Kentucky

Rand Paul As An Ophthalmologist: Can You Trust His Expertise?

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Rand Paul, the Tea Party Movement advocate and Republican candidate for the US Senate in Kentucky, is an ophthalmologist who has not been certified by the national organization, the American Board of Ophthalmology!

Instead, Paul formed an organization in 1997, called the National Board of Ophthalmology, as a rival group and is certified, therefore, by the group he created!

This rings an alarm bell, as one has to wonder if Rand Paul is really meeting the standards of his profession, if he refuses to work within the established group of eye specialists!

Does anyone want to have a person being responsible for his vision who is a rebel and is not accepted by the establishment organization in his field?

Rand Paul claims that his ability to make a living is being compromised by the revelation of what he did back in 1997, and continues to do, which is to defy the national organization in his specialty!

But more important than how it affects Rand Paul’s livelihood is how his activities affect the health and safety of his patients!

At the least, it should be troubling and cause doubt in any intelligent person’s mind!

This is true not only of Rand Paul as a ophthalmologist, but also continues to make one wonder about his qualifications to be a United States Senator from Kentucky!

The Contrast Between Rand Paul And Joe Sestak

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This past week, two names became large factors in politics.

In Kentucky, libertarian Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, upended the Republican establishment by soundly defeating Trey Greyson, the establishment Republicans’ favorite, backed by Kentuckian and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak defeated the administration backed candidate, Senator Arlen Specter, for the Democratic nomination.

Paul, a newcomer to politics backed by the Tea Party Movement, proceeded to self destruct when he made controversial statements about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 on various interview shows. He then blamed the “liberal” news media, complained about not having a “honeymoon”, claimed “exhaustion”, and canceled an appearance for today on Meet the Press, becoming only the third person in the 62 year history of that news show to cancel after accepting an invitation to appear!

One has to say that if he has “exhaustion” from just having to defend his libertarian views after winning the nomination, and if he cannot handle the stress involved in running for office, then you have to wonder if he stable enough to be a United States Senator or, imagine this, become a candidate for President of the United States! 🙁 As Harry Truman once said, “if you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen!”

Paul is obviously a gift that keeps giving to Jack Conway, his Democratic opponent, and the likelihood of Paul “crashing” may very well take the Tea Party Movement and the libertarian view of government down with him!

At the same time, Joe Sestak, who had a 30 year career in the US Navy and reached the level of two star Rear Admiral, and is the highest ranking former military office currently serving in Congress, proved he was able to overcome the Democratic “establishment” and the Obama Administration, which favored Specter and gave no aid to Sestak.

Sestak has reveled in his victory and is constantly seeking publicity and interviews, and with his naval background, he seems on paper to be an excellent choice to defeat former Congressman Pat Toomey, a favorite of the Tea Party Movement, for the Senate seat.

The contrast between these two victors last Tuesday could not be more different, and indicates the likely future of both in the fall campaign! It will certainly be interesting to follow these two Senate races!

Is Rand Paul The Future Of The Republican Party?

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The stunning victory of Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, for the GOP Senate nomination in Kentucky on Tuesday, has brought a tremendous amount of attention to this man who claims a direct connection to the Tea Party Movement, and is seen as their first significant victory in changing the future of the Republican party!

But Rand Paul has already become the center of controversy with his belief that private businesses should not come under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that therefore if a business owner does not wish to deal with African Americans or gays, he or she should have that privilege!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Rand Paul has advocated the following ideas as part of his libertarian beliefs:

1. Close down the Department of Education.
2. End the Federal Reserve Banking System.
3. Repeal the Americans With Disabilities Act.
4. Slash spending deep enough to balance the budget every year while still cutting taxes.
5. Raise the retirement age on Social Security and Medicare.
6. Cut taxes on corporations and capital gains.
7. Opposes most of the New Deal and Great Society programs as violations of the Constitution.
8. Opposed the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the auto companies.

There are many other issues that will be brought up, either by Rand Paul himself, or his Democratic opponent, Jack Conway. The area of foreign policy will become another area of debate, as well, as Rand Paul holds many of the views of his father, who has called for America to withdraw from world responsibilities, which may sound appealing upon first thought, until one investigates and analyzes what the father has advocated–in many ways, an outdated isolationism!

Certainly, Rand Paul will be one of the most interesting candidates running for the Senate this fall, and the Kentucky Senate race now comes to the forefront as one of the most important races to watch in this midterm election year!

The question is whether Rand Paul will be of benefit, or be a detriment, to the Republican party in this campaign, and if he wins, in the future fortunes of a party that has never felt comfortable with his father! Can a Tea Party personality such as Rand Paul find a home in the GOP, or will the GOP repudiate him as they have already, many times, rejected and ridiculed his father when he ran for the Presidency in 2008?

The Unfortunate Life Of Mitch McConnell! From Jim Bunning To Rand Paul!

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Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has been the Minority Leader of the Senate since 2007, and is serving his fifth term, the longest serving Kentucky senator in American history!

A strong conservative, but part of the “establishment”, he has been cursed having to serve alongside a Senator considered by many to be part of the “lunatic fringe”–Senator Jim Bunning, the former baseball player and Hall of Famer, who is usually regarded as one of the absolutely worst senators in American history!

Bunning was a constant critic of McConnell right up to the end, when he finally decided not to run for a third Senate term! He was an embarrassment in so many ways, in his actions and statements! McConnell was certainly relieved when Bunning finally bowed out of the race!

McConnell backed Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Greyson to succeed Bunning, but Rand Paul, the son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and like his father, a libertarian and Tea Party activist, was endorsed by Bunning!

Yesterday, Paul soundly defeated Greyson, a real slap in the face to McConnell, and based on Rand Paul’s past statements, McConnell might almost wish Bunning had stayed in the Senate! 🙂

Rand Paul has called for the abolition of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Department of Education, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Reserve, and supports a balanced budget amendment, term limits, and repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964! He promotes constant tax cuts and smaller government, and is a critic of the government “bailout” of Wall Street and the Obama Health Care reform! He also is against abortion rights, including in cases of rape and incest!

Besides being an extremist in so many ways, which will be fully exposed by Democratic nominee Jack Conway in the fall campaign, Rand Paul has made it clear that he has no intention of being friendly with McConnell, even with the fact that McConnell is the Republican leader in the Senate!

So even those who are not fans of Mitch McConnell must have some sympathy for him, as it is a shame that he has weird, extremist colleagues from his home state that he has to, somehow, coexist with and tolerate! 🙁