Tag: Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio on Climate Change

On By Norbert HauptIn Climate Change, Political1 Comment

During the GOP debate on March 10, 2016, Marco Rubio made several statements about the subject of climate change that show all too much how inept and how much of a puppet he really is.

First, he said that of course the climate changes, it changes all the time, and it’s changed throughout history. This is, of course, an insinuation that climate change is happening all by itself, and that humans have nothing to do with it. The vast scientific consensus is that what he said is nonsense. Yes, the climate changes slowly, over millennia. What we have seen in the last 40 years is a hockey stick change in temperature and CO2 in the atmosphere that is unprecedented. The facts do not support Rubio’s bold-faced ignorant statement.

Then he said that the United States is a country, not a planet. He said that China and India were not doing anything about climate change, which by itself is an incorrect statement. I acknowledge they may be behind Europe and the U.S. in their progress, but they are working hard at it. But what’s worse, after constantly stating that the United States was the “leader of  the free world” and that the world looks to the United States for leadership, he breaks with that usual stance out of convenience. Well, China and India aren’t going to do anything, so why would we lead? This is a very inconsistent point of view for a presidential candidate.

He also keeps saying that he is not willing to “destroy the American economy” in the fight against climate change. I wonder what the heck he is talking about. The economy is in so much better a shape today then it was when Bush left office. The DOW was below 7000 when Bush left office and falling. Now it’s at 17000. We had the biggest job growth in modern history since then. Ok, it may not have been enough, but the record shows that under Obama there was more job and economic growth than under Bush, by a long shot. This coincided with a period where our economy transitioned toward renewable energies like never before. So what is Rubio talking about when he says he is not willing to wreck the economy?

Cruz, Rubio and Other People’s Lives

On By Norbert HauptIn PoliticalLeave a comment
Republican U.S. presidential candidate and Senator Ted Cruz (L) looks over at rival candidate Senator Marco Rubio (2nd R) after Pope Francis' address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House of Representatives Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington September 24, 2015. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan - RTX1SAE2
Republican U.S. presidential candidate and Senator Ted Cruz (L) looks over at rival candidate Senator Marco Rubio (2nd R) after Pope Francis’ address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House of Representatives Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington September 24, 2015. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan – RTX1SAE2

Read more here.

It is staggering when you think about the global challenges we are facing:

  1. Religious fundamentalism has gone nuts in the powder keg of the middle east, where ISIS is trying to stoke up World War III on purpose. I am actually glad that we have leaders in place that are somewhat rational, and I include Putin in that.
  2. We have the global warming disaster looming. Mind you, it may be not as bad as we think it is, as the fossil fuel lobby may want us to believe, but it also might be worse than we can even imagine. Refusing to STUDY it, consider it, taking it seriously, is outright irresponsible and possibly suicidal. The world needs to study this problem, not deny it. Only then can we take action with confidence.
  3. Our populace is pounded with soundbites of hate, fear, xenophobia, misinformation and lies. Our people are purposely kept stupid.

With all these challenges that our leaders should be concerned with, some of the frontrunners in the race for the presidency have nothing better to do than to muck with people’s personal lives, with what they do in their bedrooms, with the decisions women make about their own bodies, with the quiet enjoyment of people’s lives – like letting them decide who their marriage partners will be.

These are not leaders. These are puppets.

I Liked Marco Rubio – and then I read this

On By Norbert HauptIn Political2 Comments
Marco Rubio, right, and Jeb Bush, argue a point during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Marco Rubio, right, and Jeb Bush, argue a point during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In the third Republican presidential debate, a moderator asked Rubio about his personal finances.  Rubio answered:

Well, you just – you just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I’m not gonna waste 60 seconds detailing them all.

I trusted him. Then I read this article.

Clearly, Rubio has the ability to lie straight-faced into the camera. You really can’t argue with court records. Court records are not discredited attacks. Those are hard facts.

Integrity, anyone?

 

Torture and the Frat Boys in Congress

On By Norbert HauptIn Atrocities, PoliticalLeave a comment

I respect Senator McCain’s view on torture and his outspoken and candid approach about it.

The book The Faith of My Fathers is John McCain’s biography. I read and reviewed that book over six years ago during McCain’s run for the presidency. In it he describes in detail and at length the suffering he has endured under torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Here is a brief post I wrote about a visit of McCain back to Vietnam.

John McCain has more authority and standing, by far, than any of his colleagues in the U.S. Senate when it comes to rendering judgment about our nation’s endeavors into torture.

Yet there are his fellow-Republican frat boys who are expressing outrage over the report’s release.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said the Democrats who run the intelligence committee were exposing the CIA’s shocking treatment of detainees purely for “partisan joy.” What a ridiculous comment. This is America. We deserve to know the truth. “Truth” is defined as what really happened, whether it is convenient, pretty or outrageous. Deal with it, Senator Rubio. I want to know and have a right to know what my government is doing in my name, with my money.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said the “partisan report will endanger lives, drive away our allies – who have never been needed more than now – and undermine the ability of our intelligence officers and soldiers to protect our national security.” Too bad, Senator Cruz. If our nation had stood up for its own values and behaved like we all hypocritically pretend it should, we would not have created this problem for ourselves in the first place. Most of this mess we are in we have created for ourselves in over 50 years of meddling with people we don’t care about and we don’t understand, mostly because we wanted their oil. This is what happens when you stir a hornets nest. And now you’re vilifying a report about something we did. We did it alright. Deal with it, Senator Cruz.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said he had “mixed feelings” and was concerned that the “gruesomeness of the details may well inflame people.” Well, if we hadn’t done the gruesome things you’re talking about, we would not be in this situation. But we did.

Marco Rubio never served in the military.

Ted Cruz was valedictorian in high school and has had a brilliant academic career, including Harvard University. He never served in the military.

Rand Paul has an M.D. degree. He never served in the military.

Overall, there are only 18 senators who have any military service in their background.

And then there is Dick Cheney. Even though he was Secretary of Defense, he never served in the military. He said he “never served” because of deferments to finish a college career that lasted six years rather than four, which he attributed to subpar academic performance and the fact that he had to work to pay for his education. Dick Cheney had asked for and received five deferments, four because he was a student and one for being a new father.

I’ll take Senator McCain’s opinion about torture over that of any other senator, especially that of the frat boys and their cronies.