Progressives

Key Dates In Republican Party History 52 Years Apart-1860, 1912, 1964, 2016!

Ronald 10 Comments

The Republican Party has had its key elections which transform the party on a regular basis 52 years apart, and we are on the way to that occurring yet again!

In 1860, just six short years after the founding of the party in the upper Midwest, the Republican Party won its first national victory, gaining control of both houses of Congress, and electing Abraham Lincoln, even though he won slightly less than 40 percent of the total national popular vote. The party went on to dominate American politics for the next 52 years, only losing the Presidency twice to Grover Cleveland, in 1884 and 1892.

Then in 1912, the split between former President Theodore Roosevelt and incumbent President William Howard Taft, a conflict between conservatives and progressives, led to a disastrous defeat for Taft, the worst defeated President running for reelection ever in American history before and after 1912. This put the opposition Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, and gave Democrat Woodrow Wilson two terms in the White House, although coming close to losing in 1916. He proceeded to promote programs known as the New Freedom and the New Nationalism, stealing the second slogan from TR.

The Republican Party went on to revive itself from 1920-1932, but was then made the minority party in voter registration after 1932, due to the Great Depression, and only won two terms in the White House under Dwight D. Eisenhower, and two separate two year terms in Congress over the next 32 years.

After years of establishment Republicans losing, except for Eisenhower, the conservatives took over the party in 1964, again 52 years after the 1912 split, and nominated Senator Barry Goldwater, and suffered a massive defeat, insuring the biggest landslide victory in history for Lyndon B. Johnson, and the promotion of the Great Society.

While the Goldwater mentality in broad outline became the government under Ronald Reagan in 1980, the split between conservatives and progressives revived under the two Bush Presidents, as well as criticism of the Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney Presidential runs.

And here we are again with the right wing striving to take over the party, with Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, along with some others, trying to move the party to an extreme, more so than Barry Goldwater represented.

And one can be sure that 2016, 52 years after 1964, we will see another massive defeat, for the GOP, probably to Hillary Clinton, but with no certainty that the party, 160 years old in 2014, can survive as a viable political party opposition!

Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A True National Treasure!

Ronald 1 Comment

Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by President Bill Clinton 20 years ago, has suffered two serious bouts with cancer, and has lost her husband, but she continues to plug on at age 80, with no plans for retirement.

Since other Supreme Court Justices have stayed on in their 80s, it is not all that surprising that Ginsburg refuses to consider retirement.

Always very friendly and accessible, unusual in the history of the Supreme Court membership, Ginsburg has become more openly outspoken over the years, being the true champion of the progressive side of the Court, and critical in a gentle way of her conservative colleagues, while expressing respect for them as individuals.

And she set new ground by marrying two gay men in the past week, one of them being the President of the Kennedy Center, and the other a well known economist. And she also has spoken out now on the Constitution as the promoter of equal rights for all—race, gender, and sexual orientation—even though it might take a long time, many generations, for the promotion of equality to become the norm, in the story of American history!

Ginsburg is an inspiration to all who believe in equality, justice, decency, and fairness, and a great symbol to women, as to what they can attain, as she is the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, after Sandra Day O’Connor.

It is certainly clear that Ginsburg, O’Connor, and the only other two women appointed to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan have all contributed to the humanization of the Court, and advocated an open minded attitude, which will have a long range effect on Constitutional law!

Applause and commending of the role and significance of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is certainly in order!

Barack Obama’s Speech To The Nation On Syria Next Tuesday Requires Signs Of “Cajones”!

Ronald 2 Comments

President Barack Obama faces a major crisis and moment next Tuesday, September 10, as he speaks to the nation regarding the Syria Chemical Warfare controversy, at a time when many of his liberal and progressive allies, who should know better, have abandoned him and joined the far Right in calling for no action on this war crime by the Assad regime in Damascus!

It seems clear that not only many Democrats, but also MSNBC, public opinion polls, and town halls are making clear that they wish no action on Syria, because of fear of another Middle East war, with memories of Iraq still fresh as a wound.

But Presidents are not required to follow public opinion, particularly when so often, it is ill informed or just plain wrong!

We do not govern by emotion or mass public opinion, thank goodness, as if we had, we would never have made it through so many crises in our history!

The President has to have guts and courage and principle, and take action, and the reaction of the people be considered, but not be decisive, as, after all, he has more knowledge, gathered intelligence, and understanding of events around the world than anyone else, other than his close advisers!

Our great Presidents did what they had to do, no matter what was popular opinion, and they were pilloried for it, but in the long run of history, they have turned out quite well, to say the least!

These courageous Presidents include Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry Truman, who are listed in the 2009 C Span poll of Presidents, judged by historians and political scientists, as Numbers 1, 3 and 5 among our 43 Presidents!

So Obama needs to take action, no matter what Congress, the news media, and ill informed and overly emotional public opinion feel, and worry about the consequences later!

He needs to make an appeal to reason and reality, but whatever happens, he will be criticized, and better to be on the side of what is ethical and moral!

Yes, he might face impeachment for taking action against public opinion, but really, that will simply be an excuse, since radical Right elements of the loony party called the Republicans, are looking for an excuse to do so, but it is all an exercise in futility, as it was for Bill Clinton in 1998-1999, when everyone knew impeachment would not succeed, and that the GOP would suffer for it, as totally unjustified.

No way will Obama ever be removed by impeachment charges and trial, so go for it, enemies and haters, and Obama will stand strong in any case!

So Barack Obama needs to show “cajones”, and prove he can be a President who will do what is right, and take whatever punishment is needed, as in history, he will be looked upon kindly if he does, and poorly if he caves in on this most important moment of his Presidency!

“Natural Born Citizens” And The Issue of George Romney, John McCain, And Ted Cruz

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With Texas Senator Ted Cruz angling to run for President, showing up in Iowa this past weekend, the question arises as to whether he is a “natural born citizen” and eligible to be our President.

The thought of Cruz being the nominee of the Republican Party, and a possible occupant of the White House, is literally horrifying, as the Texas Senator is like a bull in a china shop, out to antagonize and confront Democrats, progressives, the news media, and anyone who is not a believer, as he is, in the Tea Party Movement.

So Cruz has been criticized by John McCain and other Senate Republicans, as well as the Republican “Establishment”, as he represents a radical right wing extremism, who has no problem in making enemies, and showing a level of arrogance and hubris rare in a first term, first year Senator.

In many ways, Cruz would be worse than Barry Goldwater represented in his right wing views in the Presidential Election of 1964, showing just how far right the GOP has gone in recent years.

It seems clear to most observers that Cruz could not unite the GOP, and would be likely to be an electoral disaster against Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, or any other Democrat, but one can never be too confident or too cocky to believe that the world could not turn inside out and upside down in a time of difficult economic conditions.

This author will spend a lot of time on Cruz as we get closer to the 2016 primaries and caucuses, as he is certainly going to be an important factor in the Presidential campaign of 2016.

But right now, the question is whether Cruz, born in Canada of a US citizen mother and a Cuban immigrant father, is even eligible to run for President in the first place.

This will be the third time this issue has arisen, as Michigan Governor George Romney, a likely candidate in the Presidential Election of 1968, was born in Mexico of American Mormon parents, and John McCain, who was the GOP nominee in the Presidential Election of 2008, was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

Romney never got that close to the nomination, and not much was made of his Mexican birth at the time, while McCain had little challenge on his birth, as he was born to a military family in what was then US territory in the Panama Canal Zone.

While one might wish that Cruz was ineligible to run for President, there is unlikely to be a serious challenge to his candidacy for the Presidential Election of 2016.

It is also ironic that these three cases all involve Republicans, and yet a person born in Hawaii, Barack Obama, two years after it became the 50th state, still faces challenges from “Birthers” who contend he was born in Kenya! This would be unlikely to be an issue were Obama not a Democrat, but rather a Republican, and of course, if he was white, instead of African American! What a sad state of affairs!

The Future Democratic Party Majority On The US Supreme Court

Ronald 3 Comments

When one looks at the Supreme Court in recent decades, it is clear that it has been a conservative Supreme Court, dominated by Republican appointments, and it has shown in such decisions as the Citizens United Case of 2010, and the partial repeal of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, along with numerous other such cases tilted to the right side of the political spectrum.

So for progressives and Democrats, it has been a difficult time, wondering how the Supreme Court can be returned to the glorious era of the Warren Court and Burger Court from 1953-1986.

But there is the reality that the Supreme Court’s future for the Democratic Party and progressivism is very bright over the next decade, assuming what seems highly likely, that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden or some other Democratic Presidential nominee will have the electoral college advantage for 2016, and likely for the following 2020 Presidential election.

If indeed the Democrats keep the White House beyond 2016, time and age will turn the Court into a majority Democratic Party appointed Court for sure!

History tells us this fact: If a party keeps control of the White House for an extended period of time, the Court becomes more than ever reflective of that political party.

So, for example, from 1933-1953, we had 20 years of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman in the White House, and a total of 13 Supreme Court appointments, all by these two Democratic Presidents, helping to shape the future Court, with a few “liberal” appointments by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Earl Warren and William Brennan), insuring a continuation of that trend.

But it can be said that from 1953-2013, sixty years of history, the Republicans held the White House for a total of 36 years to the Democrats’ total of 24 years.

In those 60 years, the Republican Presidents made 18 appointments to the Supreme Court, to the Democratic total of just 8 appointments, more than a 2-1 majority. While Republican appointments included Warren, Brennan, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, and David Souter, all quite liberal appointments, even so it still meant that 12 Republican appointments were quite conservative or VERY conservative, so the Supreme Court represents a strongly Republican flavor.

But now, we have four aging Supreme Court Justices–Ruth Bader Ginsberg (80 this year), Antonin Scalia (77 this year), Anthony Kennedy (77 this year), and Stephen Breyer (75 this year), and to believe that by 2020, that any or all of these members of the Court will be still serving, seems quite unreasonable, as they would be ranging between 82 and 87 by the year 2020!

And Justice Clarence Thomas, although claiming he will stay on the Court for 43 years, until age 86, would be 72 in 2020, and Samuel Alito would 70 in 2020.

No one is saying that either Thomas or Alito will have left the Court, but if the four elderly Justices have left, they would all be Democratic Party appointments if the Democrats keep the White House, highly likely, and that would mean SIX of the nine members of the Court would be Democratic appointments, including Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Only Thomas, Alito, and Chief Justice John Roberts would be Republican appointments in the year 2020 under this scenario!

So, for Democrats and Progressives, there is hope for a very different Court over the next decade and beyond!

The Distortion Of Jesus Christ By Right Wing Republicans And Their Allies

Ronald 17 Comments

Jesus Christ, who was Jewish and never a Christian, preached love, tolerance, understanding, open mindedness, and other good thoughts, and offered himself as a way to unify mankind in the Middle East.

If he were here in the world today, and in America, he would be shocked at what many Republicans, conservatives, and right wing religious leaders have done to distort his loving message of unity.

We could call what has happened as making Jesus a Republican with all of the views that party now has in 2013!

These include the following, in the view of Right Wing Republicans and their allies, but NOT, of course, the truth, but rather propaganda!

Jesus is white and is certainly not color blind.

Jesus is a big supporter of the Confederacy, and can justify the past existence of slavery and racial segregation as factors which had a purpose to “organize” society.

Jesus loves guns, and they are to be owned to protect against evil forces out to undermine the faith.

Jesus loves the rich, the wealthy, and the top two percent, who are “achievers”.

Jesus hates poor people, who deserve what they get, the denial of food stamps, a safety net, and Medicaid.

Jesus hates gay people, and therefore created AIDS and STDs to punish those sinners.

Jesus believes that women are to be controlled by men, and denied control over their own destiny, and treated as subservient to the demands of men.

Jesus hates Muslims, who are all “evil”, and deserve to be killed in mass numbers as “nonbelievers”.

Jesus hates liberals and progressives, who are connected to the devil, and there is to be no compromise with them, and that also includes conservatives who say they are “moderates’.

Jesus hates science, because it challenges the beliefs of religion.

This is the mindset of right wing Republicans, and a danger to the future of America if it ever gained control of all branches of government. NONE of the above is the truth about Jesus!

As it is, the control of the House of Representatives, and many state governments and Governors, has led to the greatest division since the Civil War!

There is a need for devout Christians who understand the loving message of their savior to reclaim him from the hate mongers!

The author wishes to thank the website ADDICTINGINFO.ORG and Sherri Yarbrough for the ideas that led to this blog entry!

Michele Bachmann To Leave Congress: Goodbye, Good Riddance, And Please No More Public Appearances Once You Leave (Fat Chance)!

Ronald 55 Comments

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, arguably the most infuriating Republican House member, although there are others who could certainly compete for that honor, has announced she is not going to run for a fifth term in her Congressional district, and everyone should celebrate this news!

Bachmann will go down as one of the most reckless, most irresponsible members of the US House of Representatives in its entire history!

She said stupid, inane things on a regular basis; worked at character assassination of Democrats and progressives; and her husband added to the embarrassment of her public appearances and speeches, both on the floor of the House and off!

She contributed NOTHING positive to American politics, working at dividing Americans, rather than unite them on anything!

She was also an embarrassment to the advancement of women in politics, and her Presidential campaign was a disgrace, that she even thought she was qualified to serve in the Oval Office!

To believe that she is a tax attorney is hard to conceptualize, as he came across as brain dead, having no understanding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and rejected science totally, and accepting mythology and hearsay as fact!

To believe that this dumb moron was on the Intelligence Committee of the House demonstrates what a mockery the Republican Party has become in the House of Representatives, accomplishing the least legislative action of any Congress in 70 years!

Bachmann claims that she was not worried about losing her seat, even though her margins of victory were smaller each time, and the last round, she won by one percent.

Bachmann also claims that she is not concerned about the investigation of her Presidential campaign funding by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but an active pursuit of information about likely corruption is in process, and do not be surprised that she could be indicted, and could, in theory, face expulsion from the House if the investigation develops quickly enough over the next 18 months.

It would be fitting for Bachmann to be repudiated and forced out, as she is a a literal nightmare that brought out the ugliest side of the American right wing!

And the Tea Party Movement, of which she was the leading member, is also in trouble, and hopefully, there will be a repudiation of that hateful, backward, movement that promoted selfishness and greed, and condemns people who are not part of the elite upper class white establishment that put us into the Great Recession!

Meanwhile, we have rid ourselves of Florida Congressman Allen West, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, other morons and threats to a stable future in America, so we do have some things, as progressives, to be happy about!

Obama Is Wrong To Compromise On Social Security And Medicare, But GOP Will Save Him With Their Obstinacy On Taxes!

Ronald 33 Comments

President Barack Obama is infuriating progressives and liberals and Democrats with his move to suggest cuts in Social Security benefits and Medicare, which will harm senior citizens and veterans and widows and the disabled.

Many forget that Social Security is fully funded for at lest 25 more years, and all that needs to be done is to tax all income, not just $112,000, the same as with Medicare which taxes all income. Raising the Social Security tax to all income will insure Social Security for the rest of the century! Cutting Cost of Living Allowances is immoral and reprehensible, when we allow corporations to gain government funding, which should never have happened at any time!

Medicare needs to insure that all will know that cost cutting should be on waste, overpricing, and fraud, but not on benefits to the elderly and the disabled.

A country that does not take care of its elderly, its disabled, its veterans, its poor, is a nation that has become morally and ethically corrupt!

But the Republican Party will save the day, because part of the deal that Obama is attempting will require increase in taxes on the wealthy and the corporations, and since they will never agree to any deal, it will take Obama and the nation off the hook!

The Bush V. Gore Attorney Rivals Now On Same Side For Gay Marriage

Ronald 4 Comments

It is ironic that the two attorneys joining forces to fight for gay marriage and call for the rejection of Proposition 8 in California and the Defense of Marriage Act are rivals who fought the case for the 2000 Presidential election contest in the Supreme Court between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Now, Ted Olson and David Boies are working together after Olson won the case for George W. Bush, but both of them, one Republican and one Democrat, felt that the case for gay marriage was so strong that they were willing to overcome their rivalry, and fight for a basic human right, the right to marry, for all people, not just straight but gay as well!

It demonstrates that there is a case for both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and progressives, to join together on an issue of fairness, equality, equal protection of the laws, and basic civil rights.

The gay marriage and gay rights movement could not have finer advocates for their cause than these two brilliant attorneys!

The Right Wing Attack On Everything Imaginable!

Ronald 20 Comments

The Right Wing media propaganda machine has become “expert” at attacking everything imaginable that they consider to be “liberal”, “progressive”, “socialist”, “communist”, or any other left wing ideology they can dream up, and managing to put all of these widely differing philosophies together as stereotypes.

So in no special order, the following have come under attack in a vicious manner over time:

Welfare recipients
Food Stamp recipients
Uninsured people
The Homeless
The Poor
The Unemployed
Foreclosed Homeowners
The Working Poor
The Working Class
The Middle Class
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Teachers
College Professors
Liberal Intellectuals
Liberal News Media
Hollywood
Firefighters
Police Officers
Public Service Workers
Labor Unions
Voting Rights
Women’s Rights
Undocumented Immigrants
Gays and Lesbians
Muslims
Environmentalists
Civil Rights Groups
Civil Liberties Groups
Planned Parenthood
Federal Government Agencies
National Public Radio
Public Broadcasting System
ObamaCare
Science
Hillary Clinton
Michelle Obama
Joe Biden
Barack Obama

Probably some have been left out, but this is a list which demonstrates the total negativity of the right wing, and why America is rejecting them in their voting behavior!