Tag Archives: voice of the people

Will They Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is?

Posted on by under cartoons, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, voting rights

When Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola objected to Georgia’s new voter suppression laws, Mitch McConnell said that corporations should stay out of politics … except, of course, they should continue to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns.  This is, perhaps, the greatest hypocrisy of the 21st century … “give me your money, but don’t tell me what to do”. 

Interesting, isn’t it, how the Republican Party, in particular Mitch McConnell, danced for joy in 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Citizens United v FEC that corporations are people too and should be allowed to have a voice in politics, to donate to the candidates of their choice (in other words, the ones that will vote for profit over people)?

Now, before you go crediting Delta and Coke with being companies with a heart, understand that they were looking out for their own profits, for in recent years We the People have begun using their purchasing power to make a statement.  For example, many of us who support LGBT civil rights, no longer shop at Hobby Lobby or eat at Chick-Fil-A, both of whom have employment policies that discriminate against LGBT people.  With the public outrage over states attempting to take away our voting rights, it only makes fiscal sense for companies to speak out against the new Jim Crow laws if they want to keep their customers happy.  

But talk is cheap … will they put their money where their mouth is?

From an article in today’s New York Times …

Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives signed on to a new statement released on Wednesday opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that would make it harder for people to vote.

It was the biggest show of solidarity so far by the business community as companies around the country try to navigate the partisan uproar over Republican efforts to enact new election rules in almost every state. Senior Republicans, including former President Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, have called for companies to stay out of politics.

The statement was organized in recent days by Kenneth Chenault, a former chief executive of American Express, and Kenneth Frazier, the chief executive of Merck.

Last month, with only a few big companies voicing opposition to a restrictive new voting law in Georgia, Mr. Chenault and Mr. Frazier led a group of Black executives in calling on companies to get more involved in opposing similar legislation around the country.

Since then, many other companies have voiced support for voting rights. But the new statement, which was also signed by General Motors, Netflix and Starbucks, represented the broadest coalition yet to weigh in on the issue.

“It should be clear that there is overwhelming support in corporate America for the principle of voting rights,” Mr. Chenault said.

Mr. Frazier emphasized that the statement was intended to be nonpartisan, arguing that protecting voting rights should garner support from Republicans and Democrats alike.

“These are not political issues,” he said. “These are the issues that we were taught in civics.”

Coca-Cola and Delta, which condemned the Georgia law after it was passed, declined to add their names, according to people familiar with the matter. Home Depot also declined, even though its co-founder Arthur Blank said in a call with other business executives on Saturday that he supported voting rights. Another Home Depot co-founder, Ken Langone, is a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump.

They talk a good talk, but can they walk the walk?  Will they stop donating to the political campaigns of those who would take away our rights to vote, or will they talk out of one side of their mouth, while at the same time talking out of the other side of their wallet?

I have a general mistrust of large corporations, for most are narrowly focused on profit rather than people.  Time will tell whether these corporations are acting with conscience or only paying lip service, but if they truly put their money where their mouth is, I will give them a thumbs up. 

You can view the statement and signatories here.

Snarky Snippets For A Dreary Grey Day

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

Okay, folks, the holidays are over and I for one am more than ready to return to my normal routine.  Let’s get the tree down, pack those decorations away, finish all those leftovers, and get back to whatever passes for ‘normal’ in your household!  My psyche doesn’t handle disruptions well at all.

Sorry, Louie, but the answer is ‘NO’

I told you earlier this week about a lawsuit filed by the ignoble representative from Texas, Louie Gohmert and others, that sought to attempt to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of the election.  The suit was a bad joke, for there were no grounds whatsoever for it, and most every political analyst and constitutional law expert said it was doomed to fail.

Well, fail it did.  Yesterday, Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Gohmert and other republican lawmakers lacked the proper standing to sue Mr. Pence in the matter.  The real kicker in this ruling, though, is the fact that Judge Kernodle was appointed by Trump himself!  And, to heap insult onto injury in the eyes of Trump, the Department of Justice, representing Pence, had asked the Judge to reject the lawsuit.  I hear that Trump is not a happy camper about these latest developments, and Gohmert claims he intends to appeal, but with only five days before Congress meets to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win, I doubt there is time, nor is there willingness on the part of any judges to open themselves to what would follow if Pence were forced to take away the people’s will.

Score one for justice.toon-2

They never give up, do they?

This just in, as I was writing the above snippet – several republican senators, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, have signed a statement saying that they will refuse to certify the electoral votes for Joe Biden unless a ten-day audit is performed.

good grief

More grandstanding, and a move that is destined to fail, for frankly the votes of these idiots are not requisite for a majority vote to certify the results of the Electoral College.  The democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate, a number of republicans have already acknowledged Joe Biden’s win and will not align themselves with these spoiled brats.  The ones who have signed the statement are:

  • Ted Cruz – Texas
  • Ron Johnson – Wisconsin
  • James Lankford – Oklahoma
  • Steve Daines – Montana
  • John Kennedy – Louisiana
  • Marsha Blackburn – Tennessee
  • Mike Braun – Indiana
  • Cynthia Lummis – Wyoming (senator-elect)
  • Roger Marshall – Kansas (senator-elect)
  • Bill Hagerty – Tennessee (senator-elect)
  • Tommy Tuberville – Alabama (senator-elect)

And, of course, good ol’ Josh Hawley from Missouri said last week that he intends to contest the results.  These people make me literally sick.  They are elected to do what is in the best interest of the people of this country, not to kiss the ass of the idiot-child trying to hold on to the Oval Office by lying, cheating, and bullying.  They are perfectly willing to say to us … “you do not matter, your vote does not matter, we don’t feel one whit of responsibility to you”, for that is exactly what they are telling us!

Their efforts will fail, on Wednesday, January 6th, Joe Biden’s electoral win will be certified and two weeks later, on January 20th, Joe Biden will be inaugurated the 46th President of the United States.  However, what they ARE doing is demoralizing us, keeping our angst stirred, and slapping us repeatedly in the face.  They are putting their own desires and fortunes ahead of ours, and THAT is simply wrong!  I hope the people of those states begin demanding that they be held accountable, either through impeachment or other means.

He’s stabbing his own in the back

As you all know, the Georgia runoff races for the U.S. Senate are in just three days.  Polling is erratic, but one thing is for certain, that both races are looking to be remarkably close.  So, what does Trump do to help his side?  He basically tells republican voters not to bother, that the elections are “illegal and invalid”.  This is one time that I’m applauding his false claims, for if he convinces republicans to stay home on Tuesday, so much the better for the nation.

In addition, he has been verbally attacking Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both republicans, for the past month over their honesty in certifying the election in Georgia.  He claims they owe it to him to overturn the voice of the people, but both Kemp and Raffensperger remember that their loyalty is to the people of Georgia, not a two-bit madman who is attempting to hijack the election.

Last month, Trump attended a rally in Georgia (did he do any real work in 2020?) where he proceeded to spend most of his time lamenting his own situation, making his tiresome false claims about voter fraud, and yadda yadda yadda.  He did Loeffler and Perdue, the two republican candidates, no favours then, and he is doing them none now.  He’s scheduled to attend another rally on Monday, the day before the elections, where he is likely to further hurt their cause.  I suppose we ought to thank him for the help he is giving the two democrats, Warnock and Ossoff!

Oh Da Snark Keeps On Coming …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

How much snark can a snarkster snark?  A lot, it would appear.  Between the pandemic and the republicans’ refusal to accept reality, the snark buildup is something to behold.  If it were a tangible thing, it would tower over the tallest buildings and take a demolition crew at least a year to remove it.  Luckily, it isn’t tangible and exists only in the corners of my mind.  And so on it goes …

The honour is gone …

Yesterday, the outgoing ‘president’, Donald Trump, awarded another Medal of Freedom.  He has given these out willy-nilly throughout his tenure in office, the most ridiculous having gone to right-wing conspiracy theorist Rush Limbaugh in February.  The medal he awarded yesterday was to a wrestler.  What wrestler Dan Gable actually did to earn the medal is unclear … my best guess is he donated to Trump’s re-election fund.

Let me plainly state that at this point, the Medal of Freedom is no longer an honour, has no relevancy, no real meaning.  Those who actually earned the medal for their work in civil rights or other humanitarian causes should send their medals back to the White House with a note saying that the medal is severely tarnished and it is no longer the honour it once was.

During his awarding of the medal, Trump did not miss an opportunity to toot his own horn … falsely, as it happens, when he said …

“He won 117 consecutive matches and lost only one. Well, you know, in politics, I won two, so I’m 2-0, and that’s pretty good, too. But we’ll see how that turns out.”

No, you son of a bitch, you did not win 2!  You didn’t even win one, but through a fluke in the electoral college system you were installed into an office you never deserved!

Sports figures have been awarded the medal in the past for things they accomplished off the field, such as Jackie Robinson who was awarded the medal posthumously for his work in civil rights.  Gable apparently ‘earned’ his award simply for being able to fight people and come out on top.  Wow, huh?

Speaking of Trumps …Tennis Anyone?

Melania came under criticism yesterday when she announced that that a new tennis pavilion is set to be unveiled on the south grounds of the White House.  A f$%&ing tennis pavilion when more than a quarter of a million people in this country have died of the coronavirus this year and more than 2,000 are dying nearly every day!  A damn tennis pavilion!  But then, what do you expect from a nude model who married a circus master for his money and a path to citizenship and stays with him for the money.  What more could you expect from a woman who, when going to visit abused children being forced to live in cages wore a jacket that said, “I really don’t care do U?”

I wonder how much the damn tennis pavilion cost we the taxpayers?  The project has been ongoing for over a year, since October 2019, so I’m guessing it cost us a pretty penny!  According to Politico, “the White House did not disclose the cost”. 

Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large for the Daily Beast, had the perfect response:

“Oh good, those people in their ICU beds will feel so much better knowing that she has finished her tennis pavilion.”

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

He LOST … get over it!!!

As of midnight last night, only two states, Hawaii and Missouri, have yet to certify their state’s election results.  The current count stands at 302 electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden and 222 for Donald Trump.  Nothing foreseeable is likely to change that result.  It is time, my friends, for our elected representatives to accept the election results, call Joe Biden to congratulate him, and let us move on!

Electoral

Last week, I wrote (again) to Ohio’s republican senator, Rob Portman, to tell him that I am disappointed in the fact that he is not supporting the election results, has not stated that Joe Biden is the President-elect.  Yesterday morning, I received a cordial response from him (again), basically admitting that there is nothing that is likely going to change the outcome, but still … he hesitates.  In his letter, he apparently thought I was something of a dumbo, and he proceeded to explain to me how elections work, as per the Constitution.  Given that I have both a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science and have studied Constitutional Law for many years, I was a bit offended by his condescension, but not enough to respond to him as such.

The bottom line is that he and likely the majority of the republicans in Congress are well aware that Joe Biden will be taking the Oath of Office at noon in just 43 days, regardless of what Trump tries to do in the interim.  They need to open their damn mouths and speak the truth … it would go a long way toward beginning to calm the ruffled feathers of the people in this nation.

And speaking of Trump’s shenanigans …

After his efforts to coerce Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to overturn the will of the people fell on deaf ears, now he turns his sights to Pennsylvania once again.  In the past week, he has twice called Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Brian Cutler, pleading with him to use the state legislature to override the will of the people.  Cutler turned him down, but … then Cutler implored the Pennsylvania representatives on Capitol Hill to object to the state’s electoral votes when Congress convenes to formally accept the votes of the Electoral College.  WTF???

baby-trump

This is beyond old, people.  This is the third time that Trump has, in violation of all federal ethics laws, attempted to subvert the voices of the people.  NO MORE!  Somebody shut this braying ass up and NOW!  He is doing more damage by the day to the people of this nation.  Maybe the republicans find some perverse humour in all of this, but it has given me stomach ulcers and cost me many night’s sleep.  Trump reminds me of a spoiled brat child who will upend the entire household in order to get another cookie.

Watch this asshole representative from Indiana prove just what a big idiot he is … George Stephanopoulos didn’t even have to help him!

The math is not hard.  7 million more people voted for Biden than Trump.  Biden won.  Trump lost.  End of story.  Grow up, America, and play by those rules you claim to believe in.  Stop supporting a wanna-be dictator who cannot accept his loss, cannot accept that we are tired of him destroying what’s left of the democratic principles in this nation.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Three Republicans Speak Up …

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Yesterday, the three republican candidates challenging Donald Trump for the GOP nomination for president in 2020 — Bill Weld, Mark Sanford, and Joe Walsh — jointly penned an editorial that was published in The Washington Post.  I will share that editorial with you momentarily, but first, a few thoughts of my own.

The Republican Party has been making a concerted effort to ensure that Trump stays in office for a second term, whether by hook or by crook.  To this end, states have begun cancelling their republican primaries, for they apparently fear that if there is competition, Trump will not pass muster.  This, folks, is not … I repeat is NOT … how a democracy operates!  If a candidate cannot win on his own merit, then it becomes obvious that he or she is not qualified, is not the choice of the people.  When a state cancels a primary, that state is taking away the voice and choice of the people and can … nay, must … then be considered to be an authoritarian state.  Will we elect a president next year, or will one be shoved down our throats?

That three contenders for the same position have come together in agreement speaks volumes.  They are, in essence, saying that they stand together against the demolition of democratic principles, that they are united in their belief that elections should be fair, honest, and unfettered.  In U.S. politics today, that is almost unheard of, and I think it would behoove everyone in both parties to listen to these men.

The GOP, in throwing all their support to Trump, in ignoring or worse, stifling any and all competition, are shooting themselves in the foot.  They have virtually shot themselves in the foot and lost all credibility.  The party is on a downward spiral because of their support of an ignorant madman, but will republicans allow the central party to drag themselves down too?  It remains to be seen, but so far it seems that the cult-worship for Trump, trumps good sense, trumps democracy, trumps survival of the planet earth.

And now, the editorial by the three republican contenders …

We are Trump’s Republican challengers. Canceling GOP primaries is a critical mistake.

republican-contenders

Republican presidential candidates, from left, Joe Wash, Mark Sanford and Bill Weld. (Associated Press photos/AP photos)

By Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld

September 13, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. EDT

(Mark Sanford was governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011. Joe Walsh represented Illinois’s 8th Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. Bill Weld was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. All three are seeking the Republican presidential nomination.)

The three of us are running for the Republican nomination for president in a race that will inevitably highlight differences among us on matters of policy, style and background. But we are brought together not by what divides us but by what unites us: a shared conviction that the United States needs a strong center-right party guided by basic values that are rooted in the best of the American spirit.

A president always defines his or her party, and today the Republican Party has taken a wrong turn, led by a serial self-promoter who has abandoned the bedrock principles of the GOP. In the Trump era, personal responsibility, fiscal sanity and rule of law have been overtaken by a preference for alienating our allies while embracing terrorists and dictators, attacking the free press and pitting everyday Americans against one another.

No surprise, then, that the latest disgrace, courtesy of Team Trump, is an effort to eliminate any threats to the president’s political power in 2020. Republicans have long held primaries and caucuses to bring out the best our party has to offer. Our political system assumes an incumbent president will make his case in front of voters to prove that he or she deserves to be nominated for a second term. But now, the Republican parties of four states — Arizona, Kansas, Nevada and South Carolina — have canceled their nominating contests. By this design, the incumbent will be crowned winner of these states’ primary delegates. There is little confusion about who has been pushing for this outcome.

What does this say about the Republican Party? If a party stands for nothing but reelection, it indeed stands for nothing. Our next nominee must compete in the marketplace of ideas, values and leadership. Each of us believes we can best lead the party. So does the incumbent. Let us each take our case to the public. The saying “may the best man win” is a quintessential value that the Republican Party must honor if we are to command the respect of the American people. Cowards run from fights. Warriors stand and fight for what they believe. The United States respects warriors. Only the weak fear competition.

Across the aisle, the Democratic primary challengers are still engaged in a heated competition of debates, caucuses and primaries to give their voters in every corner of our country a chance to select the best nominee. Do Republicans really want to be the party with a nominating process that more resembles Russia or China than our American tradition? Under this president, the meaning of truth has been challenged as never before. Under this president, the federal deficit has topped the $1 trillion mark. Do we as Republicans accept all this as inevitable? Are we to leave it to the Democrats to make the case for principles and values that, a few years ago, every Republican would have agreed formed the foundations of our party?

It would be a critical mistake to allow the Democratic Party to dominate the national conversation during primary and caucus season. Millions of voters looking for a conservative alternative to the status quo deserve a chance to hear alternate ideas aired on the national stage. Let us argue over the best way to maximize opportunities in our communities for everyday Americans while the Democrats debate the merits of government intervention. Let us spend the next six months attempting to draw new voters to our party instead of demanding fealty to a preordained choice. If we believe our party represents the best hope for the United States’ future, let us take our message to the public and prove we are right.

Trump loyalists in the four states that have canceled their primaries and caucuses claim that President Trump will win by a landslide, and that it is therefore a waste of money to invest in holding primaries or caucuses. But since when do we use poll numbers as our basis for deciding whether to give voters an opportunity to choose their leaders, much less their presidents? Answer: We don’t.

Besides, the litigation costs these four state parties will likely be forced to take on in defending legal challenges to the cancellations will almost certainly exceed the cost of holding the primaries and caucuses themselves.

In the United States, citizens choose their leaders. The primary nomination process is the only opportunity for Republicans to have a voice in deciding who will represent our party. Let those voices be heard.