MEET THE PRESS

Is Mike Pence Able To “Do” A Gerald Ford? “Walk On Eggs” And Keep Legitimacy As A Future President?

Ronald 6 Comments

43 Years ago, we had a flawed President, Richard Nixon, who was facing an impeachment crisis, as he had clearly violated the Constitution, and was on the way to an early end to his Presidency.

At that crisis moment, we had Gerald Ford, appointed by Nixon in October 1973 to replace the crooked Vice President, Spiro Agnew, who had been forced to resign. Nixon had chosen Ford over other more prominent figures—including John Connally, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Rockefeller— and two lesser figures of prominence who were much younger—George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole—due to the reality that Gerald Ford was well liked by the opposition Democrats, who would have the balance of power in confirming the Vice Presidential replacement under the 25th Amendment.

Also, Nixon believed that although Ford was well liked as the House Minority Leader by Democrats, that no one thought that highly of Ford as to want to make him a future potential President.

It turns out that the nation was blessed that we had Gerald Ford replacing Agnew in December 1973, as Ford did a masterful job of “walking on eggs” for eight months, demonstrating some support for Nixon, but in a careful measured way, as to keep his basic neutrality, as he fully realized he was likely to become the next President.

In 1998-1999, we know that Vice President Al Gore visited former President Gerald Ford, on a so called “social call”, but actually soliciting advice on how to handle the issue of the Bill Clinton sex scandal, which led to his impeachment and trial. It is now clear that Gore did the best he could in a bad situation, but that the close relationship of Gore to Bill Clinton was strained from that point on, and may have helped to doom the Gore Presidential race in 2000, in which Gore won the popular vote, but lost key states that resulted in George W. Bush winning the Electoral College.

Can Mike Pence, who assuredly will be the next President at some point during this term of office, be able to keep his credibility as Ford did, and Gore mostly did? Hard to say, but his appearance on Meet The Press today was not a good sign, as he clearly squirmed at the questions of Chuck Todd, and his body language betrayed his discomfort. So whether he can keep his legitimacy as the 46th President of the United States, and somehow unite the country when Donald Trump leaves office, is up in the air at this point.

Senator Rand Paul, Bill Clinton, And Hillary Clinton

Ronald 7 Comments

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a clear contender for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016, has decided to go the route of attacking Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton through her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Yesterday, on MEET THE PRESS, Paul brought up the sex scandal of the 42nd President sixteen years ago, reviving memory of Monica Lewinsky, and the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

No one is trying to defend Bill Clinton on his reprehensible, disgraceful, and potentially dangerous behavior, as if Monica Lewinsky had been a spy or connected to Organized Crime, which thankfully she was not, it could have been a danger to America’s national security. One cannot forget that President John F. Kennedy WAS involved with a Mafia woman, Judith Campbell Exner, a terrible gamble and dangerous action in the time of the Cold War and the battle against Organized Crime being key issues in American politics.

So it is not as if any ethical person was not shocked by Clinton’s misbehavior, and this author condemned the whole situation at that time. But the Republicans acted holier than thou, at a time when Newt Gingrich, Henry Hyde, Bob Livingston and other Congressional Republicans were engaged in sexual affairs outside of marriage themselves! What hypocrisy on a grand scale! Do not forget that the Republicans moved to impeach Clinton, and that his future obituary will always include the scandal and the impeachment in an early paragraph. But the impeachment was not justified, and the GOP failed to remove Clinton, and they suffered in public opinion, and Clinton’s popularity soared, and remains extremely high after 16 years since those events!

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton chose to stay in her marriage, which is her business, and went on to a distinguished career in the US Senate and as Secretary of State, and she deserves to be judged on her own accomplishments, not the shortcomings of her husband!

This tactic of Rand Paul will backfire in a major way, and he needs to “get a life”, and spend less time attacking Bill Clinton, and more time trying to justify why a person who came to office on the back of his dad, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and has done nothing positive in three years, except to embarrass himself and make one wonder how he became an eye specialist, although not certified by the national organization, seems to think that he is qualified to be President of the United States!

Conservatives And Republicans Want People To Have Inferior Health Care—AMAZING!

Ronald 19 Comments

Conservatives and Republicans have viciously opposed ObamaCare, not giving a damn about whether tens of millions of Americans have health care coverage, even though that makes health care more expensive for taxpayers when these people go to emergency rooms, or else these people die, which they seem not to care about!

But, having failed to prevent ObamaCare, and complaining about its difficult roll out, as if they wanted it to succeed, now they are complaining that millions of people with independent coverage, who have crappy health care contracts, are being forced to get new coverage that covers more areas, has lower costs, better conditions, and will prevent people from losing coverage, or be told that preexisting conditions are not covered!

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Fox News Channel right wing talk show host Sean Hannity lead a whole group of charlatans, who are working to mislead consumers, and make ObamaCare an issue that they can exploit for political gain, while working to convince people that they are being exploited, rather than the truth that they are being given a chance for FAR BETTER health care coverage!

These right wingers do not know how to tell the truth, because if they do, they know the conservative movement will recede into the dustbin of history, as not caring about the health care needs of the American people!

Remember that the basis of ObamaCare is both the basis of the Heritage Foundation plan for health care of 1993 and of RomneyCare in 2006 in Massachusetts, but neither source will dare admit the truth, and expect Mitt Romney to say the same this Sunday on Meet the Press, the reason why he had no chance to win the Presidency in 2012! Romney could not tell the truth if he tried, and stands out as the biggest liar of any Presidential candidate in modern history!

National Rifle Association And Its Republican Supporters Silent In Midst Of Tragedy Caused By Guns

Ronald 1 Comment

The National Rifle Association and its 31 Republican supporters in the US Senate, and gun advocates generally, have become strangely silent in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, which led to the death of 20 six and seven year olds, and six teachers and administrators in Connecticut.

Their Twitter page and Facebook page have been very quiet, and the Senators who support no limitations on gun rights refused to appear on Meet The Press, showing what cowards they really are, unwilling to support sensible regulations on guns, such as a background check, a ban on assault weapons which existed for ten years, and a limit on how much ammunition may be purchased, as one does not need vast magazines to get involved in deer hunting. And all gun owners and buyers should be registered in a national data base as well. If we can regulate other aspects of human existence, then we should be able to do the same with guns!

This is the time to demand action on these ideas, and to drum the NRA supporters out of Congress and the state legislatures, and make it clear that we will not allow our nation to be held hostage by Wayne LaPierre and other NRA leaders, who have enriched themselves at the expense of human lives!

It is time to take our country back from this unlimited violence, between 11,000 and 12,000 deaths a year by guns, overwhelmingly the most violent nation on earth, that has come about because of the recklessness of the NRA and the gun extremists!

And the answer is not to allow guns in schools, except with a uniformed police officer in every school. And the answer is not to allow anyone to carry guns openly in public places, either! This is insanity beyond belief!

65th Anniversary Of MEET THE PRESS!

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This past Sunday, David Gregory, the moderator of MEET THE PRESS on NBC, pointed out that it was the 65th Anniversary of the longest running show on network television.

Beginning a year before the Presidential Election of 1948, MEET THE PRESS would win Emmy Awards and many other awards for enlightening its viewers on public affairs.

Its moderators, panels and guests would educate all of us in the importance of politics and diplomacy, and strive to promote truth, rather than propaganda.

This is a time to salute and celebrate the fact that MEET THE PRESS is now eligible for Medicare as a senior citizen! LOL

There He Goes Again: Mitt Romney Now Says He Would Keep Portions Of “ObamaCare”!

Ronald 1 Comment

Republican Presidential nominee was on Meet The Press this morning with David Gregory, and he ‘flip flopped” again for the umpteenth time!

A massive liar and deceiver, Romney spent the last year saying he would repeal “ObamaCare”, even though he had pushed through a plan strikingly similar in Massachusetts when he was Governor in 2006–what is known as “RomneyCare”! With that stand, he gained support of skeptical conservatives on his way to the Republican Presidential nomination.

But now he sees that millions of Americans actually like “ObamaCare”, particularly the coverage of young people on their parents’ plans until age 26; and the coverage of preexisting conditions for children and adults; and the closing of the “donut hole” for millions of senior citizens.

So suddenly, he says with a straight face that he would wish to keep those portions of the plan, but fails to acknowledge that if the plan is not kept in its entirety, then these provisions cannot be sustained financially for the long term.

He is, of course, probably going to alienate his conservative base by “flip flopping”, and it still is the case that how can anyone trust anything Romney says? Even Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, accused of “flip flopping”, which doomed his candidacy, joked about Romney being on all sides of every question, in his speech at the Democratic National Convention last week!

At the same time, Paul Ryan, the Vice Presidential nominee, seemd uncomfortable and stuttered a lot on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, as he was challenged on his voting record and his own “flop flopping”. Ryan is competing with Romney for how much he can lie and deceive, and refuse to accept when he is called out for inaccuracies, insisting he is correct when he is not!

Romney and Ryan are competing with Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew for the most dishonest, deceptive Presidential-Vice Presidential team in modern American history!

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley: The Man To Watch For 2016

Ronald 2 Comments

Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley, who has been successful as Mayor of Baltimore and Governor, is actively campaigning for Barack Obama, and is one of his best surrogates.

Already having bested Virginia Republican Governor Bob McDonnell in a debate a few months ago, O’Malley was on Meet The Press this morning, and debating former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, no easy challenge as a debater.

O’Malley again performed very well, and came across as cool, calm, and collected in his defense of President Obama, and critical in a respectful way of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee.

Realize that IF Romney were to be elected this year, O’Malley could very well be his opponent in 2016!

But even if Obama is re-elected, it is clear that O’Malley plans to run for President in 2016, and has been doing the legwork required at this distant point from 2016.

O’Malley, however, when asked about running in 2016, said he was not thinking that far ahead, even when David Gregory asked if he was waiting to see if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vice President Joe Biden would end up declaring for the nomination.

That is a smart tack to take at this early point, but the reality is that the battle for 2016 in the Democratic Party could be between the “Old Timers”, Clinton and Biden, and the “Newcomers”, the younger generation, including O’Malley and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The Crash And Burning Of Cory Booker: The End Of National Leadership Potential!

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Just a few weeks ago, it looked as if Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker had a great political future, thought to be likely to challenge New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for re-election in 2013, and maybe to become a possible Presidential candidate in 2016.

This author theorized that Booker could become the successor to Barack Obama, and be the second consecutive African American President of the United States.

It is now time to say forget it, as that is NOT going to happen!

Mayor Booker ruined his political future in one fell swoop when he went on Meet the Press on Sunday morning, and openly criticized the Obama campaign’s argument that Mitt Romney’s experience at Bain Capital, primarily concerned with maximizing of profit over people and survival of specific businesses, was a negative that disqualified Romney to be President of the United States. Booker disagreed with the attack on equity capital, venture capital, saying he found it “nauseating”, stunning David Gregory, the host of Meet the Press, and the rest of the panel that was on the program Sunday morning.

Later, Booker backed off on his criticism, and also went on Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC last evening, protesting the way the Republican Party is now using his statement to help their own campaign and attack Obama.

Unfortunately, it is too late once you have left, symbolically, the toothpaste out of the tube, as it cannot be put back!

We have now learned that Bain Capital helped to finance Booker’s campaign for Mayor, and he is, therefore, already tainted, so do not expect him to go further than, maybe, re-election to be mayor of Newark.

Booker turns out to have made a fatal error that cannot be reversed, and if, by some chance, Mitt Romney wins the Presidency, this moment will be seen as the moment that Romney gained an edge, all due to a Democratic mayor who was fatally flawed by his own blunders and personal association with Bain Capital.

What a sad ending to a promising political career, stained by connection to equity capital which he should have rejected, but was too tempted by the offer of support, and, therefore, lost his principles!

Two New Hampshire Republican Debates In 13 Hours!

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With the Iowa Caucuses results starting to sink in, and with the New Hampshire Primary now about two and a half days away, the six remaining GOP candidates for President square off tonight at 9 pm EST, televised on ABC, and at 9 AM EST tomorrow morning on NBC and MSNBC as part of MEET THE PRESS.

To have two debates over a period of 13 hours is in itself amazing, and a real test of ability to hold one’s composure, answer in an appropriate way without obvious mistakes, and make an impression on New Hampshire and national voters.

Mitt Romney is heavily favored, but needs to keep his wide lead over the field, or else it will be considered a defeat by many media sources. He also needs to keep his calm demeanor, and not overreact temperamentally to any attacks by his opponents, of which there are likely to be many, particularly by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, his closest challengers in the long run.

Newt Gingrich needs to demonstrate that he can be strong, assertive, but not obnoxious or condescending against his opponents, never easy for him, and to stop being a “cry baby” about strong attacks by his opponents, since he was the master of such tactics in his years in the House of Representatives.

Rick Santorum needs to show that he is concerned about other issues than social conservatism, and that he has the ability to draw independent support, which seems unlikely.

Ron Paul is Ron Paul, and is not going to worry about any impressions he makes, as he goes by a different drummer, as the saying goes.

Rick Perry needs to prove he has any legitimacy left, and not stumble as he has so often done in earlier debates, and convince people that he is the better choice for social conservatives, than Gingrich or Santorum, not a likely scenario.

Finally, Jon Huntsman needs to win New Hampshire, or end up a competitive second, as he has built his campaign so much on New Hampshire, ignoring Iowa altogether. If he wins or end up a close second, he can move on to Florida and other states. Otherwise, he is done for 2012!

So that is the summary of what must be accomplished or perceived about each of the six finalists for the nomination, and there will be lots of analysis after the joint debates, with the primary just two days away by their end!

Luke Russert Shines On MSNBC: His Father Would Be Proud!

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One of the pleasant developments in the media world is the rise of Luke Russert to stature on MSNBC!

The son of Tim Russert, the much respected anchor of MEET THE PRESS for two decades, who died of a heart attack in June 2008, Luke Russert at the time was a fresh college graduate who seemed like a nice young man, but who knew that he would shine and develop over the next three years?

Luke Russert has become a Capitol Hill correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News, and has done a very creditable job.

He has matured and become respected in a way that his father would be very proud of, and this morning he was anchor on THE DAILY RUNDOWN, substituting for Chuck Todd.

Don’t be surprised if he, someday soon, ends up as anchor of his own show, as he has become a major asset to MSNBC and NBC in the tradition of his beloved, honored dad!