Ted Cruz

The Battle For The Soul Of The Republican Party Is In Full Swing As Trump Impeachment Trial Begins

The Republican Party is in its death spiral as the Donald Trump Second Impeachment Trial begins on Tuesday.

With only 5 Republican Senators supporting the move toward an impeachment trial; with only 10 Republican House members voting for the impeachment trial; with only 11 Republican House members supporting the action to take away the committee memberships of QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, it is clear that the battle for the soul of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan is in full swing.

Will the Republican Party allow Donald Trump to remain their “God”, their “Savior”, and continue to promote conspiracy theories, hate, nativism, racism, anti semitism, Islamophobia, and misogyny?

Will they follow the lead of Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan, Adam Kinzinger and other mainstream conservatives?

Or will they follow the lead of Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others who promoted insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021?

We saw the disintegration of the Whig Party in 1854, with its replacement being the Republican Party, and we may be seeing the same situation as we had then in the 2020s, as the “Trump” wing of the party is a disaster that never ends!

The Republican Party Heritage And Principles Are In Death Spiral after 167 Years

The Republican Party was founded in March 1854 as a reform party, with the major principle at its founding being opposition to the expansion of slavery, and including abolitionists within its midst.

It was a Northern party which fought the Civil War and ended slavery, and for a generation, it was a party that inspired the majority of Americans.

Then, in the Gilded Age, it became corrupted by the power and influence of industrial capitalism, and conservatism reigned.

But then, Theodore Roosevelt and others who carried the name “progressive” with pride, promoted reform of the capitalistic system, but after TR’s death, while progressivism still existed in the party, it was taken over by conservatives, and the Great Depression undermined the national power of the party, as the Democrats became the majority party in the 1930s.

The battle for the future of the party was waged in the next half century liberal to moderate Republicans on one side, and hardline conservatives as their opponents, and Ronald Reagan ushered in a hard right conservatism, which became more extreme due to Newt Gingrich and other extreme conservatives since the mid 1990s.

And now we have come to a party that is in a death spiral, as we have conspiracy theorists who are taking over the party, and promoting hate, in the form of racism, nativism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and having wacky members who are advocating assassination of opposition Democrats.

So the Republican Party is now the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley,and many other right wing Fascists, but at the leadership is Donald Trump, and the party represents now:

Family Values gone, with the caging of immigrant children.

Deficit Hawks gone, with added massive deficits of tax cuts to the wealthy.

Free Trade gone, with massive taxes on foreign goods and bailouts of farmers as a result, adding to the national debt and consumer prices.

Limited Federal Government gone, with claims that what state governments report as election results should be ignored by the Congress.

Limiting the Imperial Presidency gone, with obedience by right wing members of both houses of Congress to the whims and desires of Donald Trump, even continuing as this author and blogger writes.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Brilliant, And Very Perceptive About Truth Of Capitol Insurrection

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is a brilliant young woman, highly perceptive about the truth of the Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021, an event she lived through in fear and terror of being assassinated.

It is clear that the right wing Fascist mob that attacked the Capitol had the goal of hanging Vice President Mike Pence; putting a bullet in the head of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; and pursuing minority Democratic Congressmen and women as part of a racist, white supremacist conspiracy.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sensed that new freshmen Republican Fascists, including Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, along with veterans including Jim Jordan of Ohio, as well as Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley were ready and willing to provoke right wing extremists to fix the Electoral College results, and kill or maim whoever stood in their way!

It is Ocasio-Cortez and others like her with courage and brains who are working to expose the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the willingness of these traitors and seditionists to kill as many Democrats as they could, as well as the top two office holders under the President!

Inauguration Day Has Arrived: A New Beginning, And Need To Insure Donald Trump Will Never Hold Office Again!

Inauguration Day 2021 has finally arrived!

A new beginning under a very decent, compassionate, empathetic, and genuine man, Joe Biden, who cares about unity and progress, is awaiting us in a few hours, and the cancer of Donald Trump, the great national nightmare, is over!

Let us all pray for a peaceful celebration of the inauguration of the 46th President, and yet feel sadness that 25,000 National Guardsmen are needed today to insure the safety and security of the new President and the entire group of government leaders that will commemorate the transition of power!

Every effort must be made to insure that Donald Trump will never hold public office again!

And every decent person must work to insure that anyone of the mentality of the extreme right wing, hateful and anti democracy, never again is a threat to come to office in America!

So those who wish to be the new Donald Trump, such as Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and others, must be denied any chance to be a national leader!

Both of those disgraceful Senators, as well as all others who attempted to overthrow an election result by insurrection, need to be expelled from Congress, and be prosecuted for their crimes!

These people who have committed treason must be added to the list of such traitors in history, including, the following—-Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Joseph McCarthy, and Donald Trump!

The Destruction Of The Republican Party Future

One thing is clear: All those Republicans backing a challenge to the Electoral College results on Wednesday are doomed, and their careers in national politics are over! This includes Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, but also many others.

The Republican Party will be known as the Treason Party, the Sedition Party, and only those who stand up against this outrage have a long term political future.

While this blogger and author is not a fan of many Republicans, one has to say that Senators, including Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Tim Scott of South Carolina are part of the future of a party that moves back toward the moderate center.

Also, while not admiring of former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, third ranking House Republican Liz Cheney, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio, and many others, they realize the insanity of backing Donald Trump at this point.

Tomorrow will be an historic day for certain!

Mike Pence, A Dozen Republican Senators, And 140 House Members Are Promoting Treason And Sedition!

We are about to witness treason and sedition being promoted by Vice President Mike Pence, along with a dozen or more Republican Senators, and at least 140 House Republicans.

What is normally and traditionally a ceremonial counting of the Electoral Vote in a joint session of Congress, presided over by the sitting Vice President, is now becoming a mockery, as Donald Trump contested the result and has lost in every court setting, including twice in the Supreme Court with a Republican majority, including three Trump appointees!

Mike Pence is going along with a challenge in order to promote his own future Presidential candidacy, in the hope that Donald Trump will not run in 2024, and will support him, and the same is the reasoning why Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas are leading a fight that undermines the Constitution and rule of law.

The 14th Amendment, Section 3, makes clear that what these Republicans in Congress and the Vice President are doing is promoting treason and sedition. By all rights, they should all face arrest, trial, and incarceration, as they are provoking dangerous and reckless behavior by Trump and his supporters, leading to likely confrontations, bloodshed, and violence on Wednesday, January 6, and even more seriously, on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are inaugurated President and Vice President.

America is not a banana Republic, but Donald Trump has no issue in burning down the Republican Party, and the future of public safety in the middle of a pandemic worsened by his own lack of concern for human life!

Mike Pence’s job on Wednesday is not to promote his own advancement, but rather fulfill his constitutional duty followed by every Vice President, those on the winning side of an election, but also those on the losing side, as for instance, Richard Nixon in 1961 and Al Gore in 2001.

History will condemn these law breaking Republicans and Mike Pence for the disgraceful actions they are taking, but at the end, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be in charge of the government in 17 days!

The Republican Party Potential Field (25) Seeking Presidential Nomination In 2024!

When one looks ahead to the next round of Presidential contenders in the Republican Party for 2024, one sees clearly that it is a “Group Of Horrors” that awaits the nation, if the party does not reform itself and reject the extreme right wing extremists who are planning to seek the Presidency in 2024.

There is a long list of potential contenders, and it will be a question of how one separates responsible conservatives from the monsters that wish to make even Donald Trump look less extreme by comparison! Imagine that!

The most extreme Right potential nominees as now perceived include the eight following in no special order:

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Senator Rick Scott of Florida
Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota

Those less far Right but still unacceptable to any rational person include the five following in no special order:

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Senator Mike Lee Of Utah
Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana
Former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

And then there are those who are conservatives in the more traditional mold, including the nine following in no special order:

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich
Senator Rob Portman of Ohio
Former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China and Russia Jon Huntsman
Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

And finally, there are the true long shot whackos, including:

Donald Trump, Jr.
Tucker Carlson of Fox News Channel

And of course, Donald Trump could end up running, and putting the Republican Party in total disarray!

The Hall Of Shame: Rudy Giuliani, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy Lead The Pack!

The Republican Party has become a total embarrassment and disgrace, which will scar the memory of great Republicans of past generations.

Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the massive 7 million popular vote win of Joe Biden, as Donald Trump continues to act in an unpatriotic, uncooperative manner, including showing grace in defeat, inviting Joe and Jill Biden to the White House, and cooperating with the transition team on so many important matters, including the COVID 19 Pandemic and the National Security of the United States.

The Hall of Shame includes many, but leading the pack are the following:

Rudy Giuliani, once the much celebrated Mayor of New York City, who has made a fool and mockery of himself in his endless quest to destroy the victory of Joe Biden, and it is clear that Giuliani is seriously demented, mentally ill, and needs to retire from public life, although he also faces the danger of prosecution, that even a Presidential pardon may not totally exonerate him from a potential prison term.

Ted Cruz, who has humiliated by Donald Trump regarding his wife and father, and yet has become a total sycophant, and was willing to argue a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court until the Supreme Court yesterday rejected in one sentence any challenge to the results of the Presidential Election of 2020. This blogger and author has always found Cruz to be the most despicable possible would be President, and thought in 2016 that Cruz on paper was more dangerous than Donald Trump, and the recent escapades of Cruz just add to the total disgust felt about this disgrace!

Rand Paul, who also alarmed this blogger when he ran for President in 2016, advocating the preposterous libertarianism of his father, former Congressman Ron Paul, who is now retired, but has a horrid history of antisemitism and racism in his past, and his son, if anything, much worse, in his delusions. This includes his denunciation and regular attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the true hero of the present Covid 19 Pandemic. This monster plans again, like Cruz, to seek the Presidency in 2024, and both of them are a cancer on the future of the Republican Party!

Mitch McConnell, who hopefully will NOT be Senate Majority Leader after the Georgia Special Senate Elections Runoff on January 5, as he has been the most destructive Senate Majority Leader in memory, going back to making clear his desire to make Barack Obama a one term President. He also denied Obama the right to the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016; refused to have dignity and prevented a Supreme Court replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg with only weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020; and lacks respect for his former colleague, Joe Biden, in refusing even now to acknowledge that Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, from California, who has been a horrid leader of his party, making former Republican leaders Paul Ryan and John Boehner, look good by comparison, when both were obstructionists, and in the case of Ryan, like McCarthy, total sycophants to the evil of Donald Trump!

Hope That At Least Four Republican Senators Will Delay A Vote To Replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg

This is a very depressing time, and Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are adding to it by the outrageous rapid move to promote a Supreme Court nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg so quickly.

With only six weeks until the election, and with the normal period before the process for a Supreme Court nominee being about 75 days, what is the hurry to do this?

In 2016, the Republicans refused to consider a Supreme Court nominee for an entire year, rather than allow Barack Obama to put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court!

The argument was that in the year of a Presidential election, no replacement for the Court should be considered.

If the Court could do with eight members for a year, then they can do with only 8 members until January, when the next inauguration takes place.

No one can argue that if Donald Trump were to win a second term, of course, he could pick a replacement.

But if Joe Biden win the election, then the new President should make the choice for a lifetime appointment of about 30 years.

A hopeful sign is that two women Republican Senators—Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine—have stated that the elected President in November should make the appointment, and that they do not support a rapid replacement before the election or after if Joe Biden wins in November.

Collins has been very disappointing in supporting the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and she is in deep trouble in her Senate reelection campaign in Maine.

Murkowski does not have to face voters until 2022, and in the past, she won reelection to her seat against both a Republican and a Democrat in 2010, so she is more to be trusted than Collins.

But there is also Mitt Romney, who one would think is principled enough based on his opposition to Donald Trump, that he could be a third vote.

Four votes are needed, however, to stop a nominee from being confirmed for now, and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley of Iowa, has said in the past he is against a replacement in an election year, so maybe he will also oppose a quick action.

There is also speculations that Cory Gardner, in a tough race in Colorado, might wish to avoid voting on a nominee before the election.

There are also those Senators seen as more moderate conservatives, but none of them can be relied upon: Rob Portman of Ohio, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Of course, Mitch McConnell himself, and Lindsey Graham, both facing election in their states, had posed the same principle in 2016, but not now, so purely, both are hypocrites. One can hope that possibly their opponents will gain more funding and possibly defeat them, although the odds are long.

Then, there is Ted Cruz, a despicable piece of trash, who also said the same thing about election year appointments, but now is on a list of potential Supreme Court nominees, although Trump has said a woman will be selected next week!

All of the other Republicans running for reelection seem unlikely to show any principle, although Ben Sasse of Nebraska is one we could hope might do so, but seems unlikely to have the courage to take a stand.

So we may end up with a 6-3 Court, setting us back to the 19th century in so many ways, and if nothing else, it should encourage more than ever before for massive contributions to Democrats for the Senate and for Joe Biden nationally, as this nightmare of Donald Trump must come to an end in November!

The Battle For The Republican Future After Trump

The Republican Party seems likely to collapse in the Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2020, suffering their worst defeat since 1964.

Just as the party collapsed in 1912, and again in 1964, now in 2020, four years late–that is, 56 years, not 52 years—a major regeneration of the party in Congress and the competition for the Presidency seems likely.

It looks right now as if the Democrats will win a lot more than the three to four seats needed to win the majority in the Senate, and that the Republicans will lose another minimum ten seats in the House of Representatives, after losing 42 seats in the 2018 midterm Congressional elections.

And the issue arises, who in the party has a likelihood of competing for President in 2024, with of course, always the possibility someone not yet elected or noticed will enter the fray if successful in this upcoming election.

Youth seems likely to triumph, and there are people in the Senate who can be seen as rivals for the future nomination for President, as well as some not in the Senate.

In the Senate, we have some “old timers”, meaning those who have already run for President, including Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida. All of them are quite horrific as thoughts as future Presidents, particularly the first two, but really, all three.

Then, we have three others, who clearly, plan to run for President—Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska—and all but Sasse are seen as equally totally horrific.

We also have Nikki Haley, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor, and for awhile, thought to be “somewhat appealing”, but no more, after her recent total loyalty to Donald Trump, and the halo she once had is gone.

We also have the horror of the possibility of Donald Trump Jr. or Ivanka Trump considering a run!

And we have the disgrace of Florida Senator Rick Scott, who should have been in federal prison for Medicare-Medicaid fraud from years ago, and instead went on to two terms as Florida Governor, and now Florida Senator, winning all three races by about one percent, and all three races very suspect as to vote total manipulation. Just looking at him is enough to make one vomit!

And if one looks to have regular vomiting, think of the disgrace of Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson, a true Know Nothing moron, with no ethical or moral compass at all!

Then, there is also Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who both have handled the CoronaVirus Pandemic responsibly, and are perceived as moderates.

And another Governor, who has handled the crisis horribly, Ron DeSantis of Florida, will probably be angling as well for the Presidency, and makes a Floridian like myself disgusted as to the three state wide office holders in the third largest state, being as obnoxious as Rubio, Scott, and DeSantis!

Of course, if Trump is reelected, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might also enter the race, but it is assumed for this article that Trump will lose!

As an “outsider”, a progressive such as myself, if asked, who could one imagine “accepting” as a future President, and with this progressive hiding his eyes behind a total mask, it would have to be Ben Sasse, Larry Hogan, or Charlie Baker, as the rest of the group totally sickens me.

Likely, one of these sixteen will be the Republican nominee for President in 2024, and the odds will be against Sasse, Hogan or Baker, realistically!