Category Archives: Republicans

Two DNC Truth-Tellers: Michelle & Bernie

NOTE: There were many fine speeches on Tuesday night, the second day of the DNC. Watching the full evening video would be a good investment of spare time.

Below I will excerpt only two, which stood out for me: that of Senator Bernie Sanders, here almost in full, and some especially pertinent points by Michelle Obama.

Rather than bask in the high spirits and enthusiasm of the DNC (which was very real and welcome, but well-covered elsewhere), they spoke of some of the hard times which preceded this upsurge, and which may well return if the Harris-Walz ticket is not successful.

Obama was the more eloquent, and brought emotion and soul to the hall; Bernie was his gruff, indomitable and determined self, summarizing many major policy tasks and tough fights which will face Kamala Harris and her team if they are elected. I believe both are useful reminders as the convention proceeds.

There will be more outstanding oratory on Wednesday evening. Before it gets fully underway, readers are invited to take a few minutes to go over these cautions and challenges laid down from Tuesday. Continue reading Two DNC Truth-Tellers: Michelle & Bernie

Saving Obama In Selma 2015: For Reading When You’re Not Thinking About Milwaukee

Durham, North Carolina, and Selma, Alabama

In the autumn of 2014, still settling into retirement in Durham, a question began nagging at me: was Barack Obama going to get shot in Selma Alabama the following March?

Now stay with me: was I just being more than normally paranoid?

Consider: March 7, 2015, would be the 50th anniversary of the first march for voting rights over the Edmund Pettus Bridge out of Selma, headed for the state capitol in Montgomery.

When that march was attacked by deputies and state troopers, images of the melee were flashed around the world as “Bloody Sunday.” I was there (and recount it in the memoir, Eating Dr. King’s Dinner). Even though my Bloody Sunday assignment was to march with a second contingent — which didn’t happen because of the assault on the first — the experience left its marks on me as well. Continue reading Saving Obama In Selma 2015: For Reading When You’re Not Thinking About Milwaukee

Bernie! Still All In (Critically) for Joe Biden

New York Times
Bernie Sanders: Joe Biden for President

By Bernie Sanders
Mr. Sanders is the senior senator from Vermont.
July 13, 2024

I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite my disagreements with him on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the modern history of our country and is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump — a demagogue and pathological liar. It’s time to learn a lesson from the progressive and centrist forces in France who, despite profound political differences, came together this week to soundly defeat right-wing extremism.

I strongly disagree with Mr. Biden on the question of U.S. support for Israel’s horrific war against the Palestinian people. The United States should not provide Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist government with another nickel as it continues to create one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history.

Continue reading Bernie! Still All In (Critically) for Joe Biden

Communist Champagne for Christmas, and Congressman Pete MCloskey — A Tribute to My Former Boss on Capitol Hill


A Weekend Read:  Pete McCloskey, GOP congressman who once challenged Nixon, just died
at 96. 


[NOTE]: Pete made a lot of impact, against the Vietnam war, for the (then-new) environmental movement, and in other ways helped save and enrich the lives of many people, both far away and in the USA. 

One  American he changed was me.

The big impact started with champagne for Christmas. But first, some background from the Associated Press:

May 8, 2024
Pete McCloskey, Back in the Day

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Pete McCloskey — a proenvironment, antiwar California Republican who cowrote the Endangered Species Act and cofounded Earth Day — has died. He was 96.

A fourthgeneration Republican in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt, he often said, McCloskey represented the 12th Congressional District for 15 years, running for president against an incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972. He battled party leaders while serving seven terms in Congress and went on to publicly disavow the GOP in his later years.

He died at home Wednesday, May 8, according to Lee Houskeeper, a family friend.

Continue reading Communist Champagne for Christmas, and Congressman Pete MCloskey — A Tribute to My Former Boss on Capitol Hill