at age 73 in 1996; John McCain defeated at age 72 in 2008; and Mitt Romney, defeated at age 65 inn 2012, but also about 50 days short of age 66 if he had been inaugurated, the same exact age as Buchanan was when he won in 1856!

Meanwhile, the Republican Party future is clearly in the hands of young politicians, including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, and others, with these candidates being mostly in their 40s and 50s, and all younger than Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden!

Historically, in most elections, the younger candidate wins, and the party of the President usually does not do well if it utilizes someone connected with the administration leaving office, no matter what level of popularity reigns when that President leaves office, as witness:

Richard Nixon lost after Eisenhower
Hubert Humphrey lost after Lyndon B. Johnson
Gerald Ford lost after Richard Nixon
Walter Mondale lost after Jimmy Carter
Al Gore lost after Bill Clinton

If Hilary Clinton runs, she represents Obama’s foreign policy record, for good or for bad, and also brings back the good and the bad of the Presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton.

If Joe Biden runs, he represents what happens to a Vice President under a President, that the negatives of that President harm the Vice President, as with Nixon, Humphrey, Ford, Mondale, and Gore.

Only George H. W, Bush was able to overcome this hex, and succeed Ronald Reagan in 1988, although then losing reelection in 1992, the greatest percentage loss of any President in American history, except William Howard Taft in 1912!

It is reality that Democrats will be heavily favored in the Electoral College in 2016, no matter who runs, but it would be easier for a “New”, younger Democrat to be the Presidential nominee, such as Martin O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, KIrsten Gilllibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Deval Patrick, Mark Warner, John Hickenlooper, or Elizabeth Warren, all of whom are much younger than Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, with the exception of Warren, who would be 67 in 2016, which makes her a less ideal candidate based upon age!

It is important for Democrats to think carefully before they decide for a continuation of the Obama Presidency through Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, as nominating someone younger and separated from the Obama Administration would be preferable, and easier for the grueling campaign ahead!

Lunatic Ted Cruz Declares War On The Federal Government And His Own Republican Colleagues On ObamaCare!

Ronald 36 Comments

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the Joseph McCarthy rabble rouser of his time, with a weird resemblance in appearance to the Wisconsin Senator who terrorized the nation and his party 60 years ago, has declared war on the federal government and his own Republican colleagues over ObamaCare!

He and the head of the Heritage Foundation, former Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have made it clear that the extreme right wing will not “blink” at shutting down the federal government at the budget deadline on September 30, preventing any government payments unless ObamaCare, which is federal law, is defunded. The rhetoric is as if this is the Cuban Missile Crisis, and there is no concern at the effect such a shutdown would have on the US economically, and the image of America in the world, if it is shown as paralyzed and unable to pay debts already incurred.

Cruz, a very dangerous man, is showing himself to be a lunatic, a crazy man, in many ways a domestic “terrorist”, ready to cause total chaos and anarchy if he and Jim DeMint and the Tea Party Movement crowd do not get their way on ObamaCare, which will NOT be defunded, as the Senate and President Barack Obama will never agree to end what is federal law by a majority of both houses of Congress, and endorsed as constitutional by the US Supreme Court!

But meanwhile, Cruz and DeMint are threatening all Republican Senators and Congressmen who dare to have a rational mind, and who will be unwilling to join the right wing extremist chorus for defunding ObamaCare, as they know it will do permanent harm to the Republican brand, and kill any chance of winning the Senate in 2014 and 2016, and the Presidency in 2016.

DeMint has made it clear that every GOP member of Congress, who is not on board, will face a primary challenge, and funding to kick him or her out of their seats in Congress. This is holy war on anyone unwilling to join the whacko Tea Party crowd, setting out to destroy the federal government’s ability to operate!

The time has come for GOP leadership in both houses of Congress to declare they will not be threatened, not be made hostage, not allow DeMint, Cruz, and their ilk to destroy the heritage of the Republican Party!

We will soon see, whether the GOP has guts and courage to work against these demagogues, DeMint and Cruz, but even if they do, the Republican Party is doomed long run, until it purges the cancer of the extremists, and puts Ted Cruz in his place, total repudiation by his colleagues, and censure in the same fashion by the Senate as occurred to his “look alike”, the villainous Joseph Raymond McCarthy in 1954!

Ted Cruz Repudiates His Canadian Citizenship In Ambition To Be President!

Ronald 7 Comments

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the bull in the China shop in the Republican Party, who has grand ambitions to be President of the United States, has taken quick action to trash his Canadian heritage, having been born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 1970.

While technically a citizen of both Canada and the US, due to his mother’s American citizenship, Cruz has now declared that he has no interest in remaining a dual citizen, because he knows that could cause him grief as he seeks to take over the Republican Party. He has already made enemies in the GOP establishment with his vicious attacks on other Republican Senators, as well as the opposition Democrats, the news media, and higher education, including his Harvard Law School background, calling the faculty there a bunch of Marxists, reminding us of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who he, ironically, greatly resembles in appearance, demeanor, and behavior!

Cruz represents the calling card of Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and other malcontents,who wants to take the Republican Party to the extreme far Right, and will take no prisoners!

It is clear by his action on his Canadian citizenship that Cruz is running for President without announcing it this early, and that he will do anything and everything to destroy any GOP opponent, and at this point, his key rival seems to be Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the son of former Congressman Ron Paul, who inherits the allegiance of many young people who see the father as a god like figure with his libertarian beliefs.

Both Paul and Cruz have the allegiance of the Tea Party Movement, but Cruz cannot be called a libertarian, and the holy war that will ensue between the two will, at this point, likely favor Cruz over Paul.

So at this point, it seems a good bet to believe that Cruz will overcome Paul and also, his fellow Cuban, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, and that he will be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2016, at age 45.

His candidacy will draw a lot of attention and controversy, and Cruz will not care how many enemies he makes on his road to being the opponent of Hillary Clinton, his most likely opponent, or any other Democrat who might emerge, including Joe Biden.

And when one looks at the Electoral College math, it is clear that Ted Cruz is likely to be the GOP Presidential nominee, but his chances of becoming our 45th President are next to zero, and that Clinton, Biden, or whoever the Democratic nominee in 2016 is, will win a landslide victory, greater in electoral votes than Barack Obama in 2012!

And part of that great Democratic victory in 2016 will likely include Texas, as the state is moving toward “Blue” status, and it is ironic that Cruz, easily elected in Texas in 2012, will help create the Democratic majority by his personality, confrontational attitude, and refusal to understand that if one insults Mexican Americans, woman, African Americans, labor supporters, environmentalists, and gays, there is no way that his party can ever win back the White House!

So after a smashing defeat, Cruz will be history as a loser, and the GOP will finally, if it has any common sense, return to the moderate mainstream center, or else it will finally be in the dustbins of history after 2016!

Potential Republican Presidential Candidates And Foreign Policy, As Compared To Hillary Clinton And Joe Biden

Ronald 2 Comments

The Republican Party is offering potential Presidential candidates who have no clue on world affairs, or have dangerous views on foreign policy, and/or have no experience to speak of in diplomatic situations.

The following potential candidates have NO credentials at all in this important area in a world that is changing rapidly:

Rand Paul
Ted Cruz
Marco Rubio
Paul Ryan
Rick Santorum
Rick Perry
Chris Christie
Jeb Bush
Bobby Jindal
Scott Walker
John Thune

it is true that Rand Paul and Marco Rubio sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and that Jeb Bush’s brother and father were President of the United States, and foreign policy has been discussed within that family.

But compare that to Hillary Clinton, who was Secretary of State for four years, and learned about foreign policy under her husband, President Bill Clinton, in the 1990s.

And Vice President Joe Biden had 36 years in the Senate, including time as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and now is in his second term as Vice President, intimately involved in foreign policy issues.

So NONE of the GOP potential Presidential candidates have any real, valuable experience, except in speaking out on issues they know nothing about!

Foreign policy will be a most important issue in 2016, so who could the GOP run who could compete with either Hillary or Joe, and give them a real challenge?

The only person who fits this profile is former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, and earlier Ambassador to Singapore, Jon Huntsman, who is a moderate mainstream conservative. He is very talented, brilliant, multilingual including Chinese, and knows and understands world affairs!

But would the Republican Party have the brains and intelligence to choose Huntsman as their Presidential nominee?

The answer is ZERO, and because of that, the GOP does not offer experienced, qualified candidates for the Presidency on foreign affairs, such as Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, and John McCain in the past!

The Democratic “Farm Team” Or “Bench” For National Office

Ronald Leave a comment

When one looks at the Democratic Party, most of the attention for the 2016 Presidential Election centers around Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, both exceptionally qualified and popular political figures, with tremendous experience in government.

But both Hillary and Joe are getting on in age, with Hillary to be 69 in 2016, and Joe to be 74 in 2016.

Either would face a much younger Republican opponent in 2016, so one has to wonder whether it might be preferable to go for “new blood” for the Democratic nominee.

If that was to occur, there would be a fantastic “farm team” or “bench” for the Democrats, including:

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
Future Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey
Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts
Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York
Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia

This list of nine potential President candidates includes three women; two African Americans; and four white men, with seven states represented, and five US Senators and four Governors.

Any of these nine would be preferable, by far, to any Republican nominee for President, with many of the potential Republicans being horror stories, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.