Day: April 30, 2010

John McCain: Sarah Palin, Oil Drilling, Illegal Immigration, And Charlie Crist!

Ronald 3 Comments

Senator John McCain of Arizona has really lost ALL credibility on anything he has said or done since the beginning of his presidential campaign in 2008!

When Obama was inaugurated, McCain promised cooperation with the new President, but has proceeded to be totally destructive of unity, and demonstrated absolutely no sense of principle!

It was his independence and principled stands that made McCain so appealing to many liberals and progressives during the Bush Administration!

But then he selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate during his Presidential campaign, and unleashed this unqualified woman on this nation, and we cannot rid ourselves of her presence on our political scene! Will we ever be able to forgive McCain for this? 🙁

Then he backed oil drilling during his campaign, promoting “Drill, Baby, Drill”, after years of advocating environmentalism and being against off shore oil drilling in the Gulf states region. Now in the midst of the Gulf Oil disaster, he looks totally terrible!

McCain promoted a reasonable immigration bill, also backed by Ted Kennedy and President Bush, but now he has backed the discriminatory, unconstitutional Arizona law, in a desperate attempt to save his seat in the Senate!

McCain has also showed no loyalty to his “friends” who helped to make him the GOP nominee for President in 2008, specifically Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Without Crist”s support, it is likely that Mitt Romney would have won Florida, and might have been the Republican choice for the Presidency in 2008.

One wonders how John McCain can sleep at night, having given us the “gift” of Sarah Palin, abandoned his views on oil drilling and illegal immigration, and betraying Charlie Crist! All of this makes him look much worse in history, and it would be very appropriate if his actions lead to his defeat for another Senate term.

John McCain once was a “Profile in Courage”, but NO MORE! 🙁

“Appointed” Florida Senator George LeMieux: A Traitor To Charlie Crist!

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In an unbelievable move, “appointed” Florida Senator George LeMieux, who has proved to be a total mediocrity in the Senate, with no mind of his own, has repudiated Governor Charlie Crist, who appointed him to fill out the 16 months left in the term of Senator Mel Martinez, who resigned in September 2009.

Can you imagine that your good friend, who you worked for and made you what you are, decides to repudiate you and back the party over friendship? Is that a man of principle or of opportunism? 🙁 What it comes down to is that George LeMieux is “Benedict Arnold”! 🙁

Supposedly, LeMieux understood that he was simply filling a seat temporarily, and had no ambition to seek the Senate seat himself, and that is why Crist appointed him!

But now there are rumors that LeMieux may suddenly have interest in running for the Senate himself against Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in 2012, and obviously, if that is his ambition, he cannot afford to antagonize the GOP establishment in his state if he wishes to have their backing in the future.

So, in other words, throw your friend, who gave you the opportunity for what you are, under the bus! To hell with friendship, principle and decency! 🙁

Senator LeMieux has been a total disgrace to the state, and he should be condemned for his reprehensible behavior!

All that this does, as well as all the other Republicans statewide and nationally who have repudiated Crist, is to make Crist look ever better to many independents, moderates, and even Democrats, who admire Crist as a man who speaks his mind and is not tied to a party line!

With his announcement of independent candidacy for the Senate seat in Florida, Crist allows himself, if he is elected, the opportunity to be a moderate to progressive voice, who might very well join the Democratic caucus if he wins the seat!

Do not count Charlie Crist out, as many are, as he has an excellent opportunity to win the seat with as little as 34-37 percent of the vote!

The Florida race becomes the most interesting of numerous Senate races in the upcoming midterm elections of 2010!

The Census Undercount And Its Possible Effect On The Future

Ronald Leave a comment

A crisis has arisen in the US Census Bureau, as the top four states in population, plus Number 14 (Arizona), are in danger of being under counted in the once a decade census count which determines federal aid to the states, reapportionment of seats for the US House of Representatives, and the number of electoral votes the states have for Presidential elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

California, Texas, New York and Florida, along with Arizona, also, coincidentally (or is it that? ), have the highest number of Hispanic or Latino residents. One has to speculate that the growing crackdown on illegal immigration, accelerated by the new Arizona law, may be influencing people of Latin American heritage, whether legal or illegal, to be afraid of government, and be unwilling, therefore, to cooperate with government and fill out any government forms.

Of course, the push by Tea Party Movement people, and Republican members of Congress, such as Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, to make people feel fear of government intrusion, could also be having a deleterious effect on cooperation with the census.

But as things stand now, New York and California are in danger of losing seats, and Texas, Arizona and Florida might not gain additional House seats, and in the process, all five states could have less influence on Presidential elections than one would expect, considering their tremendous size and impact on the nation as a whole.

Instead, Minnesota, Oregon and North Carolina could gain extra House seats and electoral votes, because those states have a higher participation rate than the five states mentioned above.

The next two and a half months will determine the final results, as Census workers fan out to try and gain cooperation in these five states and elsewhere.

One must point out that ALL people living in the country are supposed to be counted, including illegal immigrants, but the Census looks in danger of a greater under count, percentage wise, than ever in recent history!