Tag Archives: Nikki Haley

national news, political news

Pledge? What pledge?

Nikki Haley is now hinting that the “pledge” she made earlier in the Republican Party presidential primary to support the eventual nominee isn’t really, well, worth honoring.

Haley was one of a gaggle of GOP candidates to make the pledge to endorse and presumably campaign for the nominee. Well, the nominee now appears to be the ex-POTUS, the guy who was impeached twice and who is indicted and awaiting trial on four felony allegations.

Not so fast, said the former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador. After all, she didn’t sign a legal document. There’s nothing on paper that binds her to some bogus promise to back the party nominee.

If she chooses to back away from the pledge, well, I cannot really blame her. Not that I care one damn bit whether she keeps the pledge or chooses to back someone else.

The nominee in waiting is damaged goods to be sure. I get that he leads President Biden in most of the public opinion surveys we see. However, as they say, a week is a lifetime in politics.

This is one weird political season for certain. The idea that a once-great political party could nominate a potential convicted felon for the presidency is something I never would have imagined even two decades ago.

I am still going to hold on with both hands as we travel the rest of this electoral journey.

As for Nikki Haley … you do what you must.

local news, national news, political news

Turn out the lights, Nikki

Dandy Don Meredith, the late Dallas Cowboys quarterback who gained additional fame as an NFL broadcaster, used to sing the lyrics of a song during a blowout game on TV.

“Turn out the lights,” the pride of Mount Vernon, Texas, would sing, “the party’s over.”

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, had hoped for a breakthrough in her home state that had its Republican Party presidential primary this weekend. It didn’t occur. Instead, the breakthrough began for the former Idiot in Chief, whose crushing primary victory over Haley all but assures him the party’s presidential nomination.

Haley had said she would be in the hunt for the duration, win or lose at home. After the votes were counted, she changed her tune, saying she would stay in “at least through Super Tuesday.”

Super Tuesday occurs March 5. A lot of states are conducting their primaries that day. Texas is one of them. The last Texas poll I saw showed the former POTUS is swamping Haley by more than 30 points.

Where am I going with this? Haley will have to pack it in after Super Tuesday. She cannot win the party’s nomination. The bottom line is that the Republican Party will become the party of the ex-POTUS for the third consecutive general election.

The moron managed to win the 2016 election. He lost it in 2020. Both times he garnered far fewer actual votes than either Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. A lot of wise men and women suggest now that the former Liar in Chief is in position to recapture the White House.

For the ever-lovin’ life of me I cannot fathom how this can happen. We have an enormous body of evidence to suggest that the chaos and confusion that occurred during this idiot’s term in office will be multiplied manyfold if a second term occurs. He vows to be his supporters’ “retribution.”

This person is a frightening — and, yes, evil — threat to our democracy. After Super Tuesday, it appears he will be the last man standing in one of the weirdest political primaries in memory.

Were he still among us, Dandy Don would be getting ready to sing.

national news, political news

Haley would pardon traitors? Wow!

Nikki Haley had me for a little while … then she lost me with a bizarre proclamation.

She said this past weekend that if she’s elected president should pardon the guy she’s trying to beat for the GOP nomination if he’s convicted of federal crimes, including one that alleges he tried to overthrow the federal government in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

Wow, man! That is some leap for a candidate who doesn’t appear to stand a chance of being nominated by the Republican Party let alone being elected by all Americans this fall.

Ponder for a moment what the former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador is promising. She would issue a full presidential pardon to an individual who could be convicted of siccing the traitorous mob on the Capitol on Jan. 6; the mob threatened to “hang Mike Pence!” if the VP went through with his constitutional task of certifying the results of the vote that elected Joe Biden president.

All of this is pure speculation, of course. Haley is trailing the criminal defendant running for POTUS in every poll being conducted; the margins are astronomical.

I actually pondered whether I would vote for her were she to somehow be nominated this summer. That pondering moment has now officially passed, given the absurd pledge she made to pardon the idiot she wants to defeat for the GOP nomination.

It was nice knowin’ ya, Nikki Haley.

national news, political news

Haley faces last stand

Nikki Haley is facing a potential last stand in South Carolina, where she once served as governor and where she appears to be headed for a drubbing by an individual who has no business running for — let alone occupying — the presidency of the United States.

Haley says she isn’t quitting, regardless of where she ends up when the votes are counted Saturday. She’ll continue to battle the GOP frontrunner all the way to the finish, she said.

We’ll see about that.

The former POTUS is facing a court date in March. Another one might loom soon after that one. Then there might be a major court battle for the former Liar in Chief to wage. That’s the one alleging that he instigated a hostile takeover attempt of the government, by blocking the counting of 2020 electoral votes that determined that Joe Biden had been elected president.

The former POTUS has been living the Big Lie since Biden defeated him. He has been convicted of sexually assaulting an author, been levied fines totaling nearly a half-billion dollars. There’s more to come.

Still, he’s the GOP frontrunner in a contest where character no longer matters.

He leads Haley by 20-something or nearly 30 percentage points. How the former governor justifies staying in the race is a mystery.

She said she’s in it for the duration. It might be that she cannot stomach the idea of remaining faithful to the pledge she made to support the GOP nominee if it isn’t her.

Time is about to tell us the truth about that pledge … and whether Nikki Haley is in it for keeps.

national news, political news

This is it, Nikki Haley!

If I were a betting man — and I am not — I would suggest that Nikki Haley is facing the breaking point in her attempt to win the Republican presidential nomination.

She once served as governor of South Carolina. She was popular, too. It’s different these days. She is running for POTUS against a fellow Republican who once held the office. He’s favored to win the upcoming GOP primary contest.

Therefore, Haley is facing her Waterloo, her Little Big Horn, her Alamo. She’s got to win on Feb. 24 … or else.

The “or else” means she’s in a futile fight. The GOP frontrunner can all but cinch the nomination if his poll numbers hold up in the Palmetto State.

It galls me to say such a thing, given how much I detest the moron who’s on track for a third straight presidential run.

However, Nikki Haley must be realistic. It’s now or never!

national news, political news

Haley gets her wish … hold on!

Nikki Haley has been saying lately that she wants to go head-to-head with the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidate.

Well, as of today she got her wish when Florida Gov. DeSantis — once hailed as the lone alternative to the former Liar in Chief — folded up his campaign tent and then endorsed the guy he refused to take on with stern rhetoric.

Haley’s first big effort lines up in just a couple of days when New Hampshire Republicans go to the polls and cast real votes for the candidate of their choice. Haley, the former South Carolina governor and one-time U.N. ambassador, or the guy who appointed her as our envoy to the U.N.

I have no particular preference, other than to somehow ensure that the former POTUS never darkens the door in the West Wing ever again.

My personal desire when all the votes are counted in November is to see President Biden on the job for the next four years. As if you didn’t already know that.

Haley has been regurgitating some rhetoric repeatedly, saying that “rightly or wrongly, he brings chaos.” Well, duh! Someone will have to explain what she means by “rightly or wrongly.” How is it “right” for a leading politician to foment “chaos” wherever he goes?

I guess Haley doesn’t want to piss off the cult followers of her foe too much.

Whatever. It is now Haley vs. the pol who confuses her with Nancy Pelosi, who says he ran against Barack Obama, and who says Joe Biden is going to lead us into World War II. Spoiler alert: He didn’t run against the 44th president and we already fought — and won! — World War II.

***

One more thing. Perhaps you are noticing I refuse to mention the GOP frontrunner by name. I won’t, at least for a while. I am sick of seeing his name in print and hearing it on the air.

national news

Trump is ‘truthful,’ says ex-UN envoy … wow!

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images

I suppose it’s all right to have different points of view on important people, depending on your persuasion or perhaps even depending on how you are tracking your own political future.

What does one make of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley declaring that Donald Trump is a “truthful” individual?

That’s a serious head-scratcher. Then again, Nikki Haley is believed to be seeking to run for president one day and just might be positing some notions that will put her in the good graces of the man who holds the office at this moment.

Haley is pushing back on calls to impeach the president. She told the “Today” show that Trump has been truthful in his dealings with her. Haley said Trump always “listened” when the two of them spoke and that he was good to work with.

Well, OK. Whatever you say, Mme. Ambassador.

I just cannot get past the countless examples of what I call gratuitous lying on Trump’s part. You know, when he lies when he doesn’t need to lie. He just makes things up. Says whatever rests in that noggin of his. It’s big stuff and dumb stuff.

The big stuff? How about when he said he lost “many friends” on 9/11 when he never attended a single funeral in the wake of that tragedy. The dumb stuff? Let’s look at when he said his father was born in Germany, when he was born in New York City.

This president is “truthful”? Hardly.

International news

Where was this nominee hiding?

Donald Trump stumbled with his selection of Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert was profoundly unqualified to represent us on the world stage. She pulled her name out of consideration this past week, citing unbearable pressure on her family.

So, what does the president do? He finds a superb candidate to represent our interests in the world body. Kelly Craft is the current U.S. ambassador to Canada. She has years of diplomatic experience; she served as a member of our U.N. delegation during the George W. Bush administration.

Ambassador Craft reportedly was the most easily confirmable of all the potential nominees Trump was considering.

This nomination begs the question: Why didn’t the president select Kelly Craft instead of nominating the former Fox News anchor, Nauert, to represent our nation at the United Nations?

Indeed, the more I think about it, Craft has more foreign-policy chops than Nikki Haley, who resigned as U.N. ambassador at the end of 2018.

I am hopeful that Ambassador Craft will continue to serve the nation well.

International news

Is this one of ‘the best people’?

Remember this name: Heather Nauert.

She is Donald J. Trump’s latest incarnation of the “best people” he has vowed to hire to help him “make America great again.”

Oh, but who is she? She is the president’s nominee to be our nation’s ambassador to the United Nations. Nauert will succeed Nikki Haley, who is leaving government at the end of the year, possibly to pursue other political ambitions.

OK, what about her credentials to speak for the United States of America in the body aimed at keeping the worldwide peace and working around the globe?

She has zero foreign policy experience. Nauert has limited government experience of any kind; she joined the Trump administration in April 2017, becoming a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who then slammed the door shut on Nauert. Tillerson managed to get fired and his successor, Mike Pompeo, has welcomed Nauert into State’s inner circle.

But . . . this must be what put Nauert into the hunt for the UN job: She was a top news correspondent for Fox News and served for a time as a co-host on the president’s favorite “news” and gab show, “Fox & Friends.” These are the folks who never ask him tough questions, fearing, I suppose, that they would be lumped in with those other “fake news” outlets. We can’t have it, right, ladies and gents?

So, there you have it. The president of the United States has handed the UN envoy job to someone who has not a single thing to show her fellow diplomats that she knows anything about the world around us. Indeed, she has only a little less government experience than the man who nominated her, Donald Trump.

Hey, she appears to be the perfect pick for the president, who defines “best people” in ways I cannot possibly fathom.

International news

No, Mr. POTUS, ‘everyone’ not behind Ivanka for UN post

Dear Mr. President … You’re at it again. You’re putting words in the mouths of millions of Americans.

You’re tweeting goofy messages about whether you’re considering your daughter Ivanka to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

That Twitter message that declares “everyone wants Ivanka Trump to be the new United Nations ambassador.” You add that she would be “incredible” but that you’re already hearing “chants of “Nepotism!”

Well, duh! Do ya think?

First of all, you haven’t called me. Nor have you asked any one of my friends, acquaintances, social media contacts — probably not even those of whom support you and your presidency — about this idiotic notion.

Thus, you purport to speak for Americans about whom you know nothing.

I feel the need to remind you, Mr. President, that more Americans voted against your presidential campaign than supported it. Yes, you were elected with an Electoral College majority and I accept the result.

But, c’mon, will ya? Stop this baloney about “everyone” wanting Ivanka to join the corps of international diplomats. She isn’t qualified.

I mean, haven’t you said that thousands — maybe millions — of Americans are lining up to work in your administration? Doesn’t that imply, Mr. President, that you have the pick of a large field of potential applicants?

If that’s the case — and I find it a dubious assertion at best — then you wouldn’t need to keep floating Ivanka’s name as a possible U.N. ambassador.

Nikki Haley’s resignation as U.N. envoy surprised a lot of us, Mr. President. I actually applaud the manner in which you were able to keep that a secret.

I want to applaud your choice of a successor to the tough-talking former South Carolina governor. Nominating your unqualified daughter to do this difficult job — made even more difficult because of your foreign policy pronouncements — won’t produce any applause from me.

And for the umpteenth time, I implore you to stop putting words in my mouth.