Moderate Republicans

Disillusionment Over “Centrist Republicans” Who Voted To Promote Impeachment Inquiry Of Joe Biden Without A Scintilla Of Evidence!

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We have been told that there are “moderate” or “centrist” Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This includes Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and the 17 members from Biden won districts in 2020 in New York, California, New Jersey, and elsewhere, who are members of the “Problem Solvers Caucus”, and supposedly have an “open mind”!

This group supposedly represented bipartisanship, and yet they went ahead and, unanimously, voted to start an impeachment inquiry on President Joe Biden without a scintilla of evidence of any impeachment offenses, doing this to please the corrupt, twice impeached, four times indicted for 91 counts, former President Donald Trump!

If only eight or more of this group had done the right thing, refuse to support a phony resolution, Joe Biden would not be facing an impeachment inquiry! He is a good and decent man who has done nothing to deserve this action!

So the idea that one can “trust” the fairness of these Republicans has been blown up, and it means total “war” on the Republicans in Congress is essential, as they have all become cult followers of an authoritarian Fascist who is declaring his intention openly to establish a dictatorship if he is reelected to the Oval Office next November!

Joe Biden and the Democrats must now drop the idea of cooperation and follow the strategy of Harry Truman in 1948–GIVE THEM HELL–against the Republican Party in Congress and its Presidential nominee!

Speaker Of The House Mike Johnson Disqualified For Wanting To Cover Up January 6 Crimes!

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The new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has just disqualified himself for that position, and should be summarily removed, after his announcement that he wants to cover up the crimes of January 6, 2021 by blurring faces on the videos!

Fortunately, the House January 6 Committee had the videos with the faces evident, but the idea of trying to prevent prosecution of individuals who committed crimes, and attacked police, and caused deaths and injuries, is beyond the pale!

Johnson is a disgrace, and should resign, and the small number of moderate Republicans should move to disqualify him, and force a new Speakership race!

This man is worse than any previous Republican Speaker, and possibly, the worst ever Speaker, and yet he professes to be a “good Christian”, but willing to cover up crimes against the US Capitol!

The Kevin McCarthy Speakership Will Be, Sadly, A Disaster For The Nation!

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Finally, on the 15th ballot in the wee hours of the morning of January 7, Kevin McCarthy became the 55th person to be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, but with a bare margin and opposition by six extremist right wing members of the Republican Party, who voted present, to resolve the issue.

This was the fifth most contentious election in the history of the House of Representatives, and it does not bode well for the future, as McCarthy has “sold his soul” to the extremist, seditionist, treasonous MAGA Republican criminals who backed the challenge to the results of the Presidential Election of 2020 even after the US Capitol Insurrection of two years ago!

Ironically, the Congress came back in session early on January 7, 2021, to finish what had been delayed the day before by the Insurrection, and now early on January 7, 2023, Kevin McCarthy caved in on demands at almost precisely the same hour, weakening the position of Speakership, and guaranteeing that he might be one of the shortest duration Speakers!

The comparison to his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, will make it clear that his Speakership, however long it lasts, will pale by comparison.

Hearing Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who kept the support of his 212 member Caucus for all 15 ballots, speak in an oratorical fashion that will be seen as memorable for the ages, was so inspiring and made all decent people feel pride!

One can only hope that a small number of moderate Republicans will support him to replace McCarthy when a political crisis arises, and the extremist element wants McCarthy’s head.

The alternative certainly would be to gain a Democratic majority in 2024, so that Jeffries is the 56th Speaker of the House in 2025!

One thing is clear: Kevin McCarthy will never be able to overcome the weakness, and lack of principle and ethics, that he demonstrated by going to Mar A Lago, less than two weeks after condemning the criminality of Donald Trump in inciting the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection! It will be one of the first statements about his life and poor reputation in his eventual obituary!

The Supreme Court Reputation Has Been Seriously Tarnished, No Longer Seen As Representing Moderation!

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The John Roberts Supreme Court reputation has been seriously tarnished, no longer seen as representing moderation!

By deciding to go along with an extremist Texas abortion law, in a one paragraph middle of the night statement, which includes no exceptions for rape or incest, and allowing private citizens to sue anyone engaged in promoting abortion, the Court has done one of the worst ever actions, which will be compared to such other issues as Dred Scott V Sandford (1857) and Plessy V Ferguson (1896), and a small group of other reprehensible decisions!

Chief Justice Roberts himself recognized how terrible this 5-4 decision was, so despite earlier personal expressions of being anti abortion, he joined the three liberals on the Court in opposition.

Roberts knows his own historical reputation has been permanently damaged, as the Court has become dangerously radical right wing extremist, with the three reprehensible appointments by Donald Trump showing their true colors!

The fact that the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett switched the Court balance from what it was under the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg right before the Presidential Election of 2020 is reprehensible!

But also, the fact that Brett Kavanaugh was the second Court Justice to face accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct, along with Clarence Thomas three decades ago, and now they decided the private lives of women, is totally infuriating!

And the fact that Neil Gorsuch gained an appointment after a full year of no replacement of Antonin Scalia, and that Merrick Garland was denied even a hearing as his replacement, makes all three of Donald Trump’s Court appointments questionable and wanting!

It is further proof that the Supreme Court has lost whatever aura it had, as a fair, reasonable body!

To reverse a decision of nearly 50 years, when the tradition of the Court is to uphold legal precedent normally, and that it has such a dramatic effect on more than half the population, is beyond the pale!

If Hillary Clinton had won the Presidential Election of 2016, which this author and blogger and tens of millions of Americans think is the truth, the Supreme Court today would not be in the crisis atmosphere it is in!

It requires an attempt to add members to the Court, because otherwise, the Court is on a tear to the promotion of Fascism clear and simple, and that cannot be allowed to move forward toward ultimate destruction of the Constitution and rule of law!

The idea that two Presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump,who lost the popular vote, could add two and three members to the Court respectively, which otherwise would have been appointees of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton, is simply outrageous and unacceptable for the long haul!

It will permanently destroy the reputation of a very evil man, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who brought about this travesty!

When one thinks back to the mid and late 1970s, we actually had a 7-2 Republican Court by party affiliation, but it included moderate Republicans, which included statesmen, including William Brennan, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, and Chief Justice Warren Burger!

So action must be taken to expand the Court, as we are in a constitutional crisis that will only get worse if no action is taken!

The Republican Party Heritage And Principles Are In Death Spiral after 167 Years

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The Republican Party was founded in March 1854 as a reform party, with the major principle at its founding being opposition to the expansion of slavery, and including abolitionists within its midst.

It was a Northern party which fought the Civil War and ended slavery, and for a generation, it was a party that inspired the majority of Americans.

Then, in the Gilded Age, it became corrupted by the power and influence of industrial capitalism, and conservatism reigned.

But then, Theodore Roosevelt and others who carried the name “progressive” with pride, promoted reform of the capitalistic system, but after TR’s death, while progressivism still existed in the party, it was taken over by conservatives, and the Great Depression undermined the national power of the party, as the Democrats became the majority party in the 1930s.

The battle for the future of the party was waged in the next half century liberal to moderate Republicans on one side, and hardline conservatives as their opponents, and Ronald Reagan ushered in a hard right conservatism, which became more extreme due to Newt Gingrich and other extreme conservatives since the mid 1990s.

And now we have come to a party that is in a death spiral, as we have conspiracy theorists who are taking over the party, and promoting hate, in the form of racism, nativism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and having wacky members who are advocating assassination of opposition Democrats.

So the Republican Party is now the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley,and many other right wing Fascists, but at the leadership is Donald Trump, and the party represents now:

Family Values gone, with the caging of immigrant children.

Deficit Hawks gone, with added massive deficits of tax cuts to the wealthy.

Free Trade gone, with massive taxes on foreign goods and bailouts of farmers as a result, adding to the national debt and consumer prices.

Limited Federal Government gone, with claims that what state governments report as election results should be ignored by the Congress.

Limiting the Imperial Presidency gone, with obedience by right wing members of both houses of Congress to the whims and desires of Donald Trump, even continuing as this author and blogger writes.

Is “White Flight” Against Republicans And Donald Trump Occurring In 2020?

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Based on recent polls that seem unbelievable, the idea of “White Flight” from Republicans might be happening.

This would be due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the collapse of the economy, but also due to the shock and outrage of many people toward Donald Trump, and his behavior in the Presidency these past three and a half years!

His incompetence and lack of compassion and empathy is making many white voters reconsider the upcoming elections.

So the number of states experiencing polls that show Republicans running behind for the Congress, as well as the President, are multiplying.

Many suburban women, college educated whites, independents, moderate Republicans, and all age groups among whites, except for seniors, are moving toward the possibility of voting for Democrats in Congress, and also for former Vice President Joe Biden.

There is still, theoretically, time for many of these people to reconsider their move away from Trump and the Republican Party, but since events are not going to get better anytime soon, and actually are worsening daily, that is highly unlikely.

So the situation looks as follows:

As indicated in earlier blog posts, the 20 states and Washington DC, which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, seem securely in Joe Biden’s camp.

Add to this the six states that determined the election for Donald Trump in the Electoral College, all having voted for Barack Obama in 2012–Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. As of now, the latter four seem clearly in Biden’s camp, and would insure a Democratic victory for the White House.

But Ohio and Iowa also show leanings toward Biden, and other states, thought to be “Red”, also are showing evidence of the same leanings, including North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, but also Kansas, Montana, Indiana and Missouri, and the 2nd district of Nebraska. This would mean 443 electoral votes to 95, as this author and blogger predicted on April 30.

So 34 states could go to Biden, and the Republican US Senators or open seats running in Maine, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, two in Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Kansas, and Montana are all in danger as well.

South Carolina and Kentucky seem hard to overcome on the Presidential level, but both Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell seem in a real tight race for their seats, and could lose.

If all of these Senate seats went Democratic, the party could control 12 more seats than they have now, with 59 maximum, or if the one endangered Democrat, Doug Jones in Alabama, lost, it would be 58 seats. If there is a “Blue Wave”, however, one would think Jones would survive his Senate race!

The way things are going, one could even imagine some of the 16 “certain” states for Trump voting against him by small margins, but enough to give the state to Joe Biden.

This would include Alaska, South Carolina, and Kentucky with a total of 20 electoral votes, so if the maximum imaginable occurred, the final electoral vote would be 37 states and 463 electoral votes to 75 for Trump!

And this would mean that Joe Biden would win by a likely ten point or more margin in the total popular vote!

One more time, in mid to late October, this author and blogger will make a final projection on the likely Senate and Presidential results!

Trump Now Losing Portions Of His Base, And Not Appealing To Groups He Lost In 2016: A Losing Strategy!

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Donald Trump is on the way to an historic repudiation, possibly one of the worst for any President running for reelection.

He did not have the majority or even plurality vote for him in 2016, and now he is losing portions of his base, including senior citizens, evangelical Christians, and non college educated white men and women.

Just losing a small amount of these groups is enough to doom him, as he has made clear that he is not trying to add to his base, and never has done so in the past three and a half years.

With African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Jews, Social Justice Catholics, mainline Protestants, college educated white men and women, suburbanites, conservative intellectuals, and moderate Republicans all strongly against everything Donald Trump has wrought, his prospects are going down the drain.

He will not be able to stop mail voting, but Republican state officials will continue to try to prevent the right to vote, and it is also clear that foreign influences will interfere, and are ready to foist this criminal President on the nation together.

So the urgency of Americans to vote, even if not thrilled by Joe Biden, as this is not a question of ideals, but rather of survival of our Constitution and American democracy!

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, Following Tradition Of His Father, Seriously Considering Challenge To Donald Trump Within Republican Party

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It now looks more likely that President Donald Trump may have a second, and potentially, more viable Republican opponent for the Presidential nomination in 2020.

Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld held office from 1991-1997, and was the Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee in the Presidential Election of 2016. He will be 75 years of age in 2020, nearly a year older than Trump. He is a legitimate candidate, but having been out of office for nearly a quarter century, it weakens his ability to draw support.

But now, Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan is exploring the idea of announcing, and this should be encouraged.

Hogan has been Governor of a very “Blue” state since 2015, and won his second term in 2018, He has managed to be bipartisan in a state in which the legislature is heavily Democratic. He will be 64 years of age at the time of the election, a full decade younger than Trump.

His father of the same name was a renowned Maryland Republican Congressman from 1969-1975, and served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted three articles of impeachment in 1974 against President Richard Nixon, and the only Republican on the committee to vote for all three impeachment articles. His speech announcing his vote for all three articles of impeachment was truly a “profile in courage” at the time.

Hogan is a rare “moderate” Republican, a centrist and pragmatist, much respected by Democrats. In a June 2018 poll, Hogan had 60 percent support from Democrats. He has a record of environmental reform; immigration reform; support of gay rights and gay marriage; gun control legislation; free community college tuition for middle class and lower class students in the state; supports abortion and reproductive rights for women; and opposed the nomination of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The question is whether Hogan or Weld, seen as similar “moderate” Republicans on most issues, have a real chance to stop Donald Trump’s renomination. The argument is that if they could make Trump weakened at all as a result of their challenge, history tells us that an incumbent President with a challenger in his own party, wins the nomination but loses the Presidency, as happened to William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush in the 20th century.

It Is Time For Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, And Red State Democrats To Put Nation Ahead Of Their Own Senate Seats

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It is perfectly understood that all people who work like to keep their jobs and earn their income.

But there is no member of the US Senate that is “desperate” and “needy” to keep their jobs.

What is needed now is, as John F. Kennedy wrote, “Profiles in Courage”.

Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, so called “moderate” Republicans, need to stand up and say, “NO WAY”, would they support Brett Kavanaugh to fill the available seat on the Supreme Court, since he clearly has a record of being anti abortion, and both women Senators claim they are pro choice, so they must refuse to support him.

It is clear that Brett Kavanaugh has committed perjury a number of times in earlier hearings before the Senate while under oath, and he should not be promoted to the Supreme Court, with his record of pursuing Bill Clinton with Ken Starr 20 years ago; his advocacy of torture in the Iraq War; his promotion of an anti gay marriage amendment under George W. Bush; and his unwillingness to say he would recuse himself from any case involving Trump and the scandals that have erupted in the past two years.

But even if Collins and Murkowksi were to back off on Kavanaugh, the requirement also is for Red State Democrats, who are running for reelection, to vote against Kavanaugh in unison, even if it leads to their defeat, which seems unlikely in the present political climate.

So that means West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, Montana Senator Jon Tester, and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill MUST save the nation from a Right Wing extremist Supreme Court, even if they lose their seats, putting the nation ahead of their own ambitions.

3 Moderate Republicans To Retire (Ileana Ros Lethinen Of Florida, Dave Reichart Of Washington, Charlie Dent Of Pennsylvania), Opening Up Seats To Democratic Gains

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Three members of the House of Representatives who are moderates, and who have had strong doubts about Donald Trump all along, have decided to “jump ship”. and not run for reelection in 2018.

In so doing, they, and others who might do the same, are demonstrating the problem of the future of the Republican Party, that it is in danger of becoming an extremist right wing party, which is anti government and the traditions of the Republican Party.

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros Lehtinen, Washington Congressman Dave Reichart, and Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent have all decided not to run for reelection, and their loss is not good for the GOP future.

All three are seen as likely to back an impeachment move against Donald Trump, so they have an opportunity to become historic figures in the process of bringing Trump down over the next months.

With Trump repudiating Establishment Republican leadership (Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell), and making a deal with Democrats and moderate Republicans on aid for Hurricane Harvey and a three month extension of the debt limit, avoiding a crisis at the end of September, it is clear that civil war is developing in the Republican Party.

This includes the right wing extremists of the House Freedom Caucus working to form a third party movement, splintering the party into factions that bode ill for the party future in 2018 and beyond.