Dear Commons Community,

Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich had a lot to say about the GOP yesterday on CNN’s Sunday morning talk show.  “If the party can’t be fixed then I’m not going to be able to support the party, period,” he told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”  The governor’s comment came in response to a question about how Republicans should react to Alabama politician Roy Moore securing their party’s nomination for that state’s open Senate seat. Moore is a former judge who was twice removed from Alabama’s Supreme Court for violating legal standards, and Tapper noted that he has said homosexual conduct should be illegal, questioned the birthplace of former President Barack Obama and suggested Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) should not be allowed a position in Congress because he is a practicing Muslim.

Kasich said “Well, look, I don’t run the party. I can tell you for me, I don’t support that. I couldn’t vote for that. I don’t know what the heck I would have to do, but I don’t live in that state. I mean, those claims are ― I mean, they’re ludicrous and they’re divisive.” Kasich also said that the GOP  needs to be “fixed” to limit the influence of far-right elements and he sees his job as trying to get that done.

Tapper explicitly asked if Kasich might split from the GOP if it continues being associated with figures like Moore.  “What I’m saying to you is, we need to fix it. If our party, if the Republican Party is going to be anti-immigration, if it’s not going to be worried about debt, if it’s going to be anti-trade, this is not where our party can be. So I’m going to fight like everything I have… it’s why I’m on these shows, because I want this party to be straightened out. But I not only want the party to be straightened out, I want the country to be straightened out. And so it’s really a battle again inside of both parties, but people are beginning to say, I don’t like either of them. And that says something big. So hopefully our party leaders will pay attention to this.”

It is speculated that Kasich might consider running against Trump for the 2020 Republican Party  Presidential nomination.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Donald Trump yesterday took to twitter yesterday to attack San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz for calling on the President to step-up the federal response to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.  Cruz said on Friday:

“We are dying here, and I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles,” Cruz said Friday. “Mayday! We are in trouble.” 

As reported in The Huffington Post and other media:

“Cruz has made several emotional pleas this week to the media, tearfully begging for the government to provide more aid to the islands residents and for private citizens to make calls to Congress or to donate money or time.

Cruz tried to paint a picture of the island’s devastation: She described people who were forced to drink from streams and dehydrated senior citizens who were trapped in sweltering apartment buildings which she called, “human cages.”

Trump responded to Cruz’s cries for help in the way he typically does when he reads something that makes his administration look bad: He launched a Twitter rant against Cruz and then blamed “fake news.”

By nearly all accounts, Cruz’s depiction of Puerto Rico’s need for more aid is clear. As of Friday evening, 95 percent of the Puerto Rico’s population was still without power, and more than half of the island had no access to drinking water, according to the Department of Defense. News reporters on the scene describe dwindling diesel fuel supply and struggling hospitals that are relying on generators to function. 

Rescuers have yet to reach barrios, or neighborhoods, in the center of the island, Jaime Barlucea, mayor of Adjuntas, said during a Friday news conference in San Juan. 

“We took matters in our own hands since day one, because communication with the central government is really hard,” Barlucea said. “We’ve had landslides. We’re trying to reach those who have not been reached.”

But instead of focusing on providing aid to the U.S. territory, Trump is trying to peddle Puerto Rico’s devastation and dire need for help as a direct attack from all of the groups that he’s deemed the opposition, from “fake news” to the Democrats and, now, the “poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan.”

A dire situation made worse by Trump’s bombastic, knee-jerk reactions!

Tony