Louie Gohmert

The Inauspicious Beginning Of The Republican 114th Congress: 25 Republicans Repudiate John Boehner, And White Supremacist Steve Scalise Kept As House Majority Whip!

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The opening of the Republican controlled 114th Congress was an embarrassment in two major ways.

First, while Speaker John Boehner began his third two year term in that position, he suffered the repudiation of 25 members of his caucus, who refused to support him, making for the largest rebellion against a sitting Speaker in 150 years, since the Civil War era. Instead, these 25 rebels voted for Florida Congressman Daniel Webster (a distant descendant of the great Massachusetts Senator of the 19th century; Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert; Florida Congressman Ted Yoho; Kentucky Senator Rand Paul; former Army General Colin Powell; and others, making a joke out of the proceedings.

Then, despite the outcry against Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise, who spoke at a David Duke sponsored event in 2002, claiming not to know that Duke sponsored the event, failed to stop him from being kept on as House Majority Whip. Scalise had claimed in the past that he was a “David Duke Republican”, but now claims ignorance of the racist, antisemitic career of the former Ku Klux Klan leader and his connections to the American Nazi Party. Duke ran for Governor and Senator in the early 1990s in Louisiana, and former President George H. W. Bush led the fight against his candidacy for Governor in 1991, but somehow, Scalise was not affected by that history, and was wiling to connect himself to Duke. Yet, the GOP decided to keep him as third ranking Republican in the House.

So a very inauspicious beginning for the GOP, as they try to convince the American people that they represent the nation, and should gain the White House, as well as Capitol Hill, in 2016!

Republican Insanity In The House Of Representatives As Speaker John Boehner Is Challenged By Louie Gohmert And Ted Yoho!

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The 114th Congress is due to open on Tuesday, and this first all Republican Congress since the end of 2006 should be one for the books, in a negative way!

Having come off two successive Congresses (112th and 113th), which set records for the most incompetent, unaccomplished Congresses in modern American history, with both having a divided Congress, rare in American history, we can now expect total breakdown, craziness, and outrage to become the norm ever more.

It all begins with a last minute challenge within the GOP to the leadership of Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, who has been seen as the worst modern Speaker in many decades!

Boehner has had trouble controlling his own caucus members in the past four years as Speaker, and had a challenge to his second two year Speakership two years ago, but now he faces another threat to be dumped by his caucus when it meets on Tuesday.

The largest Republican caucus since 1929, but with fewer Tea Party members as a percentage of the total, Boehner should have no problem disposing of his opponents, but the whole idea that two lunatic members of the right wing fringe Tea Party are challenging him, is in itself memorable as to just how much insanity there is the Republican Party of 2015!

Who would think that two of the most looney members of the Republican Party–Louie Gohmert of Texas and Ted Yoho of Florida—would believe they are qualified to lead the House, and be two heartbeats away from the Presidency as a result?

Gohmert, in the House since 2005, joined the loonies of the loonies—Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Steve King of Iowa—in being part of the “Three Stooges”—the most embarrassing trio in Congress, bare none, and now Ted Yoho, a newcomer as of two years ago, has been competing to join this trio, which now lacks Michele Bachmann, who retired at the end of the last Congress, under investigation for corruption in her 2012 Presidential campaign, which marked the looniest campaign for the White House in memory. Yoho, with a name like that, desperately wants to be noticed, and is unwilling to allow Gohmert to get all the attention, so is making it a two pronged attack on the Speaker.

This should insure that Boehner keeps the position, even though, by all same judgments, he should be kicked out as someone who has disgraced the office, and desperately needs Alcoholics Anonymous, as everyone knows, but few speak out, that he has a major drinking problem that needs attention!

What a statement that the best that the GOP can conjure up for the Speakership of the “People’s Branch”, is Boehner, Gohmert, and Yoho!

Right Wing Hate For Barack Obama Far Surpasses Any Criticism Of Any Earlier President!

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The right wing hate, led by the Tea Party Movement, for President Barack Obama, has reached the point of no return, and has FAR surpassed any criticism of any earlier President!

Whether it is talk radio, with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and others of their ilk; or Fox News Channel spewing poison and lies consistently; or the right wing think tanks, headed by the Heritage Foundation and others who distort facts and have an agenda to promote an oligarchy; or the super wealthy, such as the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and others who are trying to destroy the middle class and promote their own profits at the expense of the entire nation; or the conservative journals of opinion, such as the Weekly Standard and the National Review, which promote their extremist agenda; or the lunatic House members, such as Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Steve King and others; or the right wing extremist Senators, including Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, newly elected Thom Tillis and Joni Ernst and others; as well as the leadership of many corporations and other special interests—there is a concerted campaign to destroy Barack Obama, with many wishing for his demise, meaning his death by whatever means possible.

Obama is more threatened now than any President since Abraham Lincoln, and in many respects, more than Lincoln, since the population is ten times what it was during the Civil War 150 years ago!

The venom, disrespect, racism, hatred, and accusations against Barack Obama have not had any limits. He has been accused of being a Muslim, a Kenyan, an Indonesian, anti Semitic, a racist against whites, a person who is bisexual, a gay man, an illegal drug abuser, having a mother who was a whore, having a different father who was a black nationalist, and much more.

Obama has been called an Emperor, a King, an abuser of Presidential power, but at the same time, he is weak and wimpy.

Sensible people see Obama as a moderate Republican of twenty to thirty years ago, not at all extreme, as Bruce Bartlett who worked for Ronald Reagan has said, who also says in many ways Obama is a traditional conservative, who has not done what liberals and progressives have wanted him to do.

On issues of human rights, Obama has been more aggressive, such as labor rights, civil rights, and gay and lesbian rights. On issues of importance to the future beyond our own time, he has supported the need for an aggressive policy on environmental protection.

But Obama has pushed a health care plan that the Heritage Foundation and Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole backed twenty years ago, giving health care companies control over health care, not exactly radical in nature, although depicted as such.

Obama has been attacked and criticized for every sin and fault imaginable, including wearing a tan suit; going on vacation (actually less than any recent President); using a veto power that he has only used twice; using executive orders less than any recent President; being unwilling to engage us in more wars and interventions, etc.

Through all the personal and policy attacks, Obama has always acted with dignity and calm, annoying the hell out of his critics, who want him to be the “angry black man”, and the leaders of the Republican Party, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, give him no respect at all.

And now, the idea is being suggested by the despicable editor Richard Lowry of the National Review, that John Boehner decide not to invite the President to give his State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress!

Go ahead, right wingers, do exactly that, and the President will speak instead from the Oval Office, and will win public opinion, and show once and for all what the right wing nuts represent! If he chooses to denounce, finally, his right wing critics, who have gone beyond the pale in so many ways, it will boost his public opinion rating, just as Bill Clinton’s ratings went up after the impeachment effort against him in 1998-1999!

Expect that Obama will face impeachment by this right wing crowd, but he will come out shining as a result, and will not be removed from office. All it will do is show the Republican Party and the right wing for what they are–despicable hate mongers who will stop at nothing to destroy the 44th President of the United States!

The greatest fear is not impeachment, or not being invited to speak before a joint session of Congress, but the dangers against his life that Barack Obama faces every day, encouraged on in spirit, if not in direct statements publicly, by the opposition, which, again, is more hateful and vehement than any time since at least the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln!

Any Chance Of A GOP Woman President Anytime Soon? NO!

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The Republican Party is in deep trouble among women in America.

Sure, there are the religious women who are against abortion, and those women who have no problem with the male dominance and sexism of Republican office holders.

These numbers are probably about one third of the nation, and primarily in the South, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain West, not areas generally of high population.

But in the Northeast and New England, the upper Midwest, and the Pacific Coast, women as a group are outraged at the male chauvinism and sexism of Republican office holders in Congress, and even in state legislatures.

Women in polls are overwhelmingly Democrats, not so much because the Democrats are without fault or shortcomings, but because they have demonstrated concern for women’s issues, such as health care, education, child care, raising of the minimum wage, single mothers, maternity leaves, campus rapes, and so many other issues that affect women, whether single or married, young or old, every day.

And Republican women officeholders offer no relief, as they back up the sexist, chauvinist men proudly!

Yes, there are four Republican women Governors, although Jan Brewer of Arizona is leaving, and no one would perceive her as caring about women’s issues, or really, anyone but herself and her own selfish interests. She has been a disgraceful, hard hearted Governor of Arizona.

What about Mary Fallin of Oklahoma? She allowed executions to go forth that are clearly promoting “cruel and unusual punishment”, and really torture. She is a disgrace to womanhood and her own reputation!

Then there is Nikki Haley, who would have ambitions, but her record as Governor, and her lack of compassion for poor women in her state, as well as poor people generally, disqualifies her on a national level.

And then, we have Susana Martinez, probably the least objectionable of the four GOP women Governors, but still, except for her Mexican American heritage, seen as a lightweight, and really, a President from New Mexico, who has not served in national government at all? Give us all a break!

So now to the US House of Representatives! Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is leaving government, thank goodness, and yet may face prosecution in scandals involving her Presidential campaign in 2012. Did she ever have anything constructive to say in her eight years in Congress? Of course not, instead coming across as totally looney and uncaring, and ready to issue idiotic, stupid and false statements in unison with equally lunatic male colleagues such as Steve King of Iowa and Louie Gohmert of Texas as only the most outrageous of many looney male Republican colleagues in the lower chamber.

Then we have Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who causes any sane person the desire to roll eyes constantly and shake heads, as to her outrageous statements, not quite as crazy as Bachmann, but still enough to make one wonder what planet she comes from!

Then, there is Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the chair of the House Republican Conference, making her the highest ranking woman Republican ever in the House. She is a pleasant lady, but is not seen as Presidential material, and seems lacking in true understanding of many women’s issues.

The rest of the Republican women in the House are not worthy of consideration at all on a Presidential level, and there are only 19 women Republicans in the House anyway, compared to 63 for the Democrats.

So now to the US Senate, where there are only four Republican women. Susan Collins of Maine is the most distinguished, followed by Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but neither is seen as Presidential timber, and they come from states extremely small in population, if not land area.

Deb Fischer of Nebraska is a newcomer, not particularly distinguished, and not seen as Presidential level, and finally, we have Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who is often boomed as a possible future candidate, but realistically, no one should put betting money on her, although if any woman Republican presently in office were to announce for President, it would be her.

Face the facts, women Republicans are few and far between, and mostly poorly qualified, and if there is to be a woman President anytime soon, it will be a Democrat!

And those potential Presidents include Hillary Clinton, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Suddenly, Joe Biden Makes It A Race With Hillary Clinton For 2016!

Ronald 10 Comments

Here many thought that the Democratic Presidential race for 2016 was over, and that Hillary Clinton would saunter to the nomination without opposition.

True, that former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley were hinting that they might challenge Hillary, but the thought was it could just be an attempt to gain some publicity, and hope that Hillary would not run, giving them the edge simply on intention to run.

Well, forget about that, as Vice President Joe Biden has made it clear that he does not wish to be ignored or overlooked, and that IF he decides to run, it will not be affected by what Hillary does. After all, even good friends compete in life, right? Biden does not want to be seen, certainly at this point, as a “lame duck”, still wanting to be seen as significant and in the game for the next three years as Vice President and beyond.

When one thinks about it, since Richard Nixon, it has been assumed, and often the fact, that a sitting Vice President was seen as a likely successor to the President he served, at least for the nomination. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, and Al Gore all became Presidential nominees after serving under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Nixon and Bush became President, while Humphrey, Ford, Mondale and Gore failed to win the Presidential elections after they were nominated by their party. Only Dick Cheney never considered running for the Presidency, after being Vice President under George W. Bush. Even Spiro Agnew, before he was forced to resign due to scandal, was perceived as the likely successor nominee to Richard Nixon, and the same for Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush, who tried and failed to win the Presidential nomination in 1996.

So the idea of Biden wanting to run is not at all out of the norm, and when one looks seriously at Joe Biden’s record in public life, all one say is WOW!

The reality is that NO Vice President has EVER had the wealth of experience in public office of Joe Biden!

BIden served 36 years in the Senate, and will have had 8 years in the Vice Presidency, for a total of 44 years in public service by 2016.

Biden is a well liked, admired, gregarious, public figure, even if one does not agree with his viewpoints and record.

It is well known that Biden can build bridges with the Republican opposition, and that Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell like him, work well with him, and that Joe Biden has helped to resolve differences on many issues for the Obama Administration. Biden has been a major player and influence over policy and strategy for President Obama, and has been a loyal soldier when his viewpoints have lost out in the cabinet and national security meetings.

Joe Biden has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his expertise in foreign policy, and his knowledge of, and relationships with foreign leaders make him invaluable in dealing with national security and defense issues. He was often thought of as a possible Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense in the past, due to his brilliance in these areas of such great importance to America’s future.

Joe Biden has also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his knowledge and understanding of constitutional matters and the Supreme Court, make him invaluable on legal controversies, including his advocacy of gay rights and gay marriage ahead of most politicians who have served in Congress or the executive branch.

Joe Biden is a leader, who if he were President, would be able to get things done much more easily, and is a “wheeler dealer” in the mode of Lyndon B. Johnson, but with a more kind and caring edge than the former President, who could be quite brusque and crude at times.

Hillary Clinton has great background and experience, but on pure years and accomplishments, she cannot match Joe Biden, and in fact, NO ONE in public life can do so!

The major shortcomings of Joe Biden are:

His age, which will be 74 and two months if he took the oath of office in 2017, making him the oldest first term President, and in theory, the oldest President altogether, if he had two terms, and left office at age 82 and two months.

His health, the question whether it would hold up, as he had serious health issues in 1987, due to an aneurysm, which required brain surgery, and his son, Beau Biden, the Delaware Attorney General, suffered a similar health crisis a few years ago, also recovering, but making it seem to be a genetic problem, which could arise, although health issues could also arise for Hillary Clinton, and really, for any Presidential candidate or winner of either party at any age!

His tendency to say embarrassing, or sometimes, purely stupid comments, although one could argue all of us do that, but when in high office. it can have reverberations, and there are critics who keep lists of “Bidenisms”, but they do NOT match the moronic nature of comments made by Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann or Louie Gohmert in the present, or Dan Quayle in the past!

One thing is certain: If Joe Biden were to become President, we would have one of the most lively, colorful, dynamic Presidencies, with Biden being very warm, genuine, sincere, caring, and yet hard nosed enough to get things done and read the “riot act” on his own party members to get things done!

It would be nice to see such a Presidency, which would be inspiring in so many ways.

Having said all of the above, it is clear that if Hillary Clinton runs, she is likely to be the Democratic nominee.

If she chooses not to run, then Joe Biden is the odds on favorite for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

However, if Hillary does not run, or even if she does, it is likely that a “younger generation”, an idea advocated by this blogger in entries before now, are likely to enter the race and make it interesting, including the already named Schweitzer and O’Malley, and if Hillary bows out of the race, possibly Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Virginia Senator Mark Warner.

Climate Change And Republican Influence On Congressional Committees: James Inhofe And Louie Gohmert!

Ronald 8 Comments

The battle for the control of both houses of Congress in 2014 is more than just an issue of which party, and which politicians, win.

It is a battle for the future of the reaction to climate change as well!

In the US Senate, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, heads the Republican minority on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and has been the biggest denier of climate change, ridiculing former Vice President Al Gore and others, who have warned of the dangers of global warming and climate change. Were the Republicans to win the majority of the Senate, his influence would grow, just as he becomes age 80 by the end of the year. Do we really want a scenario where a man who has a short life span, based on his age, determines our future on climate change?

In the House of Representatives, Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, a Tea Party member, and considered one of the most moronic members of the Republican Party, on the level of Steve King of Iowa and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, is third in seniority on the Natural Resources Committee, but due to retirement of the chair of the committee, is due to take over as Chair IF the GOP wins the majority of the House again, which is seen as likely.

Imagine these two climate deniers, both infuriating in so many ways, standing in the way of dealing with our environmental problems?

This is one of the most important issues to consider when analyzing the upcoming midterm elections, as it represents an “ostrich with its head in the sand,” refusing to deal with reality, in a way that can harm America and the world long term!

The Top Political Comedians Of 2013

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Most political observers are well aware of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and the Comedy Channel, and find their political humor engaging.

But really, both Stewart and Colbert, and other comedians who do politics, including on Saturday Night Live, have so much material due to the fact that there are people in politics who make total fools of themselves, and seem to have no shame.
https://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/
Below are listed the author’s top choices for “Political Comedians of the Year 2013”, but in no special order.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) of Minnesota
Congressman Steve King (R) of Iowa
Congressman Louie Gohmert (R) of Texas
Congressman Steve Stockman (R) of Texas
Congressman Paul Broun (R) of Georgia
Congressman Tom Price (R) of Georgia
Senator Ted Cruz (R) of Texas
Senator Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky
Mayoral contender and former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D) of New York
Mayor and former Congressman Bob Filner (D) of San Diego
Former Governor Sarah Palin (R) of Alaska

Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Louie Gohmert (Three House Republican Wingnuts) Remake History!

Ronald 6 Comments

The three leading House Republican wingnuts–Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Steve King of Iowa, and Louie Gohmert of Texas– were in Egypt last week, hailing the military coup against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

And in the process of backing dictatorship, the three loonies made a statement about the 12th Anniversary of September 11 that is totally false and misleading.

They said the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi emerged, and won a democratic election, the first in modern Egyptian history, were responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon!

The facts are, and even intelligent, sane Republicans know this, that it was Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden who were responsible for that dastardly deed!

Labeling all Muslims as guilty of a horrible deed is what we call scapegoating, and only makes the ability of the world to learn to coexist, since there is no way to eliminate any religion, no matter how objectionable to people of other faiths, so much more difficult!

These members of Congress bring the dignity of the House of Representatives and the Republican Party to a new, all time low!

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King Has Gone Too Far In His Depiction Of Hispanic-Latino Immigrants!

Ronald 24 Comments

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King is well known as one of the wackiest, craziest, and most divisive members of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives, sharing that distinction with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, and in the recent past, former Florida Congressman Allen West and former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh!

King has depicted Hispanic and Latino immigrants as “dogs”, “livestock”, and as “drug dealers”, and he has also called for an electrified barbed wire fence between Mexico and the United States. He is against the DREAM Act, to allow the law abiding children of immigrants who came here illegally to be able to move toward eventual citizenship, including a requirement for military service or college education!

Speaker of the House John Boehner at least had the good sense to condemn King’s remarks as hateful, and Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, said it was inexcusable rhetoric.

But that is not enough, as to spew such hatred on the floor of Congress should lead to a censure of Steve King for incendiary behavior unbecoming a member of Congress. The Republican Party needs to repudiate such language in strong terms, and work to undermine any influence this nightmare member of their caucus has!

If not, the GOP is guaranteed to lose any opportunity to gain, even in the long run, the support of a substantial percentage of those of Hispanic or Latino origin!

Absolute Insanity! Tea Party Republicans–Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Steve King–Call For Abolition Of IRS!

Ronald 13 Comments

So much craziness exists in the Republican Party in Congress in 2013, that it will require a long, detailed book to trace all of the insanity that exists, and that is not including talk radio, Fox News Channel, right wing journalism, and the Governors and state legislatures that are Republican controlled!

Today, in Washington, DC, the Tea Party Republicans held a rally, including such “stars” as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas, and Congressman Steve King of Iowa, three of the leading “certifiable” whackos of the House of Representatives!

But the rally also included wing nut Glenn Beck, and had support also from Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, among other “embarrassments” on Capitol Hill!

The rally was held to oppose immigration reform, support abortion restrictions on women, and most crazily of all, to call for abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, therefore making it impossible to collect income taxes and corporate taxes, effectively wiping out the 16th Amendment to the Constitution! And when fellow Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was mentioned, he was booed, because he is negotiating an immigration reform bill with Democrats and Republicans Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Jeff Flake.

So this nation is supposed to exist without taxes, apparently! A nation of 315 million people, with massive overseas responsibilities; high levels of poverty; growing need for infrastructure expenditures, health care, education; the threat of terrorism within our shores; and all of the other responsibilities of a modern nation in the 21st century, is supposed to live based on praying for God’s good wishes, but only if it is Jesus Christ, no other concept of religion!

So much has occurred in recent years that is mind blowing, but this day, we have seen true insanity and lunacy unseen in the history of the American Republic, and we can now say that believing in any hope that the Republican Party will come back from its terminal illness, getting rid of the cancer of the far right wing nuts, seems hopeless!

Whig Party, anyone?