I’m a liberal. I like to think of myself as a moderate, a Ted Kennedy sort of liberal. I have a passion for making healthcare available and affordable to all Americans, making lower-priced, foreign drugs available, and making a college education affordable.
I can deal with conservatives, opponents, foes, and antagonist of all kinds. Sometimes their different take on things is educational and often interesting. I especially enjoy their passion as they argue or present something I totally disagree with. But, what I can’t take is the adversary that is rude, inconsiderate, or otherwise difficult to deal with regardless of the issue. These philistine zealots really get to me. I want these people out of my life.
I used to be a Republican, a conservative in fact. I actually campaigned for the first presidential candidate I could legally vote for, Barry Goldwater. I was sure he was the right guy for the job and that baggy-suited Dixiecrat, Lyndon Johnson was everything I disliked in politicians. I still proudly wear my Goldwater in ‘64 campaign button.
I never understood what happened to the conservative wing of the Republican Party until I did the research for this article. I now know how Goldwater’s fiscal conservatism became the Christian conservatism of today. I naively thought evangelists like Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the like had an undue influence on congress, Reagan, and the Bushes. I now have someone to blame, to despise, Newt Gingrich. And while we’re castigating Newt, let’s beat him up for the intolerable divisiveness in our congress today. We’ve always had radical extremes on both ends of the political spectrum opposed to each other, but not now. Now the two sides of the aisle are at each other throats as if we have two totally different governments fighting for power. Thanks Newt.
Here are some of the people I never want to see or hear about again. I know they are all Republicans. I like real Republicans like John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Liz Cheney to name a few. What I can’t stand are Trumpsters that put their loyalty to Trump above their Republican tenets, common sense, and the good of our country.
Get these people outta my life:
Donald Trump
45thPresident of the USA
To start with, he’s not very bright and his massive ego overpowers the advice he receives from his advisors. Take for instance his so-called trade war with China that hurt our farmers, manufactures, and consumers. Why, because Trump didn’t understand how international trade works. He thought he was punishing the Chinese for unfair trade practices when he was actually hurting us. Even more tragic was his refusal to accept the impending COVID-19 pandemic and his wacky touting of ridiculous cures, like injecting disinfectant.
Beyond being dumb and egoistical he’s a really bad guy. He came into office with a background that might be more fitting of a Mafioso or a rich hooligan with a long list of legal problems, scandal accusations, and business bankruptcies. Since coming into office he’s shown his true colors, like his refusal to condemn right-wing domestic terrorists and white supremacist or his kowtowing to dictators and authoritarians around the world. And what’s up with his friendship with Vladimir Putin. Above and beyond all of that he is dishonest to the core. He is a pathological liar who lies about everything from the trivial to the serious. The Washington Post counted him telling 30,573 lies during his 4 years in office.
I don’t trust him, believe him, or respect him in any way. I just want him out of my life.
Newt Gingrich
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999
Gingrich labored to tie his Christian conservatism to the Republican Party and by his resignation in 1999 Christian conservatism had become firmly ingrained in the Republican Party’s policy platforms. Scholars have credited Gingrich with playing a key role in undermining democratic norms in the United States, and hastening political polarization and partisan prejudice. They argue that Gingrich instilled a “combative” approach in the Republican Party, where hateful language and hyper-partisanship became commonplace, and where democratic norms were abandoned.
Eighty-four ethics charges were filed by Democrats against Gingrich during his term as Speaker. All were eventually dropped except for one. On January 21, 1997, the House officially reprimanded Gingrich (in a vote of 395 in favor, 28 opposed) and ordered him to reimburse the House for some of the costs of the investigation in the amount of $300,000. It was the first time a Speaker was disciplined for an ethics violation.
Additionally, the House Ethics Committee concluded that inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented “intentional or … reckless” disregard of House rules. The Ethics Committee’s Special Counsel concluded that Gingrich had violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him.
In 1998, Gingrich urged fellow Republicans to push the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. It would damage Clinton’s popularity and result in the party winning a number of seats in the House. But instead of gaining seats, Republicans lost five, the worst midterm performance in 64 years by a party not holding the presidency. Other ethics violations including an unpopular book deal, added to his unpopularity even though he himself was reelected in his own district.
In January 1999 he resigned his seat. When relinquishing the speakership, Gingrich referred to other Republicans when he said he was “not willing to preside over people who are cannibals.”
Good riddance.
Jim Jordan
Republican Congressman from Ohio
Jordan, a former wrestler and wrestling coach, has gained his notoriety for being a very close ally of Donald Trump and as the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. The committee is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies, federal law enforcement entities, and for the impeachments of federal officials. It is not his far-right politics or bootlicking Trump that has earned my wrath, but his abrasive personality and his inability to debate or argue without losing his temper and throwing fits of rage.
His rejection of a request for an interview by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is indicative of his loyalty to Trump. Jordan supposedly said, “The American people are tired of Democrats’ nonstop investigations and partisan witch hunts. This request is far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core constitutional principles and would serve to further erode legislative norms.”
The New York Times reported in November 2019: “Democrats, both here in Washington and in his home state of Ohio, see Mr. Jordan as bomb-thrower who is more interested in theatrics and obfuscation than substance. Julian Epstein, who served as the Democrats’ lead counsel in the impeachment of Mr. Clinton, called Mr. Jordan a “carnival barker who peddles dopamine to the base.”
He should go back to wrestling.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Republican Congresswoman from Georgia
Marjorie Taylor Green could have played the lead in the movie Legally Blond. She is fumbling through life just as the clueless, naïve blond did in the movie. Since joining the House she introduced articles of impeachment against Joe Biden, voted against popular pandemic-relief measures, attributed the California’s wildfires to “Jewish space lasers,” and been officially condemned by CrossFit for claiming her workout was her COVID-19 protection.
She received backlash for attending America First Political Action Conference where white nationalist views were championed and they cheered Putin. During a rally in Georgia she took aim at Secretary Buttigieg by saying, “You know what? Pete Buttigieg can take his electric vehicles and his bicycle, and he and his husband can stay out of our girls’ bathrooms.” The crowd cheered. She recently wrote she appreciated Will Smith’s “alpha male response” of defending his wife after he slapped comedian Chris Rock for making a joke about her during the Oscars presentations.
A group of voters has filed a challenge with the Georgia secretary of state aiming to bar Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for reelection this year because of her alleged support for the events of January 6. Greene claimed that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed “treason” and said power could not be transferred peacefully because Biden did not win the election. The suit points to examples of Greene supporting the Capitol rioters by calling them “political prisoners of war” and claiming that left-wing activists, not Trump supporters, were responsible for the violence on January 6.
She may be legally blond but she is not a terribly bad person, just clueless. I just don’t want her to have anything to do with running my country.
Lindsey Graham
Republican Senator from South Carolina
Graham is more known for his vicious attacks and scowling faces than his political or personal positions. Graham showed his spunk early on by taking part in a leadership challenge against House Speaker Newt Gingrich and was one of 18 House Republicans to co-sponsor a resolution that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Bill Clinton. This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. The scandal ultimately led to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton. Graham voted in favor of legislation to open an impeachment inquiry. The House passed two of the impeachment articles and Graham served as an impeachment manager in the impeachment trial.
The 2000 election brought us the Lindsey Graham we saw scowling on TV. Graham said that Trump “should not concede because if Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again.” Graham said he donated $500,000 to Trump’s election lawsuits in various states, and that the option should be “on the table” for Republican state legislators to invalidate election results due to alleged “corruption” by appointing presidential electors who would vote for Trump. The 2020 presidential election in Georgia produced an initial count where Biden defeated Trump by around 14,000 votes, triggering a recount due to the small margin. While the recount was ongoing, Graham privately called the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger to discuss Georgia’s vote counting. Raffensperger told The Washington Post that Graham had asked him to disqualify all mail-in ballots in counties with signature errors. Graham denied suggesting this. He went on to claim that he had also spoken to Arizona’s and Nevada’s secretaries of state.Those secretaries denied this, and Graham reversed himself, saying that he had spoken to the governor of Arizona and no official in Nevada.
In the resulting second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Graham voted “not guilty,” and later he voted against creating the January 6 commission.
I loathe Lindsey Graham for his abrasive style and demeanor in questioning and interviewing. His vicious, snarling face and pulsating finger-pointing overshadows whatever issue is being discussed.
Rand Paul
Republican Senator from Kentucky
Randal Paul, a physician is the son Ron Paul, also a physician who, while serving in the House helped swing the Republican Party rightward and toward libertarianism. Rand Paul follows in his father’s footsteps by pursuing massive cuts in federal spending consistent with his generally libertarian position, Paul proposed cuts involved not only social programs but also defense allocations. In addition, he sought the abolishment of all foreign aid.
It was when the corona virus was becoming a global pandemic that Paul really gained distinction. He became the first senator to test positive for the virus, and he went into a self-quarantine. The following month he resumed his public duties. But it was his all-out attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s medical czar, that put him on center stage. He opposed Dr. Fauci’s insistence on vaccinations and wearing masks and argued that there was no need for a vaccine for children.
During a congressional hearing, Dr. Fauci accused Rand Paul of spreading bad information and inciting death threats against him. In a heated question-and-answer session, Fauci said Paul’s false accusations have kindled the crazies and he gets threats upon his life and his family and his children are harassed with obscene phone calls.
Rand Paul should be a legislator or a physician but not try to be both.
Mike Lindell
My Pillow Guy
Michael Lindell is a businessman, conservative political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing company and a prominent supporter of, and advisor to, former President Donald Trump. In 2016, Lindell met with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and became an avid supporter, calling Trump “the most amazing president this country has ever seen in history,” In a speech at Liberty University, Lindell said “When I met with Donald Trump, it felt like a divine appointment, and when I walked out of that office I decided I was going to go all in.”
After Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Lindell played a significant role in supporting and financing Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result; he spread false conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud in that election.
In 2017, the Better Business Bureau revoked accreditation of My Pillow, lowering its rating to an F based on a pattern of complaints by consumers. He was also an active promoter of the toxic plant extract oleandrin, as an alternative medicine cure for COVID-19. In White House meetings with Trump and public appearances, Lindell promoted the toxic plant extract oleandrin as a cure for COVID-19, saying, “This thing works – it’s the miracle of all time.” Lindell has a financial stake in Phoenix Biotechnology, a company that makes oleandrin, and sits on its board. Lindell’s unsubstantiated claims alarmed scientists, since there is no scientific evidence that oleandrin is a safe or effective corona virus treatment, and there is evidence the plant is poisonous at low doses.
But it was not pillows, or oleandrin that put Lindell in the news. It was his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Lindell helped sponsor a bus tour that sought to challenge the election results. Lindell promoted the Jan. 6 rally and attended this rally, but did not go to the Capitol. Following the Capitol storming, Lindell was among those who advanced the false conspiracy theory that people associated with Antifa were responsible for the attack, saying they had probably “dressed as Trump people.” Lindell and others predicted various inquiries into the election would result in Trump being reinstated as president in 2021. In January 2022, Lindell claimed that he possessed “enough evidence to put everybody in prison for life, 300-some million people” for their part in the alleged 2020 election fraud.
Wow, is conspiracy theorist too nice a term to refer to the My Pillow Guy?
Steve Bannon
White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President
Stephen Bannon is a media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker, who served as the White House’s chief strategist in the Trump administration. He was the chief executive officer of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. In August 2020, Bannon and three others were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in connection to the We Build the Wall campaign. The defendants allegedly enriched themselves, despite promising that all contributions would go to building a wall. Bannon pleaded not guilty and was pardoned by Trump before his trial date.
In November 2020, Bannon’s Twitter account was permanently suspended after he suggested that top government infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should be beheaded. Bannon was held in contempt of Congress in October 2021 after defying a subpoena by the House committee investigating the 2021 United States Capitol attack. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on two criminal contempt charges and turned himself in to authorities, three days later. Bannon lost an appeal regarding his failure to testify before the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riot Committee.
Don’t you wonder what sort of strategy this sleaze ball would author…advocate.
Rudy Guianni
Former Mayor of New York City and President Trump’s personal attorney
Rudy Guianni gained national attention and praise for his leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Giuliani coordinated the response of various city departments while organizing the support of state and federal authorities, for the World Trade Center site, for citywide anti-terrorist measures, and for restoration of destroyed infrastructure. Oprah Winfrey coined him “America’s Mayor” at memorial service held at Yankee Stadium, and Time magazine named Giuliani its Person of the Year for 2001.
In 2016, Giuliani would become one of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants and eventually his personal attorney, defending his every move. His efforts to dig up dirt on the Biden family placed him at the center of the Ukrainian pressure campaign that got Trump impeached. Then, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, Giuliani led the effort to subvert the results, traveling the country peddling baseless conspiracy theories. “We cannot allow these crooks — because that’s what they are — to steal an election from the American people,” he falsely claimed at a news conference. “They elected Donald Trump. They didn’t elect Joe Biden.”
On January 6th, he helped rile up the crowd before the storming of the Capitol, declaring: “Let’s have trial by combat.”
A New York court recently suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in the state, citing his “false and misleading statements” about the election loss of former President Donald Trump. This suspension comes as Giuliani is under criminal investigation by that same federal prosecutor’s office in connection with his work in Ukraine. Since Trump’s defeat in November, the former president and his lawyer have made false claims about the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s victory. They allege, without evidence, that Trump was swindled out of a victory by widespread ballot fraud in key states.
From America’s Mayor to Trump’s lackey to suspected criminal.
Ron DeSantis
Republican Governor of Florida
As a congressman DeSantis signed a 2013 pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian conservative political advocacy funded by David and Charles Koch of the Tea Party fame. In 2017, DeSantis added a rider to the proposed fiscal 2018 spending bill package that would end funding for the Mueller investigation into Russia’s involvement with the election and Russia’s relationship to Trump.
As Governor of Florida he enjoyed early support from President Donald Trump and his Trump-like response to COVID-19 pandemic put DeSantis in the national headlines. The DeSantis administration suppressed unfavorable facts, dispensed dangerous misinformation, dismissed public health professionals, and promoted the views of scientific dissenters who supported the governor’s approach to the disease.
Politics rather than science dictated Florida’s response to COVID-19. DeSantis rejected the implementation of a statewide face mask mandate and belatedly implemented stay-at-home orders. In July 2020, when Florida was a global epicenter of the corona virus with nearly 5,800 deaths, DeSantis largely sidelined health experts and scientists. The Washington Post reported that he relied primarily on his wife, a former television reporter, and his chief of staff, a former hospital executive for advice. In July 2021, Florida experienced a record surge in COVID-19 cases, setting a new daily case record and accounting for around 1 in 5 new infections in the country. Amid the resurgence, DeSantis banned public schools from implementing mask mandates, claiming without evidence that masks were harmful to children, and he threatened to fine, withhold funding, or withhold salary from any school district or school official who did so. Previously, data released by the Florida Department of Health had tied over 100,000 COVID-19 cases to Florida private and public K-12 schools. In late August, the DeSantis administration ordered Alachua and Broward school districts to reverse their mask mandates or face a reduction in state funding, leading the districts’ leaders to declare that they would take legal action in response.
Aren’t you glad he isn’t running your state?
Debbie Lesko
Republican Congresswoman from Arizona
Debbie Lesko came to Congress with a most unusual background. She married Jeffrey Ignas in 1985, and three years later she was charged with a misdemeanor for tampering with government records. The case was later dropped. In 1988, Ignas was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud. After serving four years of the sentence, he was released from prison so he and Debbie could file for bankruptcy protection. The couple was also sued twice for failure to pay bills. They filed for bankruptcy again. Ignas was physically abusive to Debbie, including punching her in the tummy when she was pregnant with her daughter. In 1993, she filed for divorce. She later married Joe Lesko and became involved in the Peoria School District. In 2006, she ran for school board. She placed fourth out of five candidates. She went on to win a seat in the Arizona Senate where she served for three years before announcing she was running in the special election to replace Representative Trent Franks, who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. She also announced her resignation from the Arizona Senate. She won the election with a narrow margin.
Debby Lesko is a strong ally of former President Donald Trump. In December 2019, she voted against impeaching him. She said there is “no proof, none, that the president has committed an impeachable offense.” Lesko was one of 126 Republican members of the House to sign a brief in support of a lawsuit filed at the Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Lesko was one of the 139 Republican representatives to vote to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Congress at the Electoral College vote count.
In addition to supporting Trump, she rigorously fights abortion, but she favors a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and has championed legislation that would allow payday lenders to provide loans at annual interest rates as high as 164%. And, she opposed efforts to increase the minimum wage in Arizona to $10. Lesko strongly opposes the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Let’s send her back to the Valley of the Sun.
Greg Abbot
Republican Governor of Texas
Abbot was the longest-serving Texas attorney general in Texas history before becoming governor in 2014. He is an ardent Trump supporter.
Abbot has taken a hard line on abortion. In 2021 he signed the Texas Heartbeat Act into law, which prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, except to save the mother’s life. Later in 2021, Abbott signed a bill into law that prevented women from mail-ordering abortion medication seven weeks into pregnancy.
His other passion is firearms. In 2015, Abbott signed the campus carry and the open carry bills into law. The campus carry law allows licensed carrying of a concealed handgun on public college campuses. The open carry bill allows the licensed carrying of handguns openly in public areas and in private businesses. In 2017, Abbott signed a bill into law lowering handgun carry license fees and later signed a bill into law that allowed Texans to carry guns without a license. In 2019, he signed a bill allowing for more armed teachers with school districts being unrestricted as to the number they allow.
During an interview with Fox News following the Sutherland Springs church shooting, Abbott urged historical reflection and the consideration that evil had been present in earlier “horrific events” during the Nazi era, the Middle Ages, and biblical times.” In a speech to a NRA convention in Dallas, Abbott said: “The problem is not guns, its hearts without God.”
Guns, guns, and more guns. Let’s hope Texans have hearts with God, whatever that means.
Ted Cruz
Republican Senator from Texas
The Dallas Observer reported that: “Ted Cruz was voted the most unpopular member of the U.S. Senate, a body of people whose collective approval rating falls below hemorrhoids, traffic jams, and root canals.” His unpopularity hit a high when he chose to fly off to Cancun while his state was struggling with a killer winter storm and an energy crisis. He came back home wearing a Texas face mask and blaming his own kids for the trip. He’s known for his stupid antics like blocking a bipartisan ceremonial resolution to honor the late Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, because he objected to “partisan” language relaying the justice’s final wishes to delay filling her seat until after the presidential election.
I especially like how he shut down the government and pissed off government-hating, federal deregulating Republicans at the same time. Cruz shut down the government in 2013 in order to prevent the funding for Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Cruz filibustered for more than 13 straight hours by reading some of the works of author Ayn Rand, Ashton Kutcher’s acceptance speech from that year’s Teen Choice Awards, and he achieved peak Cruz craziness by reading from Dr. Seuss’s immortal literary classic Green Eggs and Ham.
As you can see, Ted Cruz is not evil like Trump or a no-holds-barred scrapper like Jim Jordan; he’s just an unpopular right-wing bumpkin.
We can do better. Texas can do better.
Matt Gaetz
Republican congressman from Florida
The Politico called Gaetz “one of the most enthusiastic defenders of President Trump” and a “proud Trump protégé”. The Washington Post called him one of Congress’ “most controversial members,” and one who has “unabashedly aligned himself with Trump on basically all things. Gaetz was one of 18 House Republicans to vote to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in peace talks with North Korea.
Gaetz introduced a congressional resolution calling for Robert Mueller to excuse himself as special counsel because of what Gaetz said to be conflicts of interest. He also asked for a special counsel investigation into the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email controversy.
After the mob attacked the Capitol on January 6th, Gaetz said there was “pretty compelling evidence that some of the people who breached the Capitol were not Trump supporters” but were rather “masquerading as Trump supporters, and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.” An aide to Gaetz posted a video on a blog hours before the storming of the Capitol with the caption: “WE HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR! STOP THE STEAL!”
Gaetz accompanied a Florida County tax collector to a government office where they were producing fake IDs. The tax collector was indicted in on an array of charges, including sex trafficking and creating fake IDs to facilitate sex trafficking. The Justice Department is now investigating Gaetz for allegedly sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws by paying her to travel with him across state lines. And later CNN reported that Gaetz had shown pictures of naked women to colleagues on the House floor. Gaetz claimed to have slept with the women in the photos. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift.”
Matt Gaetz is being criminally investigated for three distinct crimes: Sex trafficking; violating the Mann Act, and obstructing justice. Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and has denied all the accusations. Instead, he dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt.”
In January 2022, an ex-girlfriend of Gaetz’s testified before a grand jury after being granted immunity, that she reportedly had information relevant to two of three criminal charges being considered for Gaetz: sex trafficking a minor and obstruction of justice. This new information is driving the investigation into a new, decisive phase.
In the last weeks of the Trump administration, Gaetz privately requested a blanket presidential pardon for himself and others, which was reportedly denied because it would set a bad precedent. The next day, Trump publicly denied that Gaetz had asked him for a pardon. Later it was revealed that Trump had reportedly wanted to defend Gaetz but was told to stand down due to the seriousness of the allegations.
I can’t wait til they charge this pervert.
Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen 