Tag Archives: MAGA

local news, political news

Any other kind?

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Driving around North Texas as I do damn near daily, I see street corners and highway intersections festooned with campaign signs promoting candidates for this or that public office.

It’s election time, after all.

One mantra is part of almost all the signs I see crowing for the benefits of Republicans seeking election this year.

They call themselves, almost to a person, “conservative Republican.”

I am compelled to ask myself: Is there any other kind of Republican?

Suppose you happen to be a Republican who, say, is pro-choice on abortion. You believe a woman should be able to determine — with advice and counsel from her partner, her doctor, her clergy — whether she wants to carry a pregnancy to birth. Does that wipe away any other conservative views you might have on, say, taxation, or gun-owners’ rights or government spending? What about same-sex marriage or whether schools should be allowed to display the Ten Commandments?

In this day of political rigidity, any variation from every conservative tenet labels one, apparently, a “woke” liberal, a squishy progressive who secretly believes in socialist economic policy.

When I see these “conservative Republican” captions on campaign signs, I am left to presume the candidate also adheres to the MAGA dogma promoted by the most recent POTUS. My presumption, therefore, allows me to believe that to be a “conservative Republicans” means you endorse the idiocy preached by the former POTUS.

I recall when a Republican president, Richard Nixon, endorsed the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Another Republican POTUS, George H.W. Bush, promoted the Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1991. Still another Republican, President George W. Bush, invested more public money to fight HIV/AIDS than the rest of the world combined.

On the Democratic side, some of you might recall that U.S. Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson was a staunch supporter of the Vietnam War effort in the late 1960s. That didn’t make him less of a Democrat than any of his colleagues who opposed the war effort.

“Conservative Republican” these days looks for all the world to describe just about anyone willing to run on the GOP ticket for public office. In North Texas, the political playing field is swarming with them.

International news, national news

Cynicism runs deep in GOP

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Republican cynicism runs deep and it is perverse … and it sickens me to my core.

U.S. had senators agreed on a $118 billion border security bill that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel. It also helps stiffen our southern border by providing more help to embattled states — such as Texas — in their effort to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing into this country.

Oh, but wait! The former POTUS opposed it. He pressured Republicans in the Senate to oppose it. And why? Because any legislation that aids in curing the crisis at the border helps President Biden’s re-election effort. And, why, we just cannot have that, or so Republicans would tell you.

So, The Former Guy put the heat on and GOP senators now have pulled their support for the legislation … after Republican Senate leaders helped craft the bill in the first place.

Cynicism, anyone? There it is, front and center for you to consider.

Joe Biden implored Senate Republicans to “show some spine” in rejecting the leading GOP presidential contender’s demands to oppose the bill. The gutless wonders comprising the Senate Republican caucus only knuckled under to the threats and bullying of their hero.

Never mind the effort that actually takes steps to solving what we all recognize is a crisis on our border. Or that it also contains money to aid the valiant fight against Russian aggression against Ukraine. Or that it also provides aid to our most reliable ally in the Middle East.

The MAGA crowd got its wish … again!

The cause of good government once again only received the middle finger from the right-wing cult.

Disgraceful …

Joe Biden, national news, political news

How can they debate?

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If the sky falls in and President Joe Biden is going to face the guy he defeated in the 2020 election once again this fall, then I am compelled to ask this question out loud.

How in the world will President Biden be able to stand on a debate stage with an individual who has done all he can to destroy the government he once swore to protect and defend?Ā 

How will he greet him when a moderator introduces them to the nation awaiting this joint appearance? Does he shake The Former Guy’s hand? Does he just ignore him? For that matter, how does TFG respond if the president extends his hand?

Actually, I expect the president to act like the gentleman he is and expect his opponent to, oh, hell … I don’t know what he’s going to do when the moment arrives.

It’s likely to be a desultory affair … to say the very least.

About the only memorable line from the series of joint appearances in 2020 came from Biden when he told his foe to “just shut up, man.”Ā 

This is one of the many potential disasters awaiting those of us who are at least moderately interested in what remains of our American political process.

business news, economic news

Economy gets in GOP’s way

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Republicans have been hoping for an economic collapse to fuel their mantra that President Biden’s stewardship on our finances would lead them back to the White House.

Except that the news just keeps getting better.

This week the Labor Department announced the economy added 353,000 jobs to the workforce. The unemployment remains at 3.7%. Inflation is under control. Wages and salaries are outdistancing the inflation rate. Mortgage interest rates are sliding down.

What the heck? The GOP presidential frontrunner can’t make the case that Joe Biden’s policies aren’t working. Instead, he’s left to look for other issues with which to bludgeon the president.

Politico reports: And though far from certain, itā€™s now possible that the nationā€™s economic health could become an electoral asset for Biden in an unexpected way.

ā€œI think that is the question of the day,ā€ said Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and an economist with FreedomWorks who is close to the Trump campaign. ā€œYou canā€™t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say heā€™s not responsible if things are going right.ā€

Bidenā€™s economy keeps messing up Trumpā€™s message – POLITICO

Moore touches on a singular political reality, which is that presidents too often take blame they don’t deserve while being denied any credit they might earn. That is true for presidents of either party. So often matters out of their control dictate downward economic spirals.

The inflation rate is an example. Americans who endured the COVID-19 pandemic were denied opportunities to purchase big-ticket items. Then the pandemic broke and Americans released all that pent-up demand, which contributed to skyrocketing inflation at almost every level.

Who took the blame? Joe Biden!

Then the president pitched what he called the Inflation Reduction Act. Congress enacted it. The IRA intent was to target the supply chain, seeking to loosen it sufficiently. It worked. Inflation is under control.

Has the POTUS gained much from the impact of the IRA? Not yet!

The economy is fading as a talking point that Republicans can use against Joe Biden. The president’s campaign team now must devise a message that drives the point home that, yes, we are better off than we were four years ago.

local news, political news

Dutton’s a winner … this time

Jill Dutton has a title next to her name … Texas state representative in House District 2.

I trust she’ll get comfortable with it quickly. She’ll need to because it is highly possible she’ll lose it when they count the ballots for the next election in a couple of months.

Dutton, a Republican from Van, defeated fellow Republican Brett Money of Greenville in a special election called after Bryan Slaton of Royse City was expelled from the Texas House over his hideous conduct with an underage staffer, a young woman with whom he had sex after plying her with booze in an Austin apartment.

HD 2 is a reliably Republican district. Dutton and Money finished one-two in an earlier election and then and engaged in a runoff to determine who would fill the unexpired term. Dutton won.

Here’s the catch. It was an open primary, meaning Democrats could vote in it. They also could vote in the runoff, which reportedly helped push Dutton across the finish line — barely — in front of Money.

The March primary will be closed to Republicans only and Money figures to do better head-to-head against Dutton. Money has the endorsement of the former POTUS who’s also on the ballot this spring. I suppose that carries some additional weight in North Texas’s heavily GOP legislative district.

Whatever. The good news for District 2 voters is that they no longer are represented by someone who preaches the family values line but behaves like a scum-bucket.

local news, political news

Party is battling itself

What in the name of political gamesmanship is happening to the North Texas version of the Republican Party?

U.S. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney is running for re-election to a second term representing the 3rd Congressional District. Should be a walk in the ol’ park, right? Self, a West Point graduate, is a retired Army colonel, a former Collin County judge, he’s a conservative’s conservative, opposing almost every idea put forth by his Democratic colleagues.

He has endorsed the former POTUS’s bid to get his office back. Rep. Self voted enthusiastically for the impeachment inquiry launched against President Biden.

What more can today’s GOP ask?

I guess it’s not enough to be as right-wing as Keith Self has been since taking office in January 2023.

Suzanne Harp is challenging Self in the GOP primary set for March. She is running as an “America First Conservative.” Her campaign signs are sprouting all over Collin County like weeds in the spring.

I had a chance this week to ask a Keith Self staffer whether the congressman considers himself to be an America First Conservative. The staffer answered, “I believe so.”

This challenge to a staunchly conservative member of Congress exemplifies, in my view, the internecine battle that’s occurring within the Republican Party. As near as I can tell, Self is all in on supporting The Former Guy’s effort to regain power. So does Harp. Where, then, is the fundamental difference between them?

Keith Self campaigned in 2022 as a conservative. He has voted as one. He extols the (alleged) virtues of the former POTUS’s record and stands firmly behind him.

How does a modern Republican — in this MAGA era — campaign against someone cut from the mold that presented Keith Self to the voters of the Third Congressional District?

I have no particular interest in this contest, given my own views opposing the MAGA agenda. It just makes my head spin.

military news, national news, political news

GOP channels Democrats

Yep, it’s true. What passes today for a once-great political party is channeling the backbiting, backstabbing, in-your-face accusations of another great political party.

The Republican Party today is mirroring, more or less, the shenanigans of Democrats in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a big difference, though, in the context of these struggles.

In the 1960s, Democrats were at war with themselves over the conduct of an actual war, in Vietnam. Today’s Republicans are at war over something far less grim, but equally significant. They are feuding over how to govern this great country.

You had Hawks vs. Doves in the 1960s. The Hawks in Congress supported our involvement in the Vietnam War; the Doves wanted us to get out of there sooner rather than later. It was policy, man, that drove that internecine fight.

The policy this time is driving by those on the far right, the MAGA crowd, is throwing obstacles in front of mainstream Republicans who cling to the notion that they need to work with Democrats to enact meaningful public policy. The MAGA crowd — led by The Former Guy — obstruct efforts at, say, immigration and border security reform. They tie border security to funding the Ukraine war against the Russian invaders. They also tie the border to our continuing aid to Israel, which has declared war on Hamas over the terrorists’ hideous attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.

What’s TFG doing about it? He’s cheering on the MAGA followers, encouraging them to stop our government from doing its job.

Just as Republicans were virtually unified in their efforts in the ’60s and ’70s to wage war in Vietnam, Democrats today lock arms and don’t lift a finger to stop the battle that’s underway across the great political divide.

Wow! I think I’ll continue to hold on with both hands.

crime news, military news, national news, political news

Former Guy swims against tide

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As I examine the political history of The Former Guy, I am left with trying to parse through a serious quandary.

Consider these known facts about TFG’s limited foray into public service.

He declared his POTUS candidacy in 2015 and immediately launched into an attack on immigrants … the type of people on which this nation was founded.

He was elected in 2016 basically on a technicality. He lost the popular vote by roughly 3 million ballots but won because he garnered more Electoral College votes than Hillary Clinton.

TFG served a single term as POTUS, embarrassing himself and the people he represented.

Joe Biden ran against him in 2020 and defeated him, winning 7 million more votes than TFG and defeating him in the electoral vote by the same margin TFG garnered in 2016.

TFG had squandered the nation’s response to the COVID crisis; he went through senior White House staffers and Cabinet secretaries like Happy Meals.

The voters said “hell no!” to his request for a second term, but then he didn’t accept the voters’ decree. TFG fomented The Big Lie about alleged 2020 election theft. He provoked the 1/6 attack on the government, he took classified documents from the White House and pressured state election officials to “find” 2020 votes that didn’t exist.

Oh, and he was impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives during his term in office.

Now, dude wants his old job back.

What simply doesn’t compute with me is how The Former Guy continues to scarf up the loyalists among American voters. The economy is No. 1 in the world. Do we have problems? Sure. Name me a president who has been problem-free in his first term in office.

Is TFG the man to “fix” what he alleges is wrong with the nation? Hah! Don’t force me to upchuck.

national news, political news

Ex-POTUS = TFG

You know already that I have offered a bit of a mea culpa for some harsh terms I applied to the MAGA cultists who follow the preachings of the former POTUS who’s running to get his office back.

I also have declared my intention to never mention the MAGA Daddy’s name in this blog.

I have settled on an alternate name for the ex-POTUS. It’s pretty tame, but it does have a nice ring off the old tongue. Thus, I simply will refer to him as The Former Guy, or TFG.

So, those who cheer, whoop, holler and snort at the idiocy that comes from TFG’s pie hole, will thenceforth be called TFG’s followers.

I have received some negative response to my decision to take a relatively high road regarding the TFG cult. Michelle Obama once said, “When they go low, we go high.” I get it, Mme. Former First Lady.

It doesn’t really matter whether this little ol’ North Texas blogger takes the high road or goes into the gutter. I am just going to offer my comments without denigrating the intelligence of those who endorse and embrace the rants of TFG.

I offer all of this understanding what we all know to be true. It is that TFG never has — and likely never will — apologize for the defamatory epithets he has hurled at his foes since the moment he became a politician.

Therefore, I believe I am entitled to say I am a better man than TFG.

local news, media news, national news

Heeding the critics

Taking heed of what passes for constructive criticism is a good thing, so I am going to listen to what some of my critics have said about the stern language I have been using to describe the ardent followers of the 45th POTUS.

They don’t like the m-word I have used to describe the MAGA adherents. It’s an alliterative term and I thought it sounded cool when I first used it.

Then I got a scolding from a longtime friend of mine in Amarillo, a fellow journalist — and a fellow I got to know after I left the newspaper in Amarillo more than a decade ago. He was disappointed that I would stoop to using such language to describe those with whom I disagreed politically. I don’t believe he is an adherent to the idiocy preached by the immediate past president, but his disappointment in me hit me where it hurts.

Then a family member chimed in later. Saying essentially the same thing. He thought it was “beneath” me to use such language. He took direct offense to my use of the descriptive word and said I also was denigrating another member of his immediate family who, I presume, also is part of the MAGA movement.

Others have chimed in, too.

I’m a grownup. I also am a decent human being … at least that’s what my friends and family members tell me.

I also am cognizant that not every follower of the former POTUS qualifies for the moronic description I ascribed to them. They’re smart and educated, but — shall we say — misguided.

Understand, too, that none of this lessens the visceral loathing I have for the MAGA Daddy. I’m just going to go a bit easier on those who follow his idiotic pronouncements.

So … there. Even bloggers can keep — more or less — an open mind.