NORTON META TAG

24 August 2020

Have we no Republicans with any conscience to declare?& Jeff Flake, dozens of former GOP congressmen joining 'Republicans for Biden' 23&24AUG20


THE answer is no if you look at the speaker lineup for the Nuremberg style rally the fascist drumpf / trump-pence administration has planned for this week with the neo-nazi gop / greed over people-republican party. THE answer is still no if you consider the fake "opposition" of republican politicians like susan collins, mitt romney and others to the fascism of drumpf / trump-pence and the neo-nazi authoritarianism of moscow mitch mcconnell while they vote for and support as told the administration's policies and agenda.  THE answer is yes if you consider the bravery and patriotism of former DHS official Miles Taylor, former republican Capital Hill aid  Mike Lofgren, former Sec of Defense James Mattis,  former PA governor and former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, former republican members of congress and the founders and members of the Lincoln Project. We can only hope and pray there are enough true patriots  among the republican party electorate who will consider the facts and opinions expressed by these republicans that they will either not vote (OK I guess) or will in fact vote for Biden-Harris and a Democratic majority congress (best choice). This from The Hill.....
On June 1, 1950, a few months after Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) claimed, without evidence, that 205 State Department employees were “known communists,” Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), made a speech on the floor of the United States Senate. A first-term senator (whose seat is now held by Susan Collins) and a staunch anti-communist, Smith declared: “Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism.”
Smith deemed it “high time that we all stop being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques — techniques that if continued unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.”
Sen. McCarthy mocked Smith and the handful of Republican colleagues who endorsed her “Declaration of Conscience” as “Snow White and the Six Dwarfs.” But Margaret Chase Smith had the last laugh. The United States Senate censured McCarthy in 1954. By all accounts, her “Declaration” was courageous — and prescient. 
In 2020, a Republican “Declaration of Conscience” is long overdue. Four developments in the last month alone underscore the clear and present danger President Trump poses to “basic principles of Americanism.”
1) In several appeals to “suburban housewives,” Trump has blown hard into the racist dog whistle he has used throughout his presidency. Referring to a 2015 initiative requiring local governments to address patterns of segregation in zoning Trump declared, “Your home will go down in value and crime rates will rapidly rise… [and your community] will “go to hell.” Suburban housewives, he added, were “thrilled” that he ended “the long running program where low-income housing would invade their neighborhood. Biden would install it, in a bigger neighborhood, with Corey [sic] Booker in charge.”
2) Using tactics similar to those he used to legitimize the “birther conspiracy” against Barack ObamaTrump spread false claims that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is not eligible to run for vice president because her parents were immigrants when she was born (in California) and may have “owed their allegiance to a foreign power or powers.” As he indicated he would not “pursue” the allegations, Trump told reporters they came from “a highly qualified, very talented lawyer” and should have been “checked out” before Biden selected Harris.
3) Following the victory of an avid conspiracy theory follower in a Republican primary for a Congressional seat in Georgia, Trump was all thumbs-up. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a supporter of QAnon, a conspiracy theory with extremist followers the FBI considers a domestic terrorism threat. She agrees with the fundamental QAnon tenet that there is a global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles pulling the strings of government. Trump praised her as a “future Republican star” who “is strong on everything.”
4) Trump continues to push the claim that widespread use of mail-in ballots, a practice many states have used without any evidence of fraud, will result in “the most rigged election in history” — even though he has mailed in his own ballots for years and has exempted Florida from his critique because it has a Republican governor. Nor has Trump objected to his campaign sending absentee ballot request forms with his picture on them to voters in North Carolina. Yet he has opposed increased funding for the United States Postal Service because it might make voting by mail more feasible, and he has repeatedly refused to say that he will accept the results of the 2020 presidential election.
To date, the response of Republican office holders to these developments has been shrugs and silence. 
(R-Utah), approve of Trump’s race-baiting, character assassination and sabotaging of elections?
Where are the likes of Margaret Chase Smith when we so desperately need them?
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Stuart Blumin) of "Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century."

Jeff Flake, dozens of former GOP congressmen joining 'Republicans for Biden'

BY ZACK BUDRYK - 
Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent critic of President Trump's, is endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden along with several other former Republican lawmakers.
The Biden campaign announced the endorsements, first reported by Fox News, on Monday morning. The list includes other former members of Congress who had previously announced their support for Biden, including former Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Gordon Humphrey (R-N.H.), who is now an independent, and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.).
Other former lawmakers on the list include former Reps. Steve Bartlett (R-Texas), Tom Coleman (R-Mo.), Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), Chris Shays (R-Conn.), Alan Steelman (R-Texas) and Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.).
“These former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden,” an official with the Biden campaign told Fox News. “These former Members of Congress are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship.”
Flake is set to make remarks elaborating on his support for the former vice president Monday afternoon, according to the Biden campaign.
Flake, who retired in 2019, previously said in April that he would not vote for President Trump’s reelection. At the time he suggested he would not support Biden either, saying "This won't be the first time I've voted for a Democrat — though not for president. Last time I voted for a third-party candidate. But I will not vote for Donald Trump."
The announcement comes after several Republicans, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Rep. Susan Molinari (N.Y.) and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and onetime Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has also announced her backing of Biden.

No comments:

Post a Comment