Tom Daschle

Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell A Traitor To American Values And National Security, And Will Be A Leading Villain In American History!

Ronald 2 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will go down in history as a traitor to American values and national security, and be seen as a leading villain in American history.

When one compares him to other Senate Majority Leaders, including:

Democrats Alben Barkley, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mike Mansfield, Robert Byrd, George Mitchell, and Tom Daschle

and Republicans Howard Baker and Bob Dole

McConnell pales by comparison.

The fact that his wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, is in the Trump Cabinet, is in itself a massive example of corruption and conflict of interest.

But beyond that, McConnell denied President Barack Obama his right to have a Supreme Court Justice nominee, Merrick Garland, to be considered for the Court in 2016.

McConnell has also refused to allow any strengthening of voter security to prevent a Russian government collusion in our election system, as occurred in 2016.

McConnell has also been involved with Russian businessmen investing in Kentucky industrial projects, a clear cut example of treason.

McConnell has made clear that if a Supreme Court appointment occurs in the election year of 2020, he will allow such an appointment, after NOT allowing it in 2016.

McConnell has not allowed votes on House of Representatives bills, with the ability to vote them down, but not even allowing a vote on so much potential legislation, in order to avoid the Republicans in the Senate from putting their careers on the line by actually having to vote to prevent reforms of all kinds.

McConnell’s major goals has been to enrich the top one percent with tax cuts; to destroy all regulations possible on business and industry and destroy as much of the Great Society programs of Lyndon B. Johnson and the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt; and to pack the federal courts with extremist right wing judges, many of them incompetent, who wish to destroy civil rights, organized labor, consumer rights, environmental regulations, women’s rights; and other progressive causes and laws, wiping out all fairness and movements towards social justice and equality.

44 Retired US Senators Speak Out On Constitutional Crisis, Including Principled Republicans

Ronald 1 Comment

The Washington Post published two days ago an op-ed editorial by 44 retired US Senators, calling on the present members of the Senate to show guts and courage and speak up to defend democracy and the Constitution, from the threats presented by President Donald Trump.

Eleven of those 44 were Republicans, of all stripes and beliefs, including Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado; William Cohen of Maine; Alfonse D’Amato of New York;  John Danforth of Missouri; David Durenberger of Minnesota; Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; Richard Lugar of Indiana; Larry Pressler of South Dakota; Alan Simpson of Wyoming; John Warner of Virginia; and Lowell Weicker of Connecticut.

The other 33 were Democrats, including such luminaries as Evan Bayh of Indiana; Bill Bradley of New Jersey; Tom Daschle of South Dakota; Chris Dodd of Connecticut; Russ Feingold of Wisconsin; Bob Graham of Florida; Tom Harkin of Iowa; Gary Hart of Colorado; Bob Kerrey of Nebraska; John Kerry of Massachusetts; Joe Lieberman of Connecticut; Barbara Mikulski of Maryland; Sam Nunn of Georgia; Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia; and Mark Udall of Colorado.

America needs Republicans in the Senate, now 53 of them, to stop defending Donald Trump, and start concerning themselves with the preservation of American democracy.  They need to speak up and challenge and confront Donald Trump and stop accepting his violations of the Constitution.

If they do not, they will  be relegated to the dustbin of history, and the Republican party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, Reagan, Ford, and H. W. Bush will die of lack of principle and commitment.

Eric Cantor Not Only Congressional Leader Defeated For Re-election

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The defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader in his Congressional primary in Virginia by David Brat, was stunning and shocking, but not the first time that a Congressional leader was defeated for renomination or reelection.

Other prominent cases include:

Senator Richard Lugar, former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, of Indiana in 2012 by Richard Mourdock

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota in 2004 by John Thune

House Speaker Tom Foley of Washington State in 1994 by George Nethercutt

Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois in 1994 by Michael Flanagan

Congressman Emanuel Celler, House Judiciary Committee Chairman of New York, in 1972 by Elizabeth Holtzman

Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas of Illinois in 1950 by Everett Dirksen

Senator Robert La Follette, Jr of Wisconsin in 1946 by Joseph McCarthy

Notice that ONLY Cantor, Lugar and La Follette, Jr. were Republican officeholders defeated, while the others listed were all Democrats.

So it is newsworthy and highly unusual for Congressional leaders and prominent members to lose reelection!

Senator John Thune Moving Up In Political Betting On 2012!

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South Dakota Senator John Thune, often seen as a “dark horse” for the Presidency in 2012, and judged by the author to have the best chance to be that “dark horse” nominee, has now been judged by several political bettors to be the third most likely nominee of the GOP for 2012, just behind Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin!

His good looks, his “Presidential” appearance, his newness on the national scene, his lack of controversy, and his defeat in 2004 of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, all are seen as pluses for 2012! Instead of being a retread from earlier campaigns, Thune is seen as a fresh face who looks like a President should look, and comes across as more moderate even though he is a conservative!

So even though he ranks way down in the listing with only two percent recognition right now, don’t underestimate John Thune’s potential for 2012!

It could be the best opportunity for the GOP to offer an alternative candidate who could possibly win the mainstream, so sorely needed if the party is to have a real chance to win the Presidency!

Impending Split In GOP For 2012 Obvious: Who Did Not Attend California Rally Led By Michael Steele And Sarah Palin?

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Once the midterm elections of 2010 end in 16 days, the race for the Presidential nomination in 2012 will begin formally, and it is clear there will be a major split among Republicans!

Republican National Chairman Michael Steele and former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended and hosted the event in Anaheim, but it was very obvious that there were three significant Republicans who did not want to associate themselves with the rally!

Specifically, Republican nominee for Governor Meg Whitman, and Republican nominee for Senator Carly Fiorina, both running very close races, and both very ambitious and accomplished corporate leaders (of Ebay and Hewlett Packard, respectively) avoided the rally, knowing fully and clearly that in the “blue” state of California, Sarah Palin and Michael Steele are seen as “poison”! And both women are believed to look down on Palin as a woman of few accomplishments, compared to themselves!

But also not present was Senator John McCain, who was campaigning just an hour away from the rally, for Carly Fiorina in her campaign against Senator Barbara Boxer, and going out of his way to make really nasty comments against a fellow Senator, a new tactic only used in the past few years against colleagues of the other party, as it was always felt it was unseemly to do so! One could campaign FOR a candidate without bad mouthing your colleague of the other party, but this is the new reality, which began when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist campaigned in South Dakota against Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004! The age of common decency with your colleagues is part of the “old rules” sadly no longer in effect!

But it also raised eyebrows that McCain avoided the rally headed by his own former running mate of 2008, and it is well known that Megan McCain, his daughter, has continued to make criticisms of Palin in her interviews and public appearances!

So the campaign of 2012 will be a very interesting one, with major blood letting to occur, as nearly a dozen ambitious Republicans will be organizing for President, and none of them want to be associated with either Michael Steele’s leadership of the party, or with Sarah Palin, who is seen by many, privately, as unqualified to be President, and as an annoying distraction in Republican party politics! 🙁