Tag Archives: MAGA

education news

Creationism isn’t science

The numbskulls who occupy most of the 15 seats on the Texas Board of Education need to have their heads examined.

The move is afoot to require public school teachers in Texas to teach creationism alongside evolution, believing that both notions are scientific theories that need to be treated equally.

Forgive me for what I am about to say, yet again. Creationism is not a scientific theory. It is an article of religious faith that belongs in church Sunday school classrooms, not in public schools.

I have long grown weary of the idiocy promoted by right-wingers that creationism — the biblical tale that Earth came to be in six calendar days while God took the seventh day to rest from all his hard work — is as valid a theory as evolution. It isn’t!

The biblical version of Earth’s creation has no relationship with established empirical evidence that it took our planet millions of years to evolve into what it is today. And that human beings also evolved over millions of years into what we have become today.

For the SBOE to believe Texas public educators should teach them both in our classrooms is idiotic beyond all measure.

education news, State news

Abbott devoted to single issue?

Well … what do you think of this, which is that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed the re-election of 59 state lawmakers — all of whom have supported his school voucher idea?

Me? I think it stinks. Why? Because legislating on behalf of a state as large, diverse and demanding as this one ought to require a comprehensive approach to governing. Abbott doesn’t see it that way, I guess.

He wants to plunder public education funds, siphon them off to private schools and, in my view, deplete our state’s public schools of the resources they need to provide our children a quality education.

If you don’t see it his way, according to the governor, why, you just don’t deserve to be re-elected to the Texas Legislature.

What a pile of dog-dookie!

national news

Impeachment talk = nonsense

All this blather and bloviating about impeaching President Biden is likely to send me to the nut house.

Congressional Republicans keep saying they have “evidence” of corruption involving Joe Biden when he served as vice president from 2009 until 2017. Where, though, is it? It’s hiding somewhere, right? Hell, I have no idea.

They want to impeach the president on specious allegations that he benefited somehow from his son’s employment with oil companies abroad. Hunter Biden himself is under investigation and has been indicted on a firearms violation.

These Republicans, led by the MAGA morons on the far right, are scouring the landscape for any evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors” they can hang on the president.

Frankly, this nonsense has gotten way out of hand, out of control and shown that Republicans in Congress are out of their ever-lovin’ minds.

They smell blood in the proverbial water, though, with the president’s poll numbers slipping and Donald J. Trump reportedly ahead on matchups against the president in 2024.

It is energizing the MAGA base. Indeed, the MAGA cultists want to do all they can to divert attention from the real crimes their guy —  Trump — will face criminal trials soon.

religious news

Why object to ‘happy holiday’?

Quiz time, y’all: Who among us really objects to retail employees wishing their customers a “happy holiday” rather than “Merry Christmas”?

At the risk of generalizing, I submit that those who object are either: close-minded, ignorant of those around them, also ignorant of the “religious liberty” clause in the Constitution, just plain bigoted.

I never, ever have objected to receiving a “happy holidays” wish from a retailer. I also am a Christian who celebrates Christmas fully, relishing the commercial aspect as well as the religious significance of the holiday.

I also recognize that my religious orientation is far from the only one being observed by my neighbors, or even my friends. I live in a community with a significant Muslim population. I see women with hijabs on their heads daily; I also presume the men who accompany them also are of the Muslim faith.

Why wish someone a Merry Christmas who doesn’t observe the holiday? A “happy holiday” would suffice. Why, they likely would smile back and wish the same for the retail employee.

Donald Trump once stupidly asserted that if he were elected POTUS that he would “make” businesses wish customers a “Merry Christmas.” Of course, the president has no authority to issue such an order. But … it played well among the MAGA base that helped elect their moronic leader to office in 2016.

The simple act of wishing people a happy holiday is a recognition of the pluralistic society in which we live. It should offend no one — not a single patriotic American — even a little bit to hear it.

I submit the pluralism plays a huge part in “making America great.”

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!