Sarah Palin

Senator John McCain: Please Be A Profile In Courage And Denounce Sarah Palin Once And For All!

Ronald 12 Comments

Senator John McCain is an honorable man, who has often showed courage and principle in his life, both when he was in the military, and a prisoner of war, and in his political career.

Senator McCain has been inconsistent at times, but yet comes across, somehow, as basically decent and fair minded, at least most of the time.

It seems impossible to believe that Senator McCain has not had second thoughts on his selection of then Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate in 2008.

How can Senator McCain see what a nightmare Sarah Palin has become, and somehow, remain silent for five long years?

Sarah Palin has contributed absolutely nothing to political discourse, other than to prove how stupid and ill informed she really is! She is an embarrassment to herself, her family, her party, and the nation! It seems hard to imagine that, privately, McCain has not held his head in his hands and moaned: “what hath I wrought!”

But Senator McCain has been a gentleman, refusing to comment on anything Sarah Palin has said or done since 2008, but knowing she has been a total disaster in every way!

It is time for Senator McCain, who is nearing the end of his career, to show guts and courage and denounce the behavior of Sarah Palin to the American people!

If he does that, he will go down as admitting a mistake, and contributing to the total demise of this gold seeker, who will say or do anything to convince gullible people to buy her totally inane books, and watch her moronic cable shows, past and future.

Sarah Palin is as much interested in the American people as it will bring her good fortune, nothing more. She has demonstrated, once again, that she is willing to use the race card against President Obama, and in so doing, divide America ever more, and cause more death threats on a constant basis against our President, a reprehensible act. She refuses to realize that she incites lunatics every time she spews forth her poison and invective!

And think about it, what could Sarah Palin say if John McCain denounced her? IF she chose to criticize him, she would seem totally ungrateful, as it is McCain who has allowed her to bamboozle the American people, and to promote hate and division, instead of unity!

More likely, she would ignore what he said, and attempt to move on in her constant quest for money, saying whatever will convince people to buy her books and watch her shows. But a true denunciation would likely lead to her rapid decline, and the media would stop paying attention, something long overdue!

Barack Obama On Race, Football, And Marijuana

Ronald 2 Comments

Barack Obama has been very cautious and careful about speaking out on controversial issues, but now, as the fifth anniversary of his accession to the Presidency takes place, he is becoming more open, and it is very refreshing, and really, about time to do so!

Sarah Palin and other right wingers can claim all along that Obama plays the “race card”, when he has never done so in reality. They would love him to play the role of the “angry black man”, so they can further condemn him, and denounce him in the worst possible language!

Instead, Obama frustrates them by his refusal to talk much about race until now, and to reject being the “angry black man.” Rather, he has been dignified, classy, judicious, and respectful toward people he should have long ago rejected in no uncertain terms, and should have denounced them in strong language!

This author would not have the patience and ability to ignore insults that our 44th President has had, and even now, when he starts to speak up openly, he is still graceful and gentlemanly in his language.

So he tells us that he knows some people (actually a lot) dislike him because he is black, and that others like him because he is black! This makes total sense, and there is no debate about that!

He also tells us that if he had a son, he would not let him play tackle football, as too dangerous to the head and neck, and leading to concussions. In this, the author agrees, as no sport is worth one’s health being affected long term. Football may be a popular sport, but it is a vicious, dangerous sport due to the aggressiveness of tackles and other football players, for whom victory is all that matters, and the helmets that are used encourage larger and heavier players to do harm to others, rather than be good sports while playing.

The sad part is how some fans do not give a damn, as long as they can see blood and gore on the field, which pleases their lust for violence. It is as if this is ancient Rome and the gladiators, where spectators did not give a damn about the health, safety, and lives of the participants.

And the fact that the vast majority of players are black, sadly, also promotes a lack of concern by some fans who want the players to be there for entertainment, but no real concern about their long range health and safety long term. If the majority were still white, as decades ago, there would be a greater uproar by fans, and also by team owners and coaches about this health and safety issues, but heck, who seems to care about players of the race that some fans would still not allow in their homes for dinner or social interaction! Face the facts, this is the truth, whether some are willing to say so or not openly!

And Obama speaking up on the effects of marijuana as compared to tobacco and alcohol, that it is far less dangerous than those two drugs, is certainly true, as there is no record of the kind of long range damage of marijuana as compared to tobacco and alcohol. This is not an endorsement of anyone using marijuana, but simply the truth, as Obama makes clear, and ideally, no young person should feel a need to use marijuana, anymore than tobacco or alcohol, as it is not good for one’s health.

Let this author make it clear that he has never used tobacco or marijuana, and rarely drinks alcohol, and has never been drunk, as he prefers to face reality, and does not wish to be under the influence of any of these drugs. It is best for anyone to avoid these different drugs!

But certainly, to have people in prison for marijuana leads to many more blacks than whites, and that is wrong, and reform of sentencing, and release of those in prison for marijuana possession or sale, needs reform immediately!

It was wonderful that Obama opened up on these issues, and it allowed this author to state how he feels about these matters as well, and hopefully, Obama will feel liberated and speak more openly about how he feels, and the critics be damned!

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

Misogyny And The Republican Party’s Doom, Short Term And Long Term

Ronald 5 Comments

The Republican Party has displayed, again and again, its total lack of respect for women in so many ways!

Not only have they worked to deny women their basic human rights to their own bodies, and had candidates and office holders who debate what rape is.

Not only have they now worked in Texas and other southern states to deny women who are married or divorced the ability to vote by making an issue of their use of maiden names and married names that do not match on IDs, so as to take away the right to vote. Such is the case with a Texas judge recently challenged because she has an ID with her middle name but has also used her married name on other documents and in public, and is well known, and yet is being told they do not match, so she should be denied the right to vote, although never challenged for the past half century! And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

And not only these examples above, but also the total lack of respect the Republicans have for women who serve in the Obama Administration. So we have had nasty attacks on the honesty and competence of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former United Nations Ambassador and now National Security Adviser Susan Rice; and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

These three women have devoted their lives to public service in magnificent ways, and are suffering from misogynistic attacks of a party only too willing to attack, while not being embarrassed by the asinine behavior of such women, including Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, but not limited just to those two women!

The GOP is dooming its future, as already, the majority of women vote Democratic, so continuation of their misogynistic attitudes is a losing strategy, short term and long term!

The One Virtue Of The Government Shutdown: John Boehner And Mitch McConnell Will NOT Support Another Such Shutdown!

Ronald 5 Comments

The one virtue that comes out of the federal government shutdown, which cost the Gross Domestic Product $1.5 billion a day, a total of $24 billion for 16 days, is that it has convinced GOP leaders that the tactic will not work,

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he will NOT allow another government shutdown, as he is well aware how it has hurt the Republican brand, with nothing gained by the action. He will face a Tea Party opponent in the Kentucky Senate primary, including the opposition of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Ted Cruz, but this should make a good case for opposition to those Tea Party lunatics who have no concern about the effect on the American economy of what they supported.

Speaker John Boehner has not stated quite the same sentiments, but it is clear that he will not support such a looney concept the next time, as he ended up backing away at the brink of the crisis.

Yes, McConnell and Boehner are both to be condemned for their handling of the situation, but at the end, both were ultimately responsible when push came to shove, and they and the Establishment Republicans have learned a hard lesson,

With the help of Wall Street, the Tea Party lunatics will face challenges in the primaries from mainstream Republican conservatives, and hopefully, some will lose their seats either to these establishment types, or the seats will swing over to the Democrats, with the chance of a Democratic takeover growing, and the likelihood of a Republican takeover of the US Senate a less likely scenario, as a result of the government shutdown and debt ceiling debacle.

As Barack Obama declared, it is time for serious action on immigration, tax reform, and the farm bill, instead of wasting time on what is ultimately a lost cause, the destruction of ObamaCare by repeal, which is NOT going to happen.

Anyone who seriously thinks the Tea Party Movement will triumph in 2014 and elect Ted Cruz President in 2016, with a Republican House and Senate, is certainly using hallucinatory drugs, and needs to be hospitalized for mental observation!

Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Sarah Palin And The Confederate Flag At The White House: Reprehensible!

Ronald 3 Comments

A crowd descended on the gates at the White House on Sunday, led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP Vice Presidential nominee.

They stood by as Confederate flags were brandished, and a speaker said it was time for Barack Obama to stop obeying the Muslim faith, and to resign from the Presidency!

What a spectacle it was, with National Park police called out in riot gear, in case the demonstration became unruly or worse.

These three demagogues—Cruz, Lee, and Palin—who are destroying the Republican brand with their fight to undermine the federal government, blamed Obama for the shutdown of the federal government, rather than Cruz and Lee taking responsibility for encouraging House Tea Party Republicans to do what everyone knows they provoked, intimidating Speaker John Boehner into what has become a disaster for the Republican Party brand!

By appearing with these Confederate, secessionist, states rights riight wingers, they are encouraging violent insurrection against the government, and poisoning the atmosphere for peaceful resolution of differences, and also undermining respect for the office of the Presidency!

Republican leadership—much more than Senator John McCain of Arizona and Congressman Peter King of New York—must speak up and denounce these tactics, or the GOP is totally doomed as a major political party for the long run!

New Jersey Senate Race: Cory Booker Vs Steve Lonegan

Ronald 2 Comments

New Jersey will have a new Senator after Wednesday, and it is urgent that Newark Mayor Cory Booker take over the seat of the late Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Booker is seen as a rising national star, who would do a lot of good for the middle class and the poor of his home state, which has not elected a Republican Senator since it gave Senator Clifford Case his last term in office in 1972. Case was an outstanding Republican Senator, a liberal Republican who built up an enviable record in his 24 years of Senate service.

New Jersey is a state which deserves a man of Booker’s caliber, and he is leading in the polls by about 12 percentage points, but the Tea Party is making a vigorous challenge to Booker in the person of Steve Lonegan, a businessman and former Mayor of Bogota, New Jersey.

Lonegan would help Ted Cruz, Rand Paul. Mike Lee, Marco Rubio and other Tea Party types in blocking progress, and refusing any cooperation with other Republicans, increasing the civil war that exists in the GOP. His statements and viewpoints are totally unacceptable for a state in the Northeastern United States, with many residents working in New York City or Philadelphia.

Lonegan is having Sarah Palin, the former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee, coming in to campaign for him this weekend, and that is, in itself, enough reason for New Jersey to reject Lonegan, and elect Booker, as a leader who will do a lot of good for New Jersey, and become a figure of national stature, including a possible Democratic Presidential candidacy in the future.

Ted Cruz Repudiates His Canadian Citizenship In Ambition To Be President!

Ronald 7 Comments

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the bull in the China shop in the Republican Party, who has grand ambitions to be President of the United States, has taken quick action to trash his Canadian heritage, having been born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 1970.

While technically a citizen of both Canada and the US, due to his mother’s American citizenship, Cruz has now declared that he has no interest in remaining a dual citizen, because he knows that could cause him grief as he seeks to take over the Republican Party. He has already made enemies in the GOP establishment with his vicious attacks on other Republican Senators, as well as the opposition Democrats, the news media, and higher education, including his Harvard Law School background, calling the faculty there a bunch of Marxists, reminding us of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who he, ironically, greatly resembles in appearance, demeanor, and behavior!

Cruz represents the calling card of Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and other malcontents,who wants to take the Republican Party to the extreme far Right, and will take no prisoners!

It is clear by his action on his Canadian citizenship that Cruz is running for President without announcing it this early, and that he will do anything and everything to destroy any GOP opponent, and at this point, his key rival seems to be Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the son of former Congressman Ron Paul, who inherits the allegiance of many young people who see the father as a god like figure with his libertarian beliefs.

Both Paul and Cruz have the allegiance of the Tea Party Movement, but Cruz cannot be called a libertarian, and the holy war that will ensue between the two will, at this point, likely favor Cruz over Paul.

So at this point, it seems a good bet to believe that Cruz will overcome Paul and also, his fellow Cuban, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, and that he will be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2016, at age 45.

His candidacy will draw a lot of attention and controversy, and Cruz will not care how many enemies he makes on his road to being the opponent of Hillary Clinton, his most likely opponent, or any other Democrat who might emerge, including Joe Biden.

And when one looks at the Electoral College math, it is clear that Ted Cruz is likely to be the GOP Presidential nominee, but his chances of becoming our 45th President are next to zero, and that Clinton, Biden, or whoever the Democratic nominee in 2016 is, will win a landslide victory, greater in electoral votes than Barack Obama in 2012!

And part of that great Democratic victory in 2016 will likely include Texas, as the state is moving toward “Blue” status, and it is ironic that Cruz, easily elected in Texas in 2012, will help create the Democratic majority by his personality, confrontational attitude, and refusal to understand that if one insults Mexican Americans, woman, African Americans, labor supporters, environmentalists, and gays, there is no way that his party can ever win back the White House!

So after a smashing defeat, Cruz will be history as a loser, and the GOP will finally, if it has any common sense, return to the moderate mainstream center, or else it will finally be in the dustbins of history after 2016!

Vice President Joe Biden: The Consoler In Chief, Because He Is Genuine!

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Vice President Joe Biden presided appropriately and with feeling at the funeral service of 19 Arizona firefighters yesterday.

He said all the proper things to say, expressed with emotion, and united those gathered in the mourning of the loss of 19 heroic young men, who devoted their careers to helping others, rather than going the “fast track” to wealth and status.

These young men represent the best in American youth, commitment to state and nation, not to the almighty dollar, wishing to do something significant for others, saving the public from the disaster of forest fires.

Joe Biden is the ideal “Consoler in Chief”, as he is the most genuine political leader we have seen in a long time. He is from the people, a person of average means, who has devoted his life to public service, setting a model for young people as to his commitment to do what is right, even if it is unpopular.

We are fortunate to have such a man in the Vice Presidency, and to know that IF emergency arose, he could fill the shoes of the Presidency very well, rather than having to worry about the competence and compassion of a Spiro Agnew or Dan Quayle who both caused great concern when they were in the Vice Presidency, or Sarah Palin or Paul Ryan, who caused many sleepless nights during the Presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012, that they just might end up a heartbeat away from the Oval Office!

Whether one agrees or not with the public policy positions of Joe Biden, his sincerity, his genuine nature, his compassion, his competence, cannot be debated!

Sarah Palin In The US Senate? And We Thought We Were Finally Rid Of Sarah In Politics?

Ronald 5 Comments

Hard to believe, but Sarah Palin, former Alaska part term Governor and 2008 GOP Vice Presidential nominee (thanks to the poor judgment of John McCain), has announced she is considering running for the US Senate seat of Democrat Mark Begich in 2014.

This, coming on the heels of the possibility of Liz Cheney running for a Senate seat in Wyoming already occupied by a conservative Republican, makes one want to drink, even if one is not a drinker! LOL

At least Liz Cheney has a brain and intelligence, although she is a very mean spirited and an overly aggressive and presumptuous woman, who has ambitions for the Presidency over the long haul, if not immediately!

But Sarah Palin? Is this for real? Or is it simply another way for Sarah to make money, gain publicity, and take advantage of her supporters who are as clueless about everything as much as she is?

This woman, who did not even know what the role of the Vice President was constitutionally, now wishes to grace the Senate, and bring the quality of the Senate, already much lower than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, to a new all time low! Can one imagine her in debate, giving speeches on important issues which she has no knowledge of, and never will? She would make the Senate a circus atmosphere, which is the last thing that the upper body of Congress needs!

The fact that polls indicate her popularity is at an all time low makes one think Palin would not find it easy to defeat primary opposition, let alone Senator Begich.

But this woman needs attention, and to live off her fans, and so she will continue to be an annoyance, and if, by some chance she were to win the Senate seat, you can add Sarah to the 2016 mix of potential Republican Presidential candidates, and this would only add to the circus atmosphere already mentioned by this author just yesterday!