Tag Archives: MAGA

Joe Biden, national news

Compromise: it works

President Biden signed into a law a $1.2 trillion spending bill that arrived at his desk after a deadline had lapsed.

The president didn’t hesitate for a nano-second to sign the bill and issued a statement that stated the obvious: Not everyone is totally pleased with what’s in it, but Congress got the job done thanks to some serious compromise.

Therein lies at the heart of what I call “good government.” Compromise works. It results in laws being enacted that are going to anger some folks, make others happy but in the end will keep our government running so that it can deliver needed services to those who need it.

The current rabble-rousers who seek to control Congress — the MAGA cultists who insist that it’s their way or the highway — don’t follow that truism. Oh, no. They continue to resist things in this latest spending package that threaten our allies, such as Israel or the Ukrainians who are fighting against Russian invaders.

Joe Biden sees government through an entirely different prism. He is, in reality, a creature of the government over which he now presides. He has worked in the federal system since January 1973, when he took office as a 30-year-old U.S. senator from Delaware. He served in the Senate until 2009, when he moved into the vice president’s office, where he worked for another eight years. He took four years off and then was elected president in 2000.

I am going to continue to embrace the view that compromise need not be synonymous with surrender of one’s principles.

If only the MAGA cultists and, yes, the far-left progressives would learn that there are times when they can accept compromise as an avenue to keep government functioning for the betterment of all Americans.

national news

Shut the hell up, MTG!

A follower of High Plains Blogger has posited an interesting theory on how we might rid ourselves of the nonsensical blather that flies out of the mouths of inexperienced members of Congress.

This individual writes: ” … perhaps it’s time for us to have some actual criteria other than residency and age in order to run for a seat in Congress (or the presidency). Perhaps some relevant education and experience would be nice? And I am all for making them take a lie detector test before taking their oath of office!”

Fascinating, yes? Well, I think so. I will add this caveat, though, to what this reader believes we should do: We already are able to judge candidates’ educational and professional backgrounds before decided for whom to vote.

The person under discussion happens to be one of the MAGA queens of Congress, Margorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia. She is running for just her third term in Congress. She was elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2022. Third time’s a charm perhaps to get her booted out of Congress?

The voters in her rural northeast Georgia district seem to know enough about her to give her a pass on the idiocy that keeps pouring forth from her pie hole.

She wants to boot Speaker Mike Johnson out of his office. Why? Beats me, other than he works with Democrats on occasion to prevent a government shutdown. That’s the “sin” he reportedly commits; he’s not loyal enough to the MAGA movement.

Greene is a politician in search of a stage, any stage to provide her a forum to be seen and heard far beyond her congressional district. She hasn’t authored a single piece of significant legislation. She makes herself known by her antics during presidential speeches to Congress and her behavior at committee hearings.

Of course, and this really goes without saying, a lie detector test never will occur. There must be something in the Constitution that prohibits that kind of restriction on pols running for Congress.

But, boy howdy, it is a tempting thought nevertheless.

national news

House speaker: world’s worst job

There can be zero doubt — none whatsoever — that the worst job in the world has to be speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Particularly now, in this climate, with a slim Republican Party majority in the House being kicked around by a vocal minority mob of malcontents.

The malcontent in chief, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, has filed a motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his tenuous seat in power. It’s not a done deal, as Greene, R-Ga., said she hasn’t yet called for a vote on whether to kick Johnson to the curb.

You’ll remember that Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was booted out because he had the stones to work with Democrats on a bipartisan government funding bill that forestalled a possible government shutdown. That didn’t suit MAGAites in the House, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who filed a motion, called for the vote and got McCarthy kicked the hell out.

Johnson emerged as a successor. It took several House votes, just as it took the House 15 ballots to select McCarthy, but Johnson got the job. He promised to adhere to the MAGA agenda.

Oh, but wait! He then just recently worked with those dreaded Democrats on another, longer-term funding bill.

Enter the QAnon queen herself, Greene, to fire a warning shot at Johnson.

My goodness, the job is difficult enough, even without the melodrama attached by the MAGA blowhards in the House. It’s a damn important job, too, as its occupant is second in line to become president.

It is aggravating to see this office being held hostage by a gaggle of troublemakers intent on disrupting the so-called “regular order” and arguing against efforts to actually govern … which is what compromise is all about.

crime news, national news, political news

Outrage keeps mounting

1 Comment

My wellspring of outrage seems to know no bounds, given the idiocy that keeps flowing from the overfed pie hole of the 2024 Republican Party presidential nominee in waiting.

He said the following recently to a crowd of MAGA minions cheering his every ridiculous proclamation: He will pardon all the so-called “hostages” who are jailed for their assault on the U.S. Capitol on 1/6 … if he’s elected president in November.

Yep. It’s now out there, on the record. The traitorous mob that sought to assassinate the then-vice president, Mike Pence, and killed a cop seeking to defend the Capitol, defecated on the floor of the government building and vowed to overturn the results of a free, fair and legal election would get a pardon from the former Moron in Chief.

Is there any sense of decency left in that individual? Don’t bother answering that one. There was no decency to start with and he is demonstrating with each political rally how utterly unhinged he has become.

 

Uncategorized

Civility isn’t dead after all!

For the past few years I have been presuming that collegiality and civility have died a slow, painful death, that they have been replaced by rancor and hatred for those with opposing points of view.

Then I read an editorial in the Dallas Morning News that told me to hold on, that it ain’t so.

The editorial talks about two justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor, who spoke to the National Governors Association. They talked about how the justices can differ, but they do not see each other as enemies.

The editorial states, in part: Civility and compromise are values in our democracy that, as of late, are buried in bitter arguments or smothered in misinformation.

Barrett is a deeply conservative member of the high court; Sotomayor is an equally fervent progressive jurist. The editorial notes: “When we disagree, our pens are sharp. But on a personal level, we never translate that into our relationships with one another,” Sotomayor told the crowd at one event.

The DMN editorial takes particular note of the extraordinary friendship forged long ago by two justices, the late Antonin Scalia and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Their friendship became a talking point around the country as to how people with widely divergent points of view can retain personal affection.

The editorial is posted here: Two Supreme Court justices are reminding us how to act like adults (dallasnews.com)

Barrett said: “We don’t speak in a hot way at our conferences,” Barrett said. “We don’t raise our voices no matter how hot-button the case is.”

I am heartened to hear the words of two jurists who have told the world what goes on behind closed doors at the nation’s highest court. May their secret be repeated in other governmental chambers — such as the Congress — where the principals do raise their voices and speak ill of each other.

2016 election, International news, media news, military news, national news

The moment still sickens me

Time for an admission, which is that every reference to the 2016 presidential election outcome fills me with the same level of revulsion I felt when the TV networks called it for the former Moron in Chief.

Case in point: I just finished watching a nine-part Netflix documentary series on the cold war, titled, “Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War.” It is well-done, thorough and it walks us through the period from World War II to the present day. The images from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are heart-breaking and stark, to be sure.

Then it walks us to the here and now. The Soviet Union has imploded and the new president, Vladimir Putin, is filled with delusions of grandeur and longs for a return to the Stalinesque era of repression.

He invades Ukraine in February 2022 and there he is, plastered on the TV screen, along with the 45th POTUS and his buddy-buddy relationship with Putin.

Netflix felt obliged to show the candidate-to-be riding down the escalator in the office tower that bears is name with his wife to announce his run for the presidency. It also replayed the moment when the GOP nominee was declared the winner of the 2016 contest.

So help me, I cannot help but feel sickened beyond measure at the idea of replaying that scenario this coming November.

The documentary made no editorial comment on what occurred in 2016. The producers delivered it straight and for that I applaud them.

Critics of this blog accuse me of suffering from the “Derangement Syndrome” associated with the once and likely future GOP presidential nominee. I plead guilty! Yes, I suffer from it.

But … so should all Americans who give a damn about preserving democracy and scorning the dictatorial impuses of the moron who aspires to re-take control of our nuclear arsenal.

national news, political news

Stand down, Kari Lake

Kari Lake should have her noggin examined for signs of any life other than that which foments the idiocy that flies out of her mouth.

Lake is the Arizona Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate. She is an avid 2020 election denier and someone who has refused to concede she lost the Arizona governor’s race in 2022.

She wants the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that electronic voting is — get ready for it — unconstitutional!

According to MSN.com: The petition to the court alleges new evidence showing false statements made by defendants regarding the safeguards ensuring vote accuracy. Lake and Finchem’s lawyers argue for an amendment to their allegations on standing, aiming to demonstrate a likelihood of recurring harms in future elections similar to those alleged in the 2022 election.

Hang on a moment. The guy hired by the 45th POTUS to monitor the 2020 election declared it to be “the most secure election in U.S. history.” The former POTUS then fired him because he didn’t get the finding he desired.

Kari Lake Petitions US Supreme Court to Declare Electronic Voting Unconstitutional (msn.com)

What the hell is Lake trying to do? It is baffling in the extreme to believe this is a serious person who well could be elected to the Senate and, thus, be empowered to enact legislation that affects all of us.

That’s you and me, man.

Kari Lake is nuttier than a Snickers bar.

local news, political news, State news

Non-GOP observers feeling the pain

The fight that is developing in Texas between non-believers of certain politicians and those who adhere to their every proclamation gives us non-Republicans considerable angst.

How come? Because I, as one of them, find myself rooting for the non-believers in their scrap with those who follow the will of the crooks who happen to hold high public office.

I want to point directly to the troubles that continue to dog Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The AG has taken dead aim at several pols who had the temerity to favor his impeachment in the House. His slate of candidates in this month’s Republican Party primary did pretty well.

One of Paxton’s “enemies” hails from a city I once called home. He is House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont. Phelan faces a runoff against some political newbie, a guy named David Covey. Paxton recruited Covey to run against Phelan. He finished first in the GOP primary, but the two of them are headed for a runoff to see who gets the nomination. Covey finished first and Phelan finished second, but Covey didn’t get the 50% margin he needed to win outright.

I am rooting for Phelan to win the runoff. Not that I care about his politics, per se. I just favor the stance he took in voting to impeach the crooked AG and the manner in which he conducted the House proceedings that led to Paxton’s impeachment. Phelan is a conservative and, frankly, not my ideal politician. Yet the AG refers to him as the “liberal speaker.” What a fu**ing crock!

This intraparty squabbling is playing out in states across the country. I drive through Collin County, where I live, and I see signs for politicians proclaiming themselves to be a “conservative Republican” running for office. How do they define “conservative”? Everyone’s a conservative Republican, yes? You have one conservative Republican running against another of the same ilk. How does a GOP voter choose?

The election season is playing itself out a little at a time. Those of us who sit on the sidelines watching this GOP internecine battle being fought are left to cheer silently for those who respect the system and who put the law above party loyalty.

national news, political news

Accusations aren’t ‘false’

A critic of High Plains Blogger has accused me of saying things about the presumed Republican Party presidential nominee that are false.

Well, I am going to challenge that allegation with this brief post.

He writes: You bash Trump with false accusations and give credit to Biden where’s there’s very little credit to be given.

Nothing I have said about the presumptive GOP nominee is “false.” As for “credit” being given to President Biden, I’ll save that comment for another post.

I have said for as long as I have been writing this blog — and it’s been many years — that I do not mind criticism of its content; just don’t ascribe impure motives to me for expressing these views. They are mine alone and I take responsibility for them. As for my motivation, some folks over the years have questioned my faith, and my patriotism. I take a back seat to no one on either matter.

My accusations against the 45th POTUS are based on what juries have determined, what legally constituted prosecutors have said in criminal indictments and even on the visual record of video and audio recordings the world has seen and heard with its own eyes and ears.

The falsehood or the truth about any of it has yet to be determined in courts of law. My sincere and fervent hope is that we get to those determinations sooner rather than later.

I am just going to make this point one more time — and it likely won’t be the final time: The idiot whom Republicans will nominate for POTUS is unfit for any public office in the land.

local news, national news, political news

Democrats seek ‘all-blue vote’

National Democratic Party officials are asking those of us who fear the possibility of a Republican return to power in the White House to do something I find objectionable.

They want us to “vote all blue” throughout the ballots we are going to get on Nov. 5.

I am afraid I cannot do that. Voting straight-Democratic Party line at election time runs counter to my firmly held belief that voters need to examine every race individually and determine who is the better candidate for every position being contested.

I am planning to endorse the Democratic nominees for POTUS and for U.S. Senate in Texas. That’s no surprise to those who read this blog. What might surprise some of you is that I likely will cast my vote for Republican candidates farther down the ballot. Moreover, I am keeping an open mind on the race for the 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House.

I happen to be acquainted with several candidates running for public office in Collin County, where I reside. They belong to both major parties. Am I going to punch the straight-party spot on the ballot without even considering the candidates who represent the other party? I cannot do that in good conscience.

Good government requires voters to exercise their due diligence. I consider myself to be a good-government progressive, which requires me — according to my own definition — to ensure I know the candidates’ stands on issues pertinent to the office they seek.

We have many good men and women running for public office in this county; many of them happen to be Republicans.

Do I want the Democrats to retain the White House? Yes! Do I want the Dems to strengthen their grip on the U.S. Senate? Again, yes. Do I want them to take control of the U.S. House? Ditto on that, too.

There are compelling issues at stake at the presidential and congressional levels. That is as far as it goes. Voting “all blue” means casting aside worthy candidates for the Texas Legislature and for countywide offices that in reality shouldn’t even be considered on partisan ballots.

I’m in on the “all blue” initiative … to a point.