Steve Scalise

Republicans In Leadership And Many In Congress Continue To Perpetuate the “Big Lie” About 2020!

It is shocking and dismaying that nine months after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, we still have Republicans continuing to perpetuate the “Big Lie”, that Donald Trump won the election, and it was “stolen”!

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden is President this past weekend on a news interview show, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has disgraced himself in backing Donald Trump, with both Scalise and McCarthy and a multitude of other Republicans afraid to alienate Trump.

The Republican Party is full blown Fascism in its intent and strategy, and they make it clear that they will not cooperate in the investigation of the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection, except for two House members, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who have shown guts and courage to go ahead and join the investigatory House Committee on January 6, undermining their own hold on their seats in Congress.

An Investigation Of The January 6 Capitol Insurrection Will Occur With Or Without GOP Backing!

It looks as if the Republican Party will refuse to participate in a bipartisan investigation of the January 6 Capitol Insurrection.

But the House of Representatives will conduct such an investigation no matter what, and since 35 Republicans in the House voted for such an investigation, it is likely that some of them, like Lynn Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and John Katko will cooperate and make it bipartisan even if the Republican Party as a whole stonewalls looking for the truth.

The truth and facts will come out one way or the other, but it would be better to have a bipartisan effort.

By all rights, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, and Mitch McConnell should all be forced out of office as promoting the “Big Lie” and not caring about the Capitol Police who were assaulted on January 6.

The Republican Party is in free fall, with no future as long as they kiss up to the Fascist dictator, Donald Trump, who seems likely to be indicted soon and hopefully, end up in prison!

January 6 Commission Is Essential To Investigate, Hold Accountable, And Avoid Future Insurrection!

The creation of the January 6 Commission on the Capitol Insurrection is essential, in order to investigate, hold accountable, and avoid future such insurrections.

But only 35 Republicans voted for the Commission, along with all Democrats, making the vote 252-175.

However, all 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump in January came through, along with 25 other courageous Republicans, defying the leadership of Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, the two leading Republican House leaders.

The Senate might prevent such a January 6 Commission, still uncertain, and it will undermine the Republican Party reputation if that occurs, so right now, the nation is in limbo until the Senate vote occurs after a likely long debate.

Ten Republicans would need to support the creation of the Commission, but only seven Senators voted to convict Trump, so the question is whether those seven and three more will be willing to do the right thing!

Attorney General Merrick Garland Confirmed; Now Time For Prosecutions Of January 6 Traitors In Congress!

Attorney General Merrick Garland was finally confirmed today by a vote of 70-30 in the Senate.

It is now time for prosecutions of the January 6 Capitol Attack Conspirators, not only the men and women who stormed the building and threatened members of Congress, but also those traitors in Congress who promoted and encouraged the seditionist actions.

This includes the Senators and Congressmen who refused to support the Electoral College results, and those who took some of the people involved in the insurrection on tours of the building a day or two before.

The evidence is strong against Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, Paul Gosar, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks and others in the House, and against Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and six other Senators. Also, House Republican leaders, including Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise and others need to be held accountable!

It is time for them to pay the price for their treasonous actions, and they all need the full prosecution and punishment that they deserve!

Biden Justice Department Needs To Prosecute Traitors In Congress Who Promoted Insurrection!

Once Merrick Garland is confirmed as Attorney General of the United States, which should happen next week, it is essential for the department to prosecute traitors in Congress who promoted insurrection on January 6, 2021, with emphasis on the “ring leaders”, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, along with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

In theory, all of the 139 House Republican members, about two thirds of the total Republican contingent in that chamber, and all 8 of the US Senators, who refused to authorize the election of Joe Biden even after the Capitol Insurrection, should be expelled and prosecuted, but the leaders of the Sedition are more likely to be pursued, as the instigators of the treason!

And the people around Donald Trump, including the former President, also need to be held accountable, so that this domestic terrorism is stopped dead in its tracks!

And every single American who stormed the Capitol and can be identified, needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law as well!

Donald Trump And His Fascist Mobs Advocated Assassination Of Mike Pence And Nancy Pelosi!

As more evidence comes out, it is perfectly clear that Donald Trump was trying to promote a coup, an insurrection, violence and destruction by right wing Fascist followers, including the assassination of the first and second people in the line of succession to the Presidency, with Trump, his family, and Rudy Giuliani cheering them on!

The Fascist mob was looking to hang Vice President Mike Pence, was chanting that disgusting chant, and were plotting to put a bullet in Nancy Pelosi’s head, and they ransacked Speaker Pelosi’ office. One rioter sat at Pelosi’s desk with his feet up on the desk, while another sat in Vice President Pence’s seat in the US Senate chamber.

The reality of what almost happened enrages and infuriates this blogger and author, and every single person who thought Donald Trump was acceptable to be reelected:

because of the rise in the stock market,

or because he was pro Israel,

or because they were afraid of Kamala Harris because she is a mixed race woman,

or because they believe the lie that Joe Biden is demented (when Donald Trump has been demented and dangerous for five years since he announced for President),

or because they believe, out of ignorance or stupidity, that Democrats being liberal or progressive, are actually Communists and Socialists,

or because they think that Trump’s vicious attacks on women, minorities, the disabled and other groups are funny or humorous,

or because they like that Trump says what is on his mind, no matter how outrageous it is.

All such individuals need to be condemned and repudiated by all decent people!

Besides people this author and blogger and others know who are guilty of this horrible misjudgment, of aiding and abetting violence and bloodshed with their disgraceful lack of character and decency, there must be accountability and punishment for, among others:

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Senator Rick Scott of Florida
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana
Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio
Congressman Devin Nunes of California
Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida
Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas
and really all 147 Congressmen and Senators who advocated and endorsed lawlessness, and repudiation of a legal, constitutional election!

But also, all right wing news channels, including Fox News Channel, One America News Network (OANN), Newsmax Media, The Epoch Times, and others; and right wing propagandists, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, Lou Dobbs, Ben Shapiro, and others!

And Twitter and Facebook, allowing right wing lies and propaganda to spread like wildfire across the internet are also to be condemned, and are guilty of promoting domestic terrorism, insurrection, treason, and sedition!

Every corporation should drop the right wing news channels for advertising, and every one of the 147 Republicans in Congress who challenged a legally legitimate election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris needs to be expelled, or censured, and be forced out of Congress by the voters.

And Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr, really his entire family, Rudy Giuliani, and many of the criminals Trump has pardoned need to face justice and life in prison.

To protect our nation, the price for all of these traitors and hatemongers must be harsh justice!

America Is In The Most Precarious Situation Since The Civil War, 160 Years Ago!

Sadly, America is in the most precarious situation since the Civil War, 160 years ago!

Even during the Civil War, the US Capitol and Washington, DC, while under threat from Southern Confederate military forces, never saw the secessionists enter the nation’s capital!

World War II was a dangerous time, but never was the US Capitol or Washington, DC in direct danger!

When Al Qaeda attacked on September 11, 2001, America was fortunate that an attempt to attack Washington, DC was unsuccessful, although the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia was successfully damaged!

But now, the danger of more attacks on the US Capitol, and Washington, DC, and threats to the lives of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect are very real, and makes the next ten days very precarious, but even beyond the inauguration!

We have now in the US Congress seditionists and traitors who continued to support Donald Trump in a phony challenge to clear cut election results, which were repudiated in over 60 legal cases, and twice by the Supreme Court, including all three Donald Trump appointees part of the unanimous majority in each case.

We have Senators such as Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, along with Congressmen including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Devin Nunes of California, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, and so many others, who rightfully should be expelled from Congress, and be considered as complicit in the violent attack on the US Capitol, which led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer.

And Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani, who stirred up the crowd on January 6 to assault the Capitol should all face criminal charges!

No question, Joe Biden faces challenges even greater than Abraham Lincoln, as not only do we have millions of crazed people who are adopting extremist right wing and QAnon views, but they are capable of continuing violence and bloodshed, which could lead literally to a a second Civil War!

A “Blood Bath” Coming Among House Republicans After The Election!

Every indication is that the Republican Party is on the way to a massive defeat in Congress in November, to match 1964 and 1974.

And it is clear that the most right wing and Tea Party types in the House of Representatives are ready to declare war on the House Republican leadership–Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the older daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Those who will lead the attack will include Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Matt Gaetz of Florida. And Devin Nunes of California may also join this group, all loyal Trumpites, who make the Republican leadership, as horrible as it is, seem moderate!

This author and blogger has just recently made clear that these four House members are among the most disgusting and disgraceful in the Republican Party!

Depending on the extent of the loss, it would seem likely that McCarthy, Scalise, and Cheney would triumph and keep leadership of a smaller caucus, but there is no way to know for sure at this point what might happen to the party that was once respectable!

The Next Speaker Of The House IF GOP Keeps Majority: Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Or Jim Jordan

If the Republican Party, somehow, holds on to majority control of the House of Representatives in the 116th Congress, they will need to select a new Speaker of the House, as Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is leaving Congress at the end of this year.

At this point, there are three key contenders for the Speakership in the Republican Party:

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana

House Freedom Caucus member Jim Jordan of Ohio

All three, honestly, make outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan look better by comparison, and yet, my readers know how much I dislike, and have denounced Paul Ryan, including when he was the Vice Presidential running mate of Mitt Romney in the Presidential Election of 2012, for which I was viciously attacked on several right wing websites at the time.

But seriously, Kevin McCarthy is practically the “lap dog” of Donald Trump, extremely loyal and obedient, and was seemingly aware of Russian Collusion in 2016, was talking about it at a Republican House conference meeting, until Paul Ryan told him to stop talking about it. He is a man without any principles other than the advancement of Donald Trump and his agenda, part of the Trump party, rather than the traditional Republican Party, and even more so than Paul Ryan, who has been unwilling to speak out against Trump’s disgraceful tweets and policies. McCarthy has refused to engage in Town Hall events in his Bakersfield, California district since 2010. He also promoted pursuit of Hillary Clinton for the Benghazi, Libya incident, where four diplomats were killed, gaining a reputation of promoting a “hit job” on her, when many more diplomats were killed at embassies during the Presidency of George W. Bush.

Steve Scalise, thankfully, recovered from being shot at the Congressional baseball game in June 2017, but it had no effect on his views on gun control, which is no regulation at all. Beyond that, Scalise used to be a friend of Ku Klux Klan Wizard and white supremacist David Duke, although now, of course, he denies it, and tries to claim it was not so. He would, in this author’s view, be a worse choice than McCarthy. However, for those who are uncomfortable with McCarthy, and might prefer a Southerner as the next Speaker, due to the strong GOP presence in the South, he might be seen as a potential favorite, and certainly less disgraceful by comparison, to the third choice, Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Jim Jordan, who is a co leader of the House Freedom Caucus, the most Far Right group in the Republican Party, has been accused of covering up abuse of athletes on the wrestling team at Ohio State University, when he was an assistant coach in the 1980s. He was one of the Republicans who promoted government shutdowns, and has done everything possible to block the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from pursuing investigation of the Donald Trump collusion with Russia in the 2016 campaign. He also pursed the Benghazi, Libya investigation of the deaths of four diplomats, targeting Hillary Clinton in a total of 11 investigations, which found no evidence of wrongdoing, and which featured 11 hours of testimony by Clinton, with no sign of weakness on her part, as compared to the performance of many others investigated by Congressional committees. Plain and simple, Jordan would be the absolute worst of the three choices being considered by the Republicans, although others might join the fray after the midterm elections.

It is indeed a very sad situation when we can look back on John Boehner as being far better than Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, and Jim Jordan.

Let us hope that one of the latter three will be the Minority Leader, rather than the Speaker of the House in 2019-2020.

Gun Violence Against Congressman Steve Scalise And Others Deplorable, And Incited By Bad Blood On Both Sides, And By Donald Trump!

The shocking violence in Alexandria, Virginia, by a crazed gunman, who shot five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is a sign of escalating violence in this nation, incited by bad blood on both sides of the political spectrum, but also by Donald Trump, who in the past two years has called for violence against his opponent Hillary Clinton, and encouraged violence by his supporters at his campaign rallies against any critics, and that he would pay their legal costs, or so he said.

The political invective is higher now than it has been since the Civil War Era, and Trump cannot be said to be innocent in any fashion, and he likes to act like a bully, and intimidate his critics and opponents. But also, the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, have reached a stage where they cannot “cross the aisle”, as they often did in past decades, to accomplish major goals in legislation.

And conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel has also incited people with their poisonous atmosphere–including Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson, and so many others, all of whom spew hatred.

Some conservatives try to claim that Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Chris Hayes, Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, and others considered to be progressives, are doing the same thing on their programs, but that is pure BS!

The political atmosphere has been deteriorating for the past 25 years since Bill Clinton came to the Presidency, and many of the talk show hosts on the Right have become multimillionaires in the process, and Republican leadership has gone along with this to gain their own agenda.

The fact that the shooter of Steve Scalise and others was a Bernie Sanders supporter in 2016, will, assuredly make the right wing talk show hosts further inflame the situation, so those on the left cannot remain silent, as some are advocating.

We deplore the shooting, and do not advocate violence, but that does not mean we shall remain silent in the midst of government abuses and illegalities.

The American people expect their government to be accountable to its citizenry!