Month: April 2014

Two Different Directions: Wisconsin State Republican Party And Nevada State Republican Party

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The internal battle over the future of the Republican Party is in full swing, as we come up to the 160th anniversary of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1854, which actually took place on March 20. with a formal organization in Jackson, Michigan, on July 6.

For a long time, the Ripon Society has existed as an organization for “liberal,” mainstream Republicans, but of course, there is no such thing anymore known as “liberal” Republicanism. Even those who might consider themselves “liberal,” avoid use of that term like a plague!

The Wisconsin GOP, which once included “Mr. Progressive” Robert La Follette, Sr., and his brilliant sons Robert La Follette, Jr. and Philip La Follette, now, however, has become an extremist group on the far right, under Governor Scott Walker and Senator Ron Johnson, and the proposal is to add to their state party documents the concept of the right of the state to promote “secession’ if felt necessary, a sign of the old, ugly language that led to the Civil War and the loss of two thirds of a million men in combat, the greatest single tragedy in the nation’s history!

At the same time, the Nevada State Republican Party has made the decision to remove from its platform for 2014 two issues that the Christian Right has been promoting since their rise in the party apparatus nationwide since the late 1970s—abortion and gay rights and marriage. No longer will the party promote government intervention in the lives of women and their personal decisions about their bodies and reproductive rights. And no longer will they get in the way of a person’s happiness, as to his or her basic human rights, including marriage, and the right to one’s sexual orientation without any discrimination by government!

In the long run, what Nevada Republicans are doing will, if pursued elsewhere, lead to a long term revival of the GOP, while if Wisconsin is followed, it is the death knell and demise of the party of Lincoln, TR, and Ike!

Republicans, The Lincoln Lie, And Rand Paul’s Ambitions For President In 2016

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The Republican Party loves to claim a connection to Abraham Lincoln, even though they have totally repudiated everything he stands for.

They honor his memory, particularly now on the 149th Anniversary of his assassination by John Wilkes Booth. But they favor states rights, nullification, and support back tracking on civil rights, all of which the Confederate and Border South advocated when they were Democrats, and now when they are Republicans, and control most seats in Congress and most state legislatures in those states.

But when seeking the Presidency, these Southern and Border state Republicans have no problem in trying to appeal to groups they have been working against.

A great example is Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, known for his doubts about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and about overseas military bases and involvement in world affairs.

Suddenly, while in New Hampshire appealing for support for President, he expresses concern for groups that have been totally ignored by his party, including African Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, women, and poor people, although there is no evidence of a real transformation.

And now he is no longer willing to condemn Dick Cheney and the Iraq War, and backs away from his isolationist views of the past, and that must make his father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, wince!

It is clear that Rand Paul is a total charlatan, a phony, who cannot be believed or trusted, either the “old” libertarian Rand Paul, or the newer, transformed model, to be our President!

The Most Significant Dates In Presidential History Related To Four Great Presidents!

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Every year as we reach mid April, we are reminded of the most significant dates in Presidential history related to four great Presidents, all of whom represent the best of our history.

April 12 is the anniversary of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, our greatest President of the 20th century, the promoter of the New Deal to react to the Great Depression, and also the leader through most of the fight against Fascism and Nazism in World War II.

It is also the anniversary of Harry Truman becoming President suddenly, and filling the shoes of FDR with courage and decisiveness, bringing about the end of World War II; confronting the Soviet Union in the Cold War; and promoting the expansion of the New Deal, the beginning of the end of racial segregation; and the recognition of Israel.

April 13 is the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence; doubled our territory through the Louisiana Purchase agreement with France; kept us out of war with Great Britain with his understanding that we could not fight them with a chance to be victorious; and was a genius in so many ways, without a doubt the most brilliant person ever to occupy the Presidency.

April 14 marks the sad anniversary of Abraham Lincoln being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater, and his death the next morning, April 15, but having brought about the victory of the Union over the Confederacy and the enunciation of the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation.

The ranking of these Presidents on the C-Span list of 2009 is Lincoln as number one, FDR as number three, Truman as number five, and Jefferson as number seven.

We are fortunate to have had such great leadership from these four Presidents, who had, overall, a greater effect on American history, than any other Presidents we have had!

Stephen Colbert Great Addition To Late Night Television!

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Comedy Channel’s Stephen Colbert has been chosen to replace David Letterman, when he leaves CBS sometime in 2015.

This is a great selection to replace Letterman, as Colbert is a comedic genius, although he will drop his persona as a conservative Republican, when he takes over the late night show from Letterman.

Predictably, the right wing conservatives and Republicans are condemning the selection of Colbert, as Rush Limbaugh stated that the nation beyond the coastlines, what Limbaugh calls the “heartland”, is being ignored, and that CBS has declared war on this vast part of the nation, and that Colbert is overly “partisan.”

This is such a laughable idea, as what exactly is Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, and all of the rest of the large crowd of right wing talk show hosts on radio and television (Fox News Channel), except totally “partisan”, and also, mostly laughable in their hypocrisy?

Kudos to CBS for defying the right wing, and giving us one of the two most entertaining and creative comedians in cable, with the other being Jon Stewart!

Both know how to “sock it to them” to the right wing, which already has far too much control over media as it is!

The False Voter Fraud Issue Of Republicans Challenged Head On By Barack Obama

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One of the most outrageous activities of the Republican Party is its attempt to prevent people from voting by requiring all kinds of documents, and cutting voting days and hours, and refusing same day voting registration.

The GOP claim of widespread voter fraud is absolutely ridiculous, and Barack Obama took it on in a speech yesterday, at a time when the Supreme Court, Republican dominated majority, has weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, just as we celebrate 50 years of the Civil Rights Act, and next year, 50 years of a now weakened Voting Rights Act, something civil rights workers died for in the early 1960s.

As Obama pointed, statistics demonstrate that between 2002 and 2005, out of 197 million votes cast, there were ONLY 40 examples of people indicted for voter fraud, a infinitesimal number, a percentage of 0.00002 percent!

For this, we need millions of African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, elderly, poor, disabled, and young voters denied the basic right to vote?

What the Republican Party is doing in Republican controlled states with Republican legislatures and governors is against the whole concept of fairness, justice, and equality, dating back to the old Jim Crow days in the South, but now embraced in areas outside the South as well.

Abraham Lincoln is turning over in his grave as to what his party has done, a true example of their political corruption, and lack of ethics!

Kathleen Sebelius A True Hero In Promotion Of ObamaCare: History Will Treat Her Well!

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Former Kansas Governor and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has had, probably, the most difficult job of anyone working under President Obama, in trying to promote the Affordable Care Act.

She was vilified for the disastrous beginning of ObamaCare last October, but now, despite the rough start, 7.5 million Americans are covered, plus millions more on Medicaid. For this, she is a true hero!

Meanwhile, many Republican Governors have refused to expand Medicaid, and people are dying for lack of accessibility to health care. This is absolutely unconscionable, and one wonders how Rick Scott of Florida, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas, and other despicable GOP Governors can sleep at night!

While treated roughly by Republicans, and elements of the national news media, Sebelius will, in the long run, be well remembered and honored in history, as she is the person most involved in bringing health care to millions, and in so doing, fulfilling the “American Dream.”

She is an honorable lady, who, hopefully, now leaving the cabinet after five years, will have another role to play in public serice!

Let every decent person salute Kathleen Sebelius for her dedication and commitment!

The 50th Anniversary Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Commemorated By Four Presidents!

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It has been a half century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the greatest accomplishment of President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his five years in the Oval Office.

This week, four American Presidents are honoring this achievement at the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas, including Barack Obama, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush (the former Presidents, ironically, all Southerners).

This half century old law is one of the massive and historic turning points in American history, and yet the challenge to civil rights, as the Reverend Al Sharpton has stated, is not over, as there continues to be discrimination in many southern and other states governed now by Republican legislatures and governors.

So the battle for civil rights continues for the protection of people based upon race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexual orientation, and we cannot sit on just praise of what has been done, but fight for more of the same in the present and the future!

Liz Cheney Vs. Rand Paul, And The Rachel Maddow “Connection” On Iraq War

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Fox News commentator Liz Cheney, formerly a Senate candidate from Wyoming, who withdrew from the race due to poor polling numbers, is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

She is as much a nightmare as her infamous father, who is the hawk of all hawks, the ultimate neoconservative, who manipulated us by lies to enter the war against Iraq, a losing war, that emboldened the more dangerous neighbor, Iran, over the past eleven years.

Liz Cheney defends her father while attacking Tea Party Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has denounced the Iraq War as an unwise and mistaken action.

But Liz Cheney has claimed that Rand Paul is mouthing the main talking points of MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow, who has produced a documentary, already shown on that channel, denouncing the war, and showing how it was based on lies and deception at the cost of 4,400 American lies and over 30,000 wounded, many seriously, while Cheney enriched himself immensely through his Haliburton connections.

The idea that Rand Paul has, somehow, been working alongside Rachel Maddow is laughable, as she has been a major critic of his libertarianism and other views, and is no “friend” of Rand, or Ron Paul, his dad and the former Texas Congressman.

This is a sign of the splits developing in the GOP, not only the Cheneys and other neoconservatives (such as former UN Ambassador John Bolton) against Rand Paul, a likely frontrunner for the Presidential nomination in 2016; but also the hard line right wingers against former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his approach to the immigration issue, particularly undocumented immigrants.

Anyone who would deny the Rachel Maddow expose against Cheney and others who prosecuted the Iraq War on false pretenses is a fool, and the words to describe Liz Cheney are not printable here on this blog!

The Bushes Vs. The Tea Party Movement, Right Wing Evangelicals, And Many Congressional Republicans: The Battle For The Soul Of The GOP Is On!

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Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has declared war on the Tea Party Movement, the right wing evangelicals, and many members of the Republican Congressional majority in the House, and some in the US Senate, by his statements at the George H W Bush Presidential Library defending undocumented immigrants who risk their lives to make a better future for their families, by coming illegally to the United States!

Stating that what these immigrants are doing is “an act of love” and should not be seen as a felony, what Jeb Bush has done is to decide to confront the right wingers in his party, as he considers a run for President in 2016. He admits that he might be shot down, but is testing the waters to make the Republican Party a more open, embracing party, as he sees the only future for the party is to broaden its support, including the backing of immigration reform!

Whether one likes Jeb Bush or not, and is thrilled or not at the thought of a third Bush Presidency, any rational, reasonable person can applaud what he is saying. This author has been bitterly attacked in past years on this blog for supporting reasonable immigration reform, including the passage of the DREAM Act, giving the children of immigrants an opportunity to advance in their country of adoption, through college attendance and or military service, and staying out of trouble.

The reality is that there is no way to deport an estimated 12-13 million people; that these people do important jobs others will not take; and that they are not stealing jobs from Americans, or causing widespread crime.

Ironically, the Obama Administration has deported more undocumented immigrants than George W. Bush, and has taken people who have not committed serious crimes, and forced them out, leaving their children without their parents in this nation, in many cases. This is a violation of basic human rights, to break up families, and unless someone has committed serious crimes, there is a dire need to change this unjust, immoral policy pronto!

The Midterm Elections: Far From Settled Results This Early!

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After the Democratic Party started to panic over predictions of the likelihood of a debacle this coming November, it became clear that it is far from certain that the Senate will be lost, although one can certainly concede the loss of seats, and the fact that the change in House seats might be a few, but not a dramatic difference! In fact, with the reality of total gridlock in the House, and the worst legislative record under Speaker John Boehner in modern history, the Democrats might gain a few seats, although not likely to have a majority, as now projected.

The Republican Party needs to gain 6 seats in the Senate to have control, and while there are many Democratic seats up, and a lot of Democrats are retiring, that is still not a sign of GOP success, as they are very good at self destruction, and are on that road again.

The Tea Party Movement is certain to cause the loss of some traditional conservatives in the Senate, and to increase the chances of defeating a few GOP senators, to overcome the fact that there are more Democratic seats in contention.

And again, even if both houses are Republican, by 2016, the Senate is sure to be won back, and the House might go Democratic with a strong Presidential candidate heading the ticket, such as Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden!

The long term prognosis for the Republican Party is gloomy, while the long term prognosis for the Democrats is excellent!