US Senate

The Shocking Behavior Of Republicans Is Beyond The Pale! :(

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The Republican Party is fast disintegrating!

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, after being impeached overwhelmingly by the Texas dominated Republican House of Representatives, is found not guilty on all counts by the Texas dominated Republican Senate.

Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert acted inappropriately in public with her date at a concert.

The Republican Presidential contenders move further to the extreme right in appeals to evangelical voters in Iowa, and try to outdo each other in their craziness and authoritarian tendencies.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy allowed himself to be manipulated by his Freedom Caucus extremist members to start an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, knowing there is no evidence to do so, and just using the personal problems of Hunter Biden to attack the entire Biden family.

Donald Trump gave an interview to Kristen Welker of NBC Meet the Press, demonstrating ever further his mental deterioration and constant lying and deceptions.

Mitt Romney, when announcing his retirement at the end of 2024, told us that Mitch McConnell did not respond when Romney warned him of danger on January 6, 2021, four days ahead of that fateful date. Romney also condemned most Republicans who he said ridicule Donald Trump in private, but support him in public, and particularly mentioned Senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and J D Vance. Their desire to have power overcomes the concept of commitment to basic principles.

In the past, we saw political parties in America, including the Federalist Party after 1816; the Democratic Republican Party in the 1820s; and the Whig Party in 1854, all dissolve!

It is time for the Republican Party name to be replaced by a new party name, and a rejection of much of what the present day right wing Fascist oriented party represents, in order to have a safe future of a nation committed to the Constitution and rule of law!

60th Anniversary Of Birmingham Church Bombing Which Killed Four Black Girls! :(

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The 60th Anniversary of the Birmingham, Alabama Church Bombing which killed four young black girls is being commemorated at a time when Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and many other Republicans, are trying to deny the truth of African American history.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Alabama Democratic Senator Doug Jones, who successfully prosecuted Ku Klux Klansmen four decades later who did the dastardly deed, commemorated the horrid events, and made clear that the truth and the reality of history cannot be suppressed because some people might feel disturbed.

Alabama was a center of racial violence and bloodshed six decades ago, and even now, the state legislature has refused to create legitimate congressional and state legislative districts to reflect that 28 percent of the state is black, and the federal courts have intervened.

Sadly, for much of the South, the old South of pre civil rights days has reared its ugly head again, with the difference being that in the past it was a segregationist Democratic South, and now it is a biased, racist Republican South!

The fight for civil rights and teaching of the truth of the past is a battle that cannot be abandoned, and must be pursued without pause!

The Strange Feeling About Mitt Romney Leaving The Senate: Regret!

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The surprising news that Utah Senator Mitt Romney is retiring at the end of his term in 2024 leaves this blogger and author feeling regret.

While a major critic of Romney when he ran for President in 2012 against Barack Obama, Romney redeemed himself in the Senate since 2019, including being the only Republican Senator to vote to convict Donald Trump in both impeachment trials.

Romney also acted in a bipartisan manner with Joe Biden, although their differences are still quite clear on many issues.

But Romney was really one of a very few Republican Senators who engendered respect as decent, competent, and principled.

It has now been revealed about his strong criticism of Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and J D Vance, and his disappointment with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and this redeems his reputation mightily!

With his retirement, only Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is really the old style Republican, as even Maine Senator Susan Collins has been totally unreliable.

And whoever replaces Romney in the Senate from Utah is unlikely to have the distinction and dignity that Mitt Romney represents!

If Dianne Feinstein Leaves, Maxine Waters Should Be Interim US Senator!

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The possibility is growing that California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is in poor health, may end up leaving the Senate before the end of her term at the end of 2024.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said that if such an eventuality were to occur, that he would select an African American woman as a caretaker until the election of the new Senator.

He has now clarified that it would be inappropriate to select anyone who is an announced candidate for the Senate, giving such person an unfair advantage.

So it seems clear that Congresswoman Barbara Lee would not be selected, since she is in contention with two other California members of the House of Representatives–Adam Schiff and Katie Porter–for the Senate seat.

The odds now would favor Schiff for the Senate seat, with Nancy Pelosi already endorsing him, although the opponent in November of next year likely could be Porter or Lee, since the California system allows the top two vote getters in an open primary situation to be the final rivals in the fall election.

So with Newsom’s declaration that he will not select any of the competitors, it is clear that the best solution would be to select Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who is 85, and while still in great health, might like the idea of being a Senator for a limited period of time as a fitting end to a distinguished career in Congress since 1991!

She is outspoken and dynamic, and suffers no fools, and her colorful nature has made her attractive to many, but she will be past 86 at the end of 2024, so it would be a graceful way for her to leave if the opportunity arises to serve a limited time in the US Senate!

22nd Anniversary Of September 11, But Republicans Undermine National Defense!

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It has been 22 years since the shocking Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the nation is still reeling from divisions on national defense and national security.

We have many Republicans who work against assistance to Ukraine in its war provoked by the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin.

We also have Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville still blocking confirmation of military promotions in the armed services, now for seven months, over the military’s decision to allow women in the military to gain reproductive services, including abortion.

With so many Republicans supporting Russia, a mind boggling development, that party is undermining national security in a massive way, and that needs to be emphasized by Democrats as we look ahead to the Congressional and Presidential Elections of 2024, just 14 months away!

Foreign Policy Of America In Danger From Donald Trump!

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American foreign policy is in great danger from the threat of Donald Trump possibly being reelected to the Presidency in 2024.

His well known admiration for authoritarians in Russia, North Korea, and China; and his hostility toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are alarm bells in the night!

His willingness to abandon Ukraine, and allow Vladimir Putin to seize more of that nation, is an encouragement that will trigger World War III, as what would stop Putin from trying to restore the old Soviet Union, by attacking Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and more territory?

America’s relationship with Asian nations, which now are 60 percent of the world’s population are also in danger!

And our relationship with Canada and Latin America would be in disarray as well!

To imagine that Trump would be President again is like imagining that Charles Lindbergh or Henry Ford had been President in the 1930s and 1940s, cozying up to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II!

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has worked very hard to promote and strengthen our alliances with nations around the world, and one must remember his vast experience in foreign policy, as a US Senator, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and eight years as Vice President under Barack Obama!

The Longevity Of Presidents Analyzed

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There is a lot of debate and discussion about Joe Biden’s age.

One needs to examine the history of Presidents and longevity.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, the time of modern America, 40 percent of Presidents (8) have had a short life span, as witness:

Theodore Roosevelt 60
William Howard Taft 72
Woodrow Wilson 67
Warren G. Harding 57
Calvin Coolidge 60
Franklin D. Roosevelt 63
John F. Kennedy 46
Lyndon B. Johnson 64

Other Presidents, 60 percent, (12), have had very long life spans, including

Herbert Hoover 90
Harry Truman 88
Dwight D. Eisenhower 78
Richard Nixon 81
Gerald Ford 93
Jimmy Carter 99 on the coming October 1
Ronald Reagan 93
George H W Bush 94
Bill Clinton 77 and counting
George W. Bush 77 and counting
Donald Trump 77 and counting
Joe Biden 81 on the coming November 20

Then, in a classification by himself, is Barack Obama (62), and seemingly in great health and physical shape!

My conclusion: Presidents and people in general are living longer and healthier, and one cannot deduce from the problems of Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Mitch McConnell that President Joe Biden will be unable to finish his time in office.

But if, sadly, that becomes an issue, there is absolutly nothing wrong, and a lot very positive, about the ability of Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the Presidency.

When one considers Vice Presidents who succeeded their Presidents during a term, three of them—-Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson excelled—-while the other six who succeeded were far from outstanding.

But we managed to survive all of the time, and Kamala Harris is 59 years old, the general age of most Presidents upon taking office, and perfectly capable of being Chief Executive if an emergency arises!

Kamala Harris At 59, And Her Future Role In American Government!

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Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated her 59th birthday yesterday, and she is seen as a strong partner of President Joe Biden.

Constantly under attack by conservatives and Republicans, she has played the proper role of remaining in the background, not trying to take attention away from the President, which is the proper role for a Vice President.

But she has become more visible on the issues of abortion rights, civil rights, voting rights, gun safety reform, and the promotion of truth in education, including denouncing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promoting a distorted view of African American history and slavery, and also, his attack on the field of psychology and the teaching of gender and sexuality.

Harris speaks for those who are being attacked and abused, as the Supreme Court moves the nation backward on issues that were thought to be settled decades ago, but clearly are not resolved.

Harris is a very intelligent woman, with a career of being a prosecutor in San Francisco; Attorney General of California; and four years as a United States Senator!

She is superbly qualified to be President, if tragically, in the next five years, she was called upon to take the Presidential oath.

Hopefully, President Biden will win reelection and served capably, as he has so far, but the nation can be comfortable with the possibility of a succession, knowing this is a woman of compassion, decency, empathy, and sincerity.

Republican Presidential contender Nikki Haley has disgraced herself since she had courage as South Carolina Governor in 2015 to take down the Confederate flag after nine black churchgoers were slaughtered. She has lost all credibility, when she suggests that Joe Biden will die and Kamala Harris will be President in the next term, as if that would be the most horrendous thing possible, and it disqualifies Haley’s own Presidential ambitions.

One woman of Asian Indian ancestry feels a need to attack a woman of similar Asian Indian and Jamaican ancestry as unqualified, when clearly, Harris has far better credentials than Nikki Haley has ever demonstrated, particularly Haley’s bending to Donald Trump, and agreeing that if he is the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024, that she would support him!

“No Labels” Movement Alarming Threat To Promote Trump Presidency!

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The “No Labels” third party movement that is emerging is a threat to the reelection of Joe Biden, and promotes the likelihood of Donald Trump having a better chance to come back to the Presidency, and presents a great threat to American democracy!

Sadly, there are those who complain that Joe Biden has not done enough in his two and a half years in the Presidency, which is a great underestimation of his successes.

And many of those promoting a so called “moderate” alternative are delusional in their belief that there is a better choice, when no third party movement has ever won the Presidency or even ended up second, with the one exception of Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive “Bull Moose” campaign of 1912, which ended up second.

It is disturbing to see such individuals as the following collaborating with the “No Labels” movement:

Jon Huntsman, Republican
Larry Hogan, Republican
Joe Lieberman, Democrat
Joe Manchin, Democrat

These are two Republicans and two Democrats, but only Manchin is still in public office and facing a very difficult Senate reelection race in 2024.

Others, including former Senator Doug Jones of Alabama and former Democratic House leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri are planning to start a movement to challenge the “No Labels’ movement as the danger that it is to the goal of preventing Donald Trump from returning to the White House in 2025!

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville Undermining Military Readiness, And Must Be Stopped!

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There is a dire need for the US Senate to change its policy that any one Senator can prevent a movement forward on a nomination, or a vote on legislation!

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who was a renowned football coach with a Physical Education degree from a third rate college, has held up approval of military promotions, causing hundreds of military personnel to be held effectively captive, including the movement forward on a new Marine Corps Commandant. This has been done in order to prevent women in the military from being able to gain the right to have abortions, if in their personal judgment, it is appropriate and wish to control their own bodies!

He also is vehemently anti gay and anti transgender, and has claimed white nationalists are not racists!

This is causing an uproar, with even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell disturbed about this mess, and the need is clear to do whatever has to be done to force movement on promoting the military readiness that is urgent for national defense!

The fact that Tuberville is a terrible Senator, who sadly defeated Doug Jones in 2020, arguably the best Alabama Senator in many decades, is a sad commentary on how extremist right wing Alabama has been for such a long time! The idea that a football coach with minimal qualifications on major national issues could end up in the Senate is a true tragedy! 🙁