Tag Archives: MAGA

national news, political news

So long, Rep. Santos

George Santos will go down in history as the first — but probably far from the last — piss ant member of Congress to bring shame to the body before ever taking office.

The New York Republican announced this week he won’t seek re-election to the district he won by lying his way throughout the 2022 campaign. He also allegedly stole money from his campaign fund and used it for personal pleasure.

The House Ethics Committee has issued a blistering report condemning Santos and its chairman, a Republican who voted against impeaching Donald Trump and in favor of overturning the 2020 presidential election result, now vows to file a resolution calling for Santos’s expulsion from the House.

Santos has taken lying to stratospheric levels. It’s unbelievable that he hasn’t been sanctioned long before now. But … it’s about to happen.

Santos says he won’t run for re-election. Big … effing … deal!

As for shaming the body? Well, it was full of shame long before Santos set foot in the House chamber.

Good riddance … George!

legal news, national news

SCOTUS takes tiny step

The U.S. Supreme Court is 234 years of age and only until this week it has operated without a single standard for the way its justices should conduct themselves.

The court finally has adopted a sort of guideline for the things its justices can do, but it falls far short of anything worth a damn or any measure that could help restore public confidence in our nation’s highest court.

Two justices have been in the news of late. Clarence Thomas — the court’s senior member in terms of service — has received lavish gifts from a Dallas billionaire while also ruling on cases involving the Harlan Crow’s business interests. The gifts include vacations for Thomas and his wife, tuition paid for his grandson, and a mortgage paid for a home occupied by Thomas’s mother.

Samuel Alito took a fishing trip at the expense of a hedge fund manager and then failed to recuse himself in a case involving the fund.

Oh, we also have the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg taking a trip to Israel paid for by someone with a case pending before the court.

This is utter nonsense. It’s pure crap. It compromises the court’s integrity, its fairness, its objectivity, its ability to rule on the merits of a case exclusively without being influenced by outside pressure.

I have been yammering all along that Clarence Thomas should resign from the court, but that call involves the numerous instances of conflict of interest that seem to fly over the justice’s head; the others involve his wife’s involvement in the Big Lie and the assault by MAGA morons on 1/6 seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The very first rule of ethics should be for justices to avoid any possible conflict of interest by being involved in any fashion with litigants appearing before them. The Supreme Court has stated it now in writing.

What’s missing, though, is any meaningful enforcement of the rules. The court has laid out nothing that prescribes a punishment for justices who are caught violating these rules.

That absolutely must be the next step.

national news, national security, political news

‘Weaponized’ DOJ? Hah!

How in the name of legitimate political discourse does the MAGA wing of the Republican Party justify accusing Joe Biden of “weaponizing” the Department of Justice?

Why pose the question? Because the MAGA minions’ main man, Donald Trump, took weaponization to a new level … and pledges out loud and with crystal clarity that he plans to do even more of it were he allowed to return to the White House!

Trump said he intends to rid the nation of the “vermin” he says occupy key offices in D.C. Think about the use of that particular term for just a moment. Does it ring a bell? It should. It’s the same kind of language Adolf Hitler used when talking about his desire to rid the world of Jewish people.

How would Trump accomplish that moronic notion? By deploying federal agents. In other words, by weaponizing the Justice Department.

The MAGA morons are lining up behind the idiotic rants of a disgraced, twice-impeached, multiple-times indicted former POTUS who stands at this moment of being a convicted felon by the time the GOP presidential nominating convention kicks off next summer.

We are witnessing in real time, ladies and gents, the dumbing down of a voting population that calls itself “patriotic” when, in reality, they are the exact opposite; No patriot would dare endorse the notion of siccing federal government agents on Americans whose only “crime” is to disagree with politicians who crave power.

But … listen carefully to the rants that pour of out of Trump’s pie hole and you hear a fraudulent pol pledge to toss democratic principles into the crapper.

He pledges to turn the Justice Department into a weapon he can use to punish anyone who dares challenge the idiocy that is bound to become this individual’s benchmark.

He must not be allowed anywhere near the White House.

national news, political news

Girding already for … the grind

Make no mistake about this undeniable fact: The next presidential election is likely to drive me to the loony bin.

The Republican Party’s presidential primary field is winnowing down already. Tim Scott is out. So is Mike Pence. Others ought to take a powder as well. Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley got into a beef the other evening when Ramaswamy mentioned Haley’s daughter as a TikTok user, prompting Haley to call the loudmouth pretender “just scum.”

Meanwhile, President Biden is taking hits from within his Democratic Party over whether he ought to seek a second term. He is 80 years of age; the oldest man to occupy the presidency. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has abandoned the Democratic Party and is running for POTUS as an independent. Another guy has decided to run for the presidency too as a Democrat.

If I could manipulate the system, I would much rather see someone other than Donald Trump nominated by the GOP to run against the president. If it’s not meant to be, then we can kiss the Republican Party we’ve all known goodbye.

Trump doesn’t have a single policy principle he can tout as his own. He is pledging a scorched-Earth campaign to “eliminate” everyone who’s ever opposed him.

And … how in this ever-lovin’ world will Biden and Trump fare if we are forced to listen to them debate each other on the world stage? Do you remember the 2020 campaign, when Biden told the blathering Trump to “just shut up, man”?

I am going to offer a prayer to myself that I am able to keep my sanity as this campaign unfolds. While I’m at it, I’ll pray for anyone who’s having the same feelings of anxiety about the future of this great country. So much of that future is going to depend on whether Americans can reject the nonsense touted by the former POTUS.

Here’s hoping for the best.

local news, political news, State news

GOP regrets all that power?

A saying comes to mind when I consider the infighting and back-biting within the Texas Republican Party’s political hierarchy.

Be careful what you wish for …

Gromer Jeffers Jr., who covers politics for the Dallas Morning News, refers to the “scrum” that has developed between Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Both legislative chambers are at odds with each other over Gov. Greg Abbott’s No. 1 legislative priority: school vouchers.

Republicans who command a super majority in both chambers cannot bridge the chasm that separates the MAGA/Freedom Caucus crowd from the more “establishment” elements within the GOP.

This thought entered my sometimes thick skull this morning as I read Gromers’ piece in the DMN: Might it be time for Texas Democrats to re-emerge from their decades in the wilderness to become a political force in this state? Ponder this for a moment: It could serve Republicans well to have a strong opposition party with which it could do battle rather than wasting time squabbling among themselves.

Phelan and Patrick’s alliance flew off the rails when the House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton. The impeachment vote was heavily bipartisan; it was overwhelming. Paxton’s subsequent acquittal in the Senate trial brought out Patrick’s scorn for the decision delivered by the House … and he stated his contempt for the House immediately after Paxton’s acquittal.

Both sides are digging in. House GOP members dislike much of the voucher notion, much to the chagrin of GOP senators. Phelan backs his House colleagues, while Patrick stands with the Senate.

How do Democrats parlay all of this into political advantage that suits them? I suppose they can beat the drum over governmental incompetence, noting that Republicans are so damn entrenched in their dislike for each other that they let key legislation slip away. Then again, a united Republican Party would do Democrats little good … correct?

I am just one Texas resident who has grown tired of the Legislature’s inaction. I favor good government over no government. Republicans who own most of the Legislature’s seats — along with every statewide elected office — have continued to demonstrate big-league incompetence.

Democrats might have a way out of the darkness, but only if they can cobble together an agenda that doesn’t draw heavy fire from the demagogic wing of the Republicans.

national news, political news

What’s point of GOP debates?

I’ll concede I haven’t watched much of the three so-called “debates” among the Republican presidential candidates seeking their party’s 2024 nomination.

My disinterest boils down to two words: Donald Trump.

The prohibitive (ye gads!) frontrunner for the nomination hasn’t bothered to show up. Why should he? The MAGA cult continues to swoon over the twice-impeached, multiple indicted former POTUS … who stands a good chance of being a convicted felon before the 2024 GOP nominating convention.

The men and one woman who have shown up for these joint appearances have sought at varying levels to explain why they are better than Trump. I actually like what I hear from a couple of them: former Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Nikki Haley of South Carolina are beginning to float my boat.

They remain far behind the frontrunner.

The GOP field is left, therefore, to blather on about this and that with little chance of winning the party’s nomination.

Which brings me back to my original thought: What is the point of these debates? These all are pretenders, not actual contenders for the presidency.

The GOP clown show will go on without the Clown in Chief. We all know what would occur were he to show up at one of these events. Every question posed would result in a litany of accusations from the pretenders aimed at the Big Man … who then would turn the event into a blizzard of epithets and personal insults.

We are left, therefore, with a pointless series of joint appearances that contribute virtually nothing to the election outcome.

What a waste of time!

national news

Do they want to lose?

Republicans running for president can stand behind their sanctimoniousness all they want, but the voters they seek aren’t buying into their rhetoric on at least one critical issue: abortion.

We heard most of the candidates standing on the Miami stage last night proclaim their “pro-life” principles. They oppose abortion and most of the debate participants want to place a national limit on when women can terminate a pregnancy. One notable exception was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who stands behind states’ ability to make those decisions.

That’s all fine. Except for this fact. The voters in GOP primary states aren’t buying it. They keep rejecting ballot measures and referenda calling for national limits Indeed, the voters take an entirely different view on abortion than these individuals who want to take office in January 2025.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina proclaimed loudly that he is a proud Christian and wants the nation to return to laws based on “Judeo-Christian principles,” but he forgot to mention something I believe is important: The founders created a secular government that adheres to a secular document, the Constitution. Voters seem to understand that fact more than the individuals who want to be elected POTUS.

Oh … and Donald Trump, who skipped the debate? He is unprincipled, untethered to any moral standard. His views on this stuff don’t matter one damn bit.

I am beginning to believe the notion put forward by a USA Today columnist, Ingrid Jacques, herself a conservative who doesn’t want President Biden and Vice President Harris re-elected.

She writes: “It kind of seems like they want to lose.”

national news

GOP on wrong side in abortion fight

Abortion is a political issue that gives me the heebie-jeebies, given the intensity of views on both sides of the great divide.

I consider myself to be pro-choice, but clearly I am not pro-abortion. And, no, those terms are not mutually exclusive. I merely cannot counsel a woman to obtain an abortion; then again, I do not deserve to have any say on how a woman should make such a gut-wrenching decision.

Republican politicians, therefore, are on the wrong side of history when they continue to dictate to women what they can and cannot do to manage their own biological affairs. Voters across the nation are making their feelings clear as well on that issue, turning back GOP-led efforts to ban abortion, to make it illegal.

Ohio voters spoke loudly and clearly on the matter by ratifying a measure to make abortion rights part of that state’s constitution. Other states’ voters in places such as Kansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Virginia have offered the same message to GOP pols: Do not dictate to us how we can make these decisions.

The Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade earlier this year, energizing abortion-rights advocates across the land. Let us not be coy about this fact, either: abortion is going to play a major role in every election going forward as we march toward the 2024 presidential election.

Voters already are speaking with absolute clarity on this issue. They have warned the pols in D.C. to keep their mitts of women’s reproductive rights. The key question now is this: Will the hide-bound politicians listen to what their constituents — their bosses — are telling them?

Joe Biden

Stay the course, Mr. POTUS

You are more than welcome to join me in tossing aside calls from some Democrats want Joe Biden to walk away from his re-election campaign.

For the life of me I cannot grasp the notion being bandied about among Democrats who want President Biden to step aside and allow someone else to carry their partisan banner forward.

The president’s mental acuity is the issue, they contend. Baloney! Bullsh**! It’s nothing more than a tinny echo of Republicans who want to insert the president’s fitness to continue his job into the campaign.

President Biden is a smart, well-educated, seasoned man. He has served in public service for more than 50 years. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 … before he was old enough to take office; his birthday came that November and placed him at the 30-year minimum age for senators.

I am going to continue to support this president for as long as he wants to run for re-election. President Biden has done a good job governing the world’s most indispensable nation.

He needs to continue.

State news

Legislature keeps on keepin’ on …

Republican government inefficiency is flooding into the chambers of the Texas Legislature, demonstrating that GOP ineffectiveness isn’t just a “Washington thing.”

The GOP-led Legislature adjourned sine die this morning with two of Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priorities left undone: school vouchers and border security.

House Speaker Dade Phelan is feuding openly with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — apparently spilling over from the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Senate’s acquittal of Paxton on all the charges brought by the House.

Let’s remember something about the Legislature: It’s a “citizen body” comprising 150 House members and 31 senators who have day jobs — so to speak — back home. If you’re a working stiff who got elected to the Legislature to do something good for the state, then you’d better get the job done during the 140 days the Legislature meets every other year.

Or else!

The “or else” happens to be more time taken away from your jobs, your livelihood, your family … and your life, for God’s sake!

Welcome to the new world of GOP dominance, in-fighting, squabbling and inability to govern properly and cleanly.

It reminds me just a bit of the turmoil and tumult that infects D.C. pols who continue to fight among themselves over issues that in an another era would have pulled them together. Aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia? Support for Israel in its ongoing war with terrorists? Backing the national debt, as the U.S. Constitution  requires? All of that has been tossed aside as Republicans quarrel among themselves over electing a speaker and arguing over whether to default on our financial obligations.

This is a new and uncomfortable era in politics, my dear friends.

Gov. Abbott threatens to call the Legislature back for a fifth special session if they cannot enact voucher and border security measures. When you think about it, that’s easy for him to say, given that he gets paid a handsome full-time salary to govern.

The Legislature, the horde of 181 Texans who supposedly serve for the love of their state and country? I hope your employers cut you plenty of slack.