Kavanaugh was confirmed as expected. But I think the FBI report should have been made public. The GOP, including Collins, say that the investigation was thorough. I think the whole country, not just the senators, should be the judge of that.
Three people I used to have respect for in the past, tick me off in this sad affairs. Feinstein, who had been a long serving Democrat, looked weak and indecisive as the ranking member of t he Judicial committee. By her delayed action, she gave the GOP a target to deflect attention from Kavanaugh. I think it is time for her and Pelosi to exit the Democratic leadership roles.
Lindsay Graham acted as a bulldog for Kavanaugh which means he was essentially a bulldog for Trump. This comes from a man who called Trump all kinds of names in the past. Now he is practically subservient to Trump. Remember Graham was also one of McCain's best friend. McCain must be rolling over in his grave seeing what Graham is doing.
I used to think Jeff Flake would be a good candidate for president from the GOP. I thought he had a good grasp of foreign issues. While he is a conservative, he was open to progressive ideas. He had been attacking Trump. Of course, he knew Trump supporters were out to get him, so he retired instead of running for reelection. But he admitted that he would not had the gut to insist on FBI investigation if he was running for reelection. Turns out he did not vote with his conscience because he had said that Kavanaugh would be disqualified if he lied. It is obvious he lied about his drinking and about some of his actions. But Flake voted for him anyway. I guess Flake does not like to burn bridges, in case he returns to politics later.
While the result is disappointing to the Democrats, they should understand there was no good outcome to begin with. I don't think there was any way the FBI could have come up with something in one week. This was a fig leaf to let the GOP claim that they did a thorough job of vetting him. Even if something came up and Kavanaugh had to be dropped, it would not help the Democrats. Trump would then appoint a conservative WOMAN, which would still stack the court. So there was no win for the liberals in this case.
The only way for the liberals to win is to win the midterm this year and the election in 2020. Without power, all the protests do no good. In fact, this whole process has energized a somber GOP and make it more difficult for the Democrats to win the midterm. Now that GOP won this battle, maybe their energy will be slightly less than if Kavanaugh had to be dropped. All the talk about impeaching Kavanaugh is detrimental to the cause. It is going to energize the GOP even more. Even if the Democrats win the House, impeachment is not going anywhere without a super majority in the senate. So why bother wasting all the energy while energizing the other side? Put the focus on ballots!
Monday, October 08, 2018
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I've never been fans of Pelosi and Feinstein, though I do respect that they were pioneers for women in congress. But like I always say, there should be term limits for these career politicians. There's some good and bad with the old school politicians. Most of them were willing to cross the aisle on occasion. Unfortunately, I don't think today's politicians are willing to do so because of the extreme sides of their parties. So I don't have much hope for anything to get done on a bipartisan basis.
ReplyDeleteWe will see what happens with the midterms. If Booker proceeds to go public with his plans to impeach before the election, you might be correct that this will energize the Kavanaugh/Trump supporters. You would think that someone in his circle or other Democrats would tell him to lay off on his comments until after the election. But who knows, maybe it's all strategy. I don't really think that anything will happen with the impeachment anyway. The allegations happened so long ago that we kind of knew that they wouldn't stick. But who knows, we won't know the fallout for a while on all of this.
Jeff Flake is a decent moderate Republican who has lived in the shadow of McCain. But he looks like he has lost his desire in politics. Plus, the only reason he decided to delay the vote was because he was cornered in the elevator by a survivor. If that had not happened, we probably don't see an FBI investigation and a delay. I also don't think he would run because it would be too difficult to go against the Trump right. And if we're talking 2024 or 2028, he'd be pretty old to run. I just don't see a moderate Republican running for President for a long time. The party has gone down a path that it will find a hard way to come back to what it used to be. The Democrats are headed the same way as progressives are slowly taking over that party.
Just my opinion.
-LBOAYM
Nikki Haley resigned today. Losing an Indian American woman right after the Kavanaugh debacle and right before midterms is not good for Trump. I think Haley is planning to run for president in 2024. She is leaving while being the best liked of all Trump's appointees. She is leaving before any big disaster involving the administration. In 2024, she would have been away from Trump long enough for established GOP but still can claim loyalty from Trump supporters. She certainly will be more popular than Pence among democrats and independents. So this is a smart move for her.
ReplyDeleteHaley is an intriguing politician. She is well liked by the people in her state supposedly. Though I think the fact that she doesn't "look" Indian has helped her. I can't imagine that if she had darker skin that she would have done this well. You might be correct that she is eyeing the White House. Though I think the next step for her would be a VP job. I was always under the impression that she got the job as payment for helping Trump on the campaign trail.
ReplyDeleteAnother person that I have respect for is Condy Rice. It looks like her political career might be over though as she has a good career in academia.
-LBOAYM
Well, I would give the conservatives in the south more credit. Sure, her good looks and Americanized last name from her husband helped. But don't forget Bobby Jindal, a not so good looking Indian American was governor of Louisiana. So I think she got her good ratings among the GOP on her own merit. But she was actually for Marco Rubio for president at first. When Rubio dropped out, she was for Ted Cruz. She reluctantly endorsed Trump when it was obvious he was going to get the nomination. This was a marriage of convenience for both Trump and Haley.
ReplyDeleteI think she will go straight for the nomination in 2024. Regardless what happens to Trump in 2020, the GOP will have to nominate someone new in 2024. By that time, I think Trump supporters will have lost power and Pence will not be a popular choice. If Haley accepts a vp role, she may well lose with whomever is at the top of the ticket. That will make her a less formidable candidate in the future. So I think she will go for it in 2024.
Rice is a smart woman. She would be great to handle Putin now because she is a Russian expert. But her expertise did not extend to the Middle East. She was not helpful in her role in the Bush administration, leading to the Iraq war. As a result, I have not held her in as high esteem since then.
Well don't forget that Jindal is in a state that is quite mixed, so in this case I think him being a person of color helped. It always seems to me that things are slower to progress in the Carolinas, though I still think they're moving a little quicker in North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Rice goes. I think that she was handcuffed by what the Bush administration wanted to do in the Middle East and is not an indication of her abilities. Similar to what Powell went through, I tend to think that politics of their commander in chief may have soured them on seeking political office (and yes I know that Powell did make consider running for office).
-LBOAYM
I agree that there are more Indians and Vietnamese in Louisiana than South Carolina. But they are still a small minority. I don't think the huge black population, which is overwhelmingly Democrats, would have crossed over to vote for an Indian American. So it was still the white conservative majority which helped Jindal win. So Jindal and Haley had to have good conservative credentials to get the GOP whites to back them. Of course, part of the reason that happened was that they do want a minority to show that they are not prejudice. That's why they were thrilled to have Powell and Rice in their party during the Bush years.
ReplyDeleteI agree that both Powell and Rice were hampered by the Cheney gang in the Bush administration. They were fed false information such that Powell had to go to the UN and claimed that Iraq had WMD. But Rice, to me, was a little more naive than Powell. She said that we can't wait for a mushroom cloud in California before we act. Even if Iraq had WMD, they were not going nuclear against the U.S. Iraq was not Russia. She should have understood that small dictator want to survive and not commit suicide. I maybe too harsh on her but from that I felt she was better suited for academia than world politics.